Just POlitics

Going nuclear

Despite Sen. Arlen Specter’s fears while trying to bring forward William G. Myers III's judicial nomination, the Senate seems headed towards what has been called a nuclear option.

The so-called nuclear option would involve the Senate Majority Leader (Bill Frist) asking for a ruling from the Chair (Arlen Specter) as to whether a filibuster of the Constitutional provision that the Senate is to give advice and consent to the President is constitutional. A ruling from the Chair stating that it is not constitutional to filibuster would mean that a simple majority of Senators could move judicial nominations to the floor for a vote.

Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a public radio interview that he was in favor of using the nuclear option.

MoveOn.org is firing up their troops to block the nominees that President Bush re-nominated. Here is part of their recent e-mail:

The Senate has the power to approve or reject judicial nominations because judges -- above all else -- must be trusted by Americans on all sides to rule fairly. So why does Bush refuse to send new nominees both parties can agree on? Because while his presidency will be over in 4 years, the judges he appoints will be on the bench for the rest of their lives. This is Bush's big push to lock in his hard right, corporate-friendly ideology for decades to come -- and that is exactly why we must not back down now.

The fight begins today. The Myers vote is a key test -- and may well determine whether Bush can stack the judiciary, all the way up to the Supreme Court, with a steady stream of hard right, pro-corporate judges. It's crucial that our Senators know that we out here in America are counting on them to hold the line against all 20 of Bush's rejected, partisan judges.

Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid all but promised that the Democrats would continue to filibuster, stating: "On the judges that have been brought forward previously, we're going to treat them just the same as we have in the past."

It seems that the Senate will soon be at far greater odds between its members than it has been since before the Civil War.

Medicaid delay

Democrat presidential hopeful Gov. Tom Vilsack may have cut a deal to slow the process in passing the Medicaid Appropriations Bill with Iowa’s two powerful Congressmen.

Vilsack met with Budget Chairman Jim Nussle and Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley to ask them to go slowly on the Medicaid bill so that the Governors could continue to negotiate changes to the bill, according to a report in the Des Moines Register.

Nussle indicated after the discussions that the bill could wait final budget decisions for possible breakthroughs of reform measures to Medicaid.

The NY Times dilemma

The NY Times is having a very difficult time spinning the outbreak of democracy in the Arab region. However, this does not stop them from trying:

"Less than six weeks after President Bush's Inaugural Address appealing for democratic reforms in the Middle East, the United States is coping with an unaccustomed problem: a region churning with fresh demands for democracy, fresh opportunities and fresh potential for instability."--New York Times, March 1

There is nothing like the ‘instability’ of democracy. You never know what idiotic reasoning your nation’s supposed leading newspaper will offer.