Filibuster

Legislating Our Way To A New Progressive Era

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Do not despair in the darkness of the moment, keep the faith and go vote! Democrats are on the cusp of an historic victory that can usher in a new progressive era in American history. Morning in America is coming (heh, heh). A couple of good op-eds on this point for your perusal. First, Jennifer … Read more

Not ‘Court Packing,’ But Long Overdue Court Reform

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I almost did a spit take when I saw that the “Enemy of The People,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, did a radio interview with Fox News Radio’s Guy Benson in which Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Warned Democrats Want To Change The Filibuster, Pack Courts. Benson gave McConnell a softball question (natch) to set up this total … Read more

Senator Jeff Merkley holds a talk-a-thon to protest Judge Gorsuch

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Ahead of Thursday’s farcical vote to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to a stolen Supreme Court seat, for which Judge Gorsuch will forever be tainted by illegitimacy, Sen. Jeff Merkley held the Senate floor for more than 15 hours to protest Judge Gorsuch:

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., took to the Senate floor a few minutes before 7 p.m. Tuesday night to protest President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, vowing to speak “as long as I’m able.”

He did so for more than 15 hours, yielding the floor shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Merkley mounted his demonstration in response to Republicans who refused to consider former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, following the February 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

“The majority team in this chamber decided to steal a Supreme Court seat,” he said. “Such a theft has never, ever happened in the history of our nation.”

Republicans argued that neither party should fill a Supreme Court vacancy that opened up during an election year.

Barbara A. Perry, the Miller Professor of Ethics and Institutions and director of presidential studies at U-Va.’s Miller Center: One-third of all U.S. presidents appointed a Supreme Court justice in an election year. Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog, Supreme Court vacancies in presidential election years: There is no “practice of leaving a seat open on the Supreme Court until after the election.”

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Senate showdown over Judge Gorsuch is scheduled for Thursday

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The septuagenarian Ninja Turtle, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is paving the way for the Senate showdown over Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination to come to a head on Thursday. McConnell tees up Thursday Supreme Court showdown:

The Republican leader filed cloture on President Trump’s pick Tuesday evening, setting up an initial vote for Thursday.

McConnell urged Democrats earlier Tuesday to back down from their filibuster threat, saying they could still “do the right thing.”

“History will be watching,” he said from the Senate floor. “And the future of the Senate will hang on their choice.”

Wow. This is exactly the same thing as the serial killer who blames the cops for his murders, “stop me before I kill again!”

This is the man who engaged in total obstruction against President Obama, abusing the Senate filibuster rules. McConnell unleashed nearly 500 filibusters and spent years preventing Republicans from working with Democrats, regardless of the substance of a given issue, in pursuit of his goal of denying President Obama a second term. When four seats opened up on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, McConnell said that the court was too large and the seats should not be filled. He convinced his GOP caucus to filibuster any and all nominees to serve on the nation’s second most important court, in perpetuity and without any regard for the qualifications of individual candidates. He did the same with other vacancies in the federal courts, creating a judicial crisis in backlogged cases. Within hours after Justice Antonin Scalia died, McConnell announced that no nominee from President Obama would receive consideration in the Senate, let alone a confirmation hearing and vote. Mitch McConnell is the villain here.

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