02-26-2005, 11:22 AM
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#30 (permalink)
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Banned
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by stevo
What I like is the fact that Bush re-nominated all the judges that were shot down the first time around. That just goes to show that this guy knows who he believes deserve to be federal judges and that didn't change since the first time around.
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That is not what Bush "goes to show" to me..............
Quote:
<a href="http://news.google.com/news?q=specter&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wn">http://news.google.com/news?q=specter&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wn</a>
Specter predicts turmoil if GOP changes filibuster rules on judges
BY STEVE GOLDSTEIN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., cautioned Thursday that if Republicans carry through a threat to eliminate filibusters against judicial nominees "the Senate will be in turmoil and the Judiciary Committee will be hell."
As he prepares to hold hearings next week on the first four federal judicial candidates renominated by President Bush, Specter vowed to try to end the long-standing political impasse on jurists and avoid a maneuver endorsed by conservatives that is being described in apocalyptic terms.
"I'm going to exercise every last ounce of my energy to solve this problem without the `nuclear option,''' said Specter, referring to Republican consideration of doing away with filibusters of judicial nominees.
Six days after receiving his first chemotherapy treatment for his recently diagnosed Hodgkin's disease, Specter, 75, displayed impressive energy during a 50-minute news conference. He did show some signs of fatigue, however, and his speech seemed raspier and slower than usual. Aides said the drugs were administered through his upper chest.
Specter is entering the first real test of his chairmanship. In the first six weeks leading the panel, he has speedily pushed through two White House-endorsed reform bills on class-action lawsuits and bankruptcy.
If Democrats continue to block those who were renominated, Republicans have threatened to nullify Senate Rule 22, which requires a supermajority of 60 votes to end a filibuster. This has come to be known as the nuclear option.
Specter said if such a step were taken, Democrats would retaliate and there would be "bedlam" in the Senate. Both Democrats and Republicans have contributed to the impasse, he said.
"Each side ratcheted it up ... until you have a situation today where it might accurately be characterized as no one wants to back down and no one wants to lose face," Specter said.............
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