Report: Obama to nominate Kagan to Supreme Court

[Rex Kickass]

So next time the Repubs find someone with no judicial experience, the Dems won't hold it up this time?

 

I don't know, but frankly, I hope not.

[Balta1701]

I don't know, but frankly, I hope not.

I really wonder if this is the last confirmed justice we'll see for a long time. We could very well be running a recess appointment supreme court from now on. When's the next time that either side will have anything close to a filibuster-proof majority?

[Rex Kickass]

I really wonder if this is the last confirmed justice we'll see for a long time. We could very well be running a recess appointment supreme court from now on. When's the next time that either side will have anything close to a filibuster-proof majority?

 

It makes me really sad that this is the case, to be honest. I was really hoping that the election of Obama would bring back some shape and form of comity to Capitol Hill. I will say that the nature of the Democratic party makes a filibuster a much less likely action when it comes to judicial nominations. I think over the last twenty years of Democratic party leadership accepting the legitimacy of elections that they have lost, even when (IMO some of those elections' legitimacy has been questionable.) They may vote against confirmation, but by and large they allow cloture to happen on nomination processes.

 

I hope that in the next Senate (which will be likely Democratic controlled, but with a much smaller 53 or 54 seat majority rather than 59 current seats), the leadership will finally get the balls to shut down the Senate on ridiculous cloture/procedural filibuster actions. It really will only take a couple weeks of that before it stops becoming a useful tool for the opposition, especially when its being used to block anything and everything.

[Balta1701]

It makes me really sad that this is the case, to be honest. I was really hoping that the election of Obama would bring back some shape and form of comity to Capitol Hill. I will say that the nature of the Democratic party makes a filibuster a much less likely action when it comes to judicial nominations. I think over the last twenty years of Democratic party leadership accepting the legitimacy of elections that they have lost, even when (IMO some of those elections' legitimacy has been questionable.) They may vote against confirmation, but by and large they allow cloture to happen on nomination processes.

 

I hope that in the next Senate (which will be likely Democratic controlled, but with a much smaller 53 or 54 seat majority rather than 59 current seats), the leadership will finally get the balls to shut down the Senate on ridiculous cloture/procedural filibuster actions. It really will only take a couple weeks of that before it stops becoming a useful tool for the opposition, especially when its being used to block anything and everything.

You can already see why that won't be happening. The guys who would have to vote to eliminate the filibuster are the ones who are empowered by the filibuster; anyone who would be somewhere within the vote 40-60 area is empowered massively by a 60 vote majority. Senators like like Bayh, Nelson, Feinstein, Levin, Feingold, etc., have come out against filibuster reform, and really they should; if their vote is up for grabs at all, they are massively empowered.

 

The Dems have struggled more than the Republicans to hold together filibusters, but the Dems were at least able to hold together a few on some justices last time out, they were able to get a decent number of votes against Alito...and frankly, the precedent has now been set; the next time the Dems are in the minority in the Senate, no matter how much noise Fox News makes about how awful it is that the Republicans have a 60 vote requirement to cut taxes, the rest of the media is going to have gone years without caring.

 

Its the same effect as how Obama's gotten away with enshrining the surveillance state; once it's been done by both sides, there's less of a reason to keep caring.

[bmags]

I thought Bayh uttered words FOR it.

 

Nonetheless, if they did it, it should be something where they phase it out in like 10 years.

[Balta1701]

I thought Bayh uttered words FOR it

And Bayh also croons about how bad the deficit is and wants to extend Bush's tax cuts.

 

He offered up a vague critique of how bad the Senate has become when he announced his retirement and has done jack squat about it.

[Chet Lemon]

So next time the Repubs find someone with no judicial experience, the Dems won't hold it up this time?

 

The last time someone with no judicial experience was appointed to the Supreme Court, it was a Republican, and they were not held up.

[Rex Kickass]

Right, Harriet Miers never even made it to the floor.