The Senate needs to protect our rights by denying George W’s
court packing. These nominees are bad news for ordinary Americans.
Their extreme right-wing philosophy threatens 75 years of social
progress, including protections for civil rights, privacy rights,
reproductive rights and labor rights.
There is no judicial vacancy crisis. In fact, there are fewer
vacancies today than there have been in 13 years. Republicans
created a vacancy crisis by blocking dozens of President Clinton’s
nominees, but Democrats have taken the high road and worked with
Republicans to approve more than 165 Bush nominees in the past
three years, while blocking just four.
The Senate needs to protect our rights by denying George W’s court packing. These nominees are bad news for ordinary Americans. Their extreme right-wing philosophy threatens 75 years of social progress, including protections for civil rights, privacy rights, reproductive rights and labor rights.
There is no judicial vacancy crisis. In fact, there are fewer vacancies today than there have been in 13 years. Republicans created a vacancy crisis by blocking dozens of President Clinton’s nominees, but Democrats have taken the high road and worked with Republicans to approve more than 165 Bush nominees in the past three years, while blocking just four.
President Bush is a divider, not a uniter. He continues to resist every effort at bipartisanship and continues to nominate extremists in the hope that the filibuster will become an election issue. It is a senator’s duty to filibuster fringe nominees who would harm their constituents’ rights, yet the President and his right-wing allies are seeking political advantage by attacking senators for simply doing their job.
President Bush is intentionally misleading the public. Less than four percent of Bush’s nominees have been blocked, not a third as Bush recently suggested. The right-wing claim that racial, religious or gender bias is the reason opponents have filibustered a few of his nominees is a patently false political ploy. The handful of blocked nominees have been opposed because of their disturbing records, not their personal characteristics.
The filibuster is an important force for compromise. Filibusters have been a part of Senate rules from the very beginning. They are virtually the only way Democrats can force the administration to engage in bipartisanship consultation and compromise.
David W. Dunne,
Salinas
