Friday, June 5, 2015

Last Call For The Wrath Of The Turtle

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was torched by the USA Freedom Act, looking like a complete fool when the rest of the Senate dropped him like a hot potato to sign on to the NSA reform measure earlier this week.  Now he's taking out his turtley rage upon President Obama, announcing a permanent blockade on any and all Obama federal judicial nominees -- including Supreme Court appointments.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) indicated in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday that no federal appeals court judges — or, for that matter, Supreme Court justices — will be confirmed in the coming year. In response to a question about judicial confirmations, McConnell told Hewitt that “so far, the only judges we’ve confirmed have been federal district judges that have been signed off on by Republican Senators” (district judges are the lowest rank of federal judges under Article III of the Constitution). When Hewitt followed up by asking if McConnell believes this pattern will continue for “the balance of the session,” the majority leader replied “I think that’s highly likely, yeah.” 
The term “session” refers to a one-year period of congressional business.

If McConnell carries out his threat to confirm no appellate judges in the next year, that would be an extraordinary departure from prior practice. According to the Federal Judicial Center, the Senate confirmed six appeals court judges in President George W. Bush’s seventh year in office, despite the fact that the Senate was controlled by Democrats. Presidents Clinton and Reagan also spent their seventh year in office in a period of divided government when the opposite party controlled the Senate, and yet the Senate confirmed 7 appeals court judges during that part of the Clinton presidency and it confirmed 10 appeals court judges during the same period in the Reagan presidency.

So that's fair, right?  President Obama got a bill passed, so he has to be punished.  This is how the modern GOP works, folks.

4 comments:

RepubAnon said...

They're still handing out payola to Alaskan citizens even though the state can't pay it's bills? Most corporations don't pay dividends if they're running at a loss ... so much for "running government like a business."

Horace Boothroyd III said...

Looks to me like the Republicans are falling back upon the Laboratories of Democracy, working out the kinks in the government shutdown program, such that the next time they try it at the federal level it won't blow up in their faces again. Given the way the Kossacks are hashing out the mechanics of a progressive/libertarian alliance, the GOP may be using those tactics again sooner than they fear.

Marcy_Shale said...

So if you notice, cool aid drinking fat stupid blacks can bash queers to the tittering appoval of the masses. there is your privilege. This is why straight blacks are like a two way mirror in the bathroom of life. I used to feel like there was something wrong with my instinctual fear and dislike of straight blacks, then i realized I don't feel it around queer blacks. Anyway as a queer I think hatred and loathing of straight blacks is entirely justified and not racist. So good job hatestalking nigras i hope the cops really do start killing you in the streets, for obama! every little bit helps.

Jado said...

Wow. It's almost like the Republican leadership is willing to do anything, no matter how unprecedented, to impose their version of control over things. You know, like vindictive teenage girls in high school.

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