gang of 14
Posted at 12:01pm on Jan. 19, 2008 The Gang of 14 helped Bush?
the hardline left was neutered by the gang
By Charles Bird
Two writers from the Weekly Standard made the case that the Gang of 14 proved a success for President Bush and the GOP. For one thing, there was a better-than-even chance that the Frist-led "nuclear option" would crash and burn. For another, except for two judges unfortunately thrown under the bus, Bush's Supreme Court and circuit court nominees were confirmed.
But over the course of the subsequent months, the Gang of 14's agreement proved to be an unequivocal success for proponents of judicial nominations: not only did President Bush successfully seat two conservative judges in the face of vociferous liberal opposition, but he also succeeded in seating a number of controversial lower-court nominees who previously had languished under the filibuster. While the agreement's "extraordinary circumstances" clause was vague and perhaps even unenforceable, the Gang never allowed it to be used successfully to allow a filibuster--most likely because the Gang of 14 also did not foreclose ultimate resort to the nuclear option in such situations.
More below the fold...
Posted in Congress | filibuster | gang of 14 | The Judicial Confirmation Wars — Comments (37)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:43am on Jan. 17, 2008 Trip Down Memory Lane: John McCain & the Bush Tax Cuts
By Martin A. Knight
Over the past few days, many McCain supporters have regaled us with their own unique remembrances of John McCain's opposition to President Bush's tax cuts from the campaign in 2000 and afterwards, after Bush was inaugurated. According to them, McCain never used the Democrats' Tax Cuts for the Rich™ class warfare rhetoric to justify his opposition and instead opposed them because there were no attendant spending cuts to go with it.
Posted in Archived | bipartisanship | bush tax cuts | gang of 14 | McCain | mccain-edwards | mccain-feingold | mccain-kennedy — Comments (72) / Email this page » / Read More »
