OK, so is the “Group of 14” deal that thwarted the nuclear option a good one or not? Who wins? Who loses? Blogging doesn’t lend itself well to subtleties and unforeseen variables, but I think it’s fair to call this arrangement a “mixed bag.” On the surface, Dems didn’t gain very much at all. They […]
Details are sketchy, and everything will be clearer in the morning, but it looks like an 11th hour compromise has been reached that will avoid the nuclear option. Senators from both parties reached a compromise Monday night to avoid a showdown on President Bush’s stalled judicial nominees and the Senate’s own filibuster rules. “We have […]
Harry Reid has taken some risks when it comes to the fight over the nuclear option, but he’s consistently been successful in a) making Bill Frist look bad; and b) getting his message out. Tonight, however, Reid will take his communications strategy to a new level. Reid’s office just sent out an alert explaining that […]
The six-by-six negotiators will continue to try and work out some kind of deal that will short circuit the nuclear option. But let’s say it doesn’t work out and the matter comes to the floor tomorrow for a vote. How’s this going to play out? Harry Reid says he’s “cautiously optimistic,” while Mitch McConnell answered […]
Through most of the fight over the nuclear option, it’s seemed, at least on the surface, as though the White House has been on the outside looking in. Senate Republicans were the ones who came up with the idea in 2003, conservative activists have been demanding it ever since, and the debate has put Bill […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Californians apparently don’t mind electing actors as governor, so Warren Beatty is apparently mulling a bid. After delivering a blistering critique of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s leadership of the state, Beatty initially indicated he […]
Some may be tempted, especially if they don’t think Harry Reid doesn’t have the votes, to give in on the nuclear option and let Owen, Brown, Pryor, et al win confirmation votes. After all, a bad judge here and there can’t make too big a difference, right? Especially on appeals courts, where there are multiple […]
W. David Hager was a ridiculous choice to serve on an FDA panel on an advisory panel on the safety and effectiveness of drugs for use in obstetrics. After all, before Bush tapped him for the job, Hager was best known for writing a book advocating Bible reading as an appropriate treatment for PMS, denying […]
Barring a last-minute compromise, here’s what’s going to happen tomorrow on the nuclear option fight: Bill Frist will try to end debate on Priscilla Owen’s judicial nomination. If there are fewer than 60 votes to do so (and there will be), Frist will call a point of order arguing that the filibuster is unconstitutional. The […]
If you missed last night’s report on abstinence education on 60 Minutes, you missed a stunning segment on the painfully absurd abstinence-only policy that is now commonplace across the country. The fiasco is a microcosm of everything that’s wrong with the Bush administration’s approach to public policy. The report focused on Silver Ring Thing, an […]