Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Thanks for the Info Senator Dole

Given my feelings towards Senator Dole, it seems funny to receive her mailings. I certainly never signed up for any mailings from her...or at least I never signed up for snail mailings. Also, I never "contact[ed her] regarding the judicial nominations process." Still, to the point, her letter is misleading.

While senators should not rubber stamp the judicial nominees of presidents they support, they also should not engage in foot-dragging or character assassination when nominations come from presidents whom they oppose.

But Republicans initiated a filibuster against a judicial nominee in 1968, forcing Democratic president Lyndon Johnson to withdraw the nomination of Associate Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas to be chief justice. Then-Sen. Robert Griffin (R-MI) recognized at the time that denying nominees a vote was already an established practice. "It is important to realize that it has not been unusual for the Senate to indicate its lack of approval for a nomination by just making sure that it never came to a vote on the merits...Cloture votes were also necessary to obtain floor votes on Clinton judicial nominees Richard A. Paez and Marsha L. Berzon in 2000, and Republicans attempted to filibuster the nomination of U.S. District Judge H. Lee Sarokin to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1994...The Republican-controlled Senate blocked approximately 60 Clinton nominees through other means.


Today the federal judiciary is facing a vacancy crisis...Due to lengthy delays in the judicial nomination and confirmation process...


Are Democrats Causing Delays in Court?
Contrary to a pro-Bush TV ad, Republicans share the blame for "empty courtrooms," and delays are shorter now than they were before Bush.
May 6, 2005
A multimillion-dollar ad campaign blames Democrats for the fact that "courtrooms sit empty." In fact, there are now half as many judicial vacancies as when Bush took office. And of the 46 federal judgeships that remain vacant, Bush has named only 16 replacements.

The ad also says cases are being delayed in federal courts for "thousands of Americans." Actually, official statistics show cases typically being decided more quickly now than they were in 1999, when it was Republicans opposing Clinton's judicial nominees.

Nice Lie, Senator Dole.

Senators should not be able to hide from accountability to their constituents.


With respect to judicial nominations, the most effective tactic in opposition has been to bottle them up in committee. In the later years of the Clinton presidency, the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was controlled by Republicans, did not hold hearings for as many as 60 of his nominees, according to Democrats. They argue that this refusal to even consider President Clinton's nominees was just as effective in blocking them as a filibuster.


So, where is your accountability Senator Dole? Have you been so jaded by your decades in Washington that you cannot see your hypocrisy?

Dole Stands Up To...Oh Forget It, She's a Neoconservative Shill

Remember our compassionate conservative?

Dole called for civility in politics and a more compassionate government. "Reagan conservatism wore a smile, and it was contagious," she said.


Remember Elizabeth Dole, who called for accountability in our government...
Accountability is the cornerstone of what makes NCLB so bold and visionary.


Well, it seems as if what is good for the goose is verboten for the gander. In a stunning move, Elizabeth Dole has called forth the Republican Senate to protect Senator Rick Santorum from himself.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Senate Republican campaign chairman, has assigned fellow Republicans to defend Sen. Rick Santorum from increasingly harsh Democrat attacks on the floor as he faces a tough re-election in Pennsylvania...Although Santorum is third ranking in the party's Senate hierarchy as Republican Conference chairman, his colleagues have not risen to support him. Under Dole's plan, a designated Republican senator will take the floor in Santorum's defense whenever needed.


Well, his colleagues have not risen to defend him. I wonder why? Senator Santorum has made some horrendous statements in the past year, alienating himself from Pennsylvanians far and wide as well as true Republicans. He has stolen money from his local school district, lied about his place of residence, and offered scorn to Hurricane Katrina victims instead of compassion. Yet, this is the man that Elizabeth Dole is calling on all Republicans to protect. I think it of the utmost importance that North Carolinians see what kind of Neoconservative Freak Senator Dole considers worthy of so much time and effort.

Click here to see a video of Just Weird Rick.

"What the Democrats are doing is the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying, 'I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me. How dare you bomb my city? It's mine.' This is no more the rule of the senate than it was the rule of the senate before not to filibuster." On the Filibuster...the FILIBUSTER!

“Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.” That damn Paul Revere and his minutemen...

"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties, candidly, on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." On Hurricane Katrina SURVIVORS.

"In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might find they don't both need to."

"I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn't exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution."

In November 2004, a controversy erupted over education costs for the Senator's children. Santorum's legal address is in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, but he lives most of the year at his home in Leesburg, Virginia near Washington, DC. Santorum's five older children received education through the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School with 80% of tuition costs paid by the Penn Hills School District.(His Penn Hills address is a two bedroom apartment in which a relative makes permanent residence.)

At a meeting in November 2004, the Penn Hills School District announced that it did not believe Santorum met the qualifications for residency status since he and his family spend most of the year in Virginia. They demanded repayment of tuition costs totaling $100,000. From Wikipedia

Monday, September 19, 2005

September 5th - Dole Finds Her Voice On Relief

It is now September 5th and the worst of Katrina has passed by, leaving death and destruction in its wake. Senator Elizabeth Dole has been unusually quiet, offering to Press Releases about Katrina. But, now, that the full human trauma and drama that is the Gulf of Mexico has become apparent - Elizabeth Dole makes her voice heard.

NORTH CAROLINA TO RECEIVE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR PROVIDING REFUGE TO HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUEES

September 5th, 2005 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole today applauded President Bush for declaring that an emergency exists in North Carolina as the state provides refuge to more than 1,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees...I am very pleased the President recognizes the generosity of North Carolinians and has pledged this aid to allow our state to best provide assistance to these folks who desperately need our help.”


Thank you Elizabeth Dole for your words on...the need for Hurricane...relief...in...North Carolina? Do you have anything for the Gulf? Or, do you agree with your fellow Republicans?
Barbara Bush said today, referring to the
poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them."

"Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" Rep. Tom DeLay

"What didn't go right?'" –President Bush, as quoted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after she urged him to fire FEMA Director Michael Brown "because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right" in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." –Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA)

September 1st - Focused Like a Laser in Times of Trouble

It is September 1st, 2005 - the worst of Katrina is upon us. The dead are floating in the street. Babies are dying. Women are being raped, men are being beaten. Elderly left behind are drowning. Hell on earth has occurred in the United States.

Elizabeth Dole is focused like a laser on America's Biggest Fear.

SENATOR DOLE WELCOMES DECISION TO INVOKE TEXTILE SAFEGUARDS

September 1st, 2005 - - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole today announced that the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) decided to invoke the China safeguards to limit imports on two categories, synthetic filament fabric and brassieres and other body-supporting garments. CITA extended until October 1, 2005 the deadline for making a determination on four other categories: cotton and man-made fiber sweaters; cotton and man-made fiber dressing gowns and robes; men’s and boys’ wool trousers; and knit fabric.


Once again, Eliabeth Dole safeguards our nation by serving as the Panty Police.