Dem senators still trying to cut a deal on filibusters

[quaoar]

I smell a sell-out.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/19/AR2005051901862.html

The Republicans include John McCain (Ariz.), who has frequently challenged his own leaders and worked across party lines; John W. Warner (Va.), the Armed Services Committee chairman, who is reluctant to change the rules; Mike DeWine (Ohio), a member of the Judiciary Committee and one of the most active negotiators; and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), who has been in the thick of the fight over Social Security and now has jumped into the judicial negotiations.

Also involved are the senators from Maine, Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, who are among the chamber's leading Republican moderates, and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (Pa.), who has not said how he will vote on the rule change, participated yesterday.

Included in the Democratic group are some of the newest and oldest members of the Senate. Ben Nelson (Neb.), who has been at the forefront of finding a compromise, has always been one of the first in his party to seek compromise with Republicans. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) is a veteran legislator and leading Democratic centrist, although he has been reluctant to go as far as Republicans have asked in negotiations.

Ken Salazar (Colo.) is finishing his fifth month in the chamber, and Mark Pryor (Ark.) is in his third year. Then there is Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.), who was first elected in 1958, five years before Pryor was born; Byrd is a former Senate Democratic leader and the chamber's most vocal defender of its traditions. Mary Landrieu (La.) is also part of the Democratic group, and Kent Conrad (N.D.) got active yesterday.

[Catch22Dem]

1. I don't expect Byrd to be party to any selling out

I wonder what he's up to.

[quaoar]

2. Byrd is in it up to his elbows

This is from the LA Times:

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who has played a major role in seeking a compromise, said that much effort in the last few days had been spent on building trust among the group.

“Every time we’ve gotten together, we’ve increased that trust, that mutual respect and the desire to work together,” Nelson said after one session.

The talks disbanded in the early evening Thursday, with the senators agreeing to resume their deliberations Monday.

“Let’s pray about it,” said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., another of the leading negotiators.

The issue at the forefront of current negotiations is a proposal championed by Byrd and Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., to create an independent, bipartisan commission -- under the auspices of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- that would pick a nonbinding pool of nominees to propose to the president to fill any Supreme Court vacancies.

By proposing nominees, the commission would signal that the potential picks would have bipartisan support, said Byrd spokesman Tom Gavin.

[Clarkie1]

4. Sounds like a fine idea to me.

"The issue at the forefront of current negotiations is a proposal championed by Byrd and Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., to create an independent, bipartisan commission -- under the auspices of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- that would pick a nonbinding pool of nominees to propose to the president to fill any Supreme Court vacancies."

Good way to give the legislative branch more of a part in the conversation of proposing nominees; the framers would like that, they wanted the executive and legislative to work together on judicial nominations.

[flaminbats]

5. why not create a federal Department to simply hire new judges?

just call it the Department of Bureaucratized Authority! :patriot: :patriot: :patriot::patriot: :patriot::patriot: :patriot::patriot:

[flaminbats]

3. the golden question..How does a compromise now help them politically?

if Republicans remain in control of the Senate, these DINOs ultimately lose campaign contributions. If the filibuster fails, Democrats only have less influence on dangerous legislation or appointments. If these Senators filibuster until the neocons give-up, everyone wins..even rabid Republicans!