The cat's out of the bag.
As TyroneSlothrup just reported in his lastest diary, Bill Frist and the Repugs in the Senate have decided to get rid of the 60-vote requirement to end a filibuster on judicial nominees.
Since the election, we haven't had the right issue to fight the Repugs on. THIS IS IT. It's time to go nuclear. Why? Judicial nominations matter. Chief Justice Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court by Nixon in 1972. That's 32 years ago! For 32 years, that bastard has been trying to restrict our liberties. He voted against Roe v. Wade. He voted to invalidate the Violence Against Women Act. He twice voted to permit states to criminalize sodomy. He voted for Bush in Bush v. Gore. He voted to restrict the Americans with Disabilities Act. He voted to severely restrict affirmative action.
(more in extended entry)
If the Repugs succeed in getting rid of the 60-vote requirement, they will stuff the courts--not just the Supreme Court, but the lower courts--with judges like Rehnquist. There are currently
29 federal court vacancies, and you can believe that a lot of Nixon and Reagan appointees will retire during Bush's second term. Moreover, the GOP could expand the number of judgeships to pack the courts even further with right-wing ideologues.
WE MUST STAND AND FIGHT ON THIS ISSUE. Even if we defeat bush in 2008, these nominees could take away our rights for the next 30 years.
It won't be easy to stop the Repugs from doing this. We won't be able to filibuster this rule change--they can do it with a simple majority of Senators by having the presiding officer declare that only 51 votes is needed to end a filibuster. We would need 51 votes to overturn that determination. That means our focus should be (1) getting six Repugs to vote against this change and (2) telling our side to fight by filibustering other Repug legislation (which is still subject to the 60-vote rule) until we can convince the Repugs to give up. That's going nuclear, sure--but it's the only choice we have.
What can we do? Start contacting Senators and tell them that you want them to fight to the death against this rule:
Reid, Harry - (D - NV)
528 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3542
Email form: http://reid.senate.gov/email_form.cfm
Durbin, Richard - (D - IL)
332 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2152
Email Form: http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.htm
Other contact information for senators is here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
We don't just need to contact Dem Senators. Start contacting moderate Repugs:
Chafee, Lincoln - (R - RI)
141A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2921
Email Form: chafee.senate.gov/webform.htm
Collins, Susan - (R - ME)
172 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2523
Email Form: collins.senate.gov/low/contactemail.htm
Snowe, Olympia - (R - ME)
154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5344
E-mail: olympia@snowe.senate.gov
Specter, Arlen - (R - PA)
711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4254
E-mail: arlen_specter@specter.senate.gov
McCain, John - (R - AZ)
241 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2235
Email Form: mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Contact.Home
Hagel, Chuck - (R - NE)
248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4224
Email Form: hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact
Let Dems and moderate Repugs know that they MUST TAKE A STAND HERE.