We all remember the marathon filibuster that took place in the Senate in November 2003. All but two or three Democrats participated in this filibuster, and our caucus successfully blocked three of Bush's judicial nominees. Sen. Mary Landrieu provided one of the best filibuster speeches during these three days of madness. Not only was her speech coherent; it was accessible to the public who was viewing the trench warfare waged in that august chamber. I post this diary, as I desire to remind readers of Sen. Landrieu's potential.
Although Feinstein and Durbin may claim a filibuster will not be mounted against Alito, Harry Reid will determine if this is the strategy to be pursued during the Democratic Senate Caucus meeting on Wednesday. As of right now, or 5.20pm CST, only two Democratic Senators have voiced their opposition to an Alito filibuster. These Senators are Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
This is a short diary about activism. My mother, who recently moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, is frustrated, because she cannot contact any Senator who will even consider blocking Samuel Alito's nomination. But Democrats, she noted, held Bush below 60% in most of the Southern states. And yet, many of them have no representation in the Senate. But their opinions deserve to be heard, she maintains. We discussed this dilemma, and we formulated a strategy whereby Southern Democrats can ensure their opinions are voiced and heard this crucial weekend. I outline this strategy in the extended body.
I ask everyone to review minutes 2:46:00 and 2:47:00 of "Samuel Alito Supreme Court Justice Confirmation Hearings - Day 3, Afternoon Session (1/11/2006)". This is available at C-SPAN.
George W. Bush will speak to Economic Club of Chicago today at the Hilton Towers at 720 South Michigan Avenue at 12pm. He will tout his tax cuts and exhort Congress to pass his spending and revenue plans. But there is more to Bush's visit to the bastion of urban Democratic than meets the naive eye that refuses to join me in the extended body.
George W. Bush will speak at a fundraiser at the Chicago Hilton & Towers at 720 South Michigan Avenue on Friday, 6 JAN 2006. Please recommend, and please inform all Chicagoland residents of this protest. Although I am not a member of the organization who authored the announcement copied in the extended body, I support this protest, and I plan to attend it. I hope to see everyone there. Do we have any sign suggestions?
Although some blogs such as Modern Vertebrate in Chicago and the University of Virginia's Center for Politics refuse to acknowledge the competitive nature of the race for Jim Talent's Senate seat in Missouri in 2006, poll after poll indicate otherwise.
This is an interesting Letter to the Editor on the dynamics predicating the impending primary in Illinois's sixth district. It was published in the 21 DEZ 2005 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Many more of these letters will be written, even if the writer receives anonymous threats from "unavailable" callers on his home telephone. Did he trip upon some deeply held principle?
Although the author disagrees with certain editorial decisions made by the Chicago Sun-Times' staff, he will reproduce it in the extended body.
The Senate is presently debating the Patriot Act. A cloture vote will occur tomorrow morning, and both sides of the debate claim they have the votes to either kill or sustain a filibuster. Below are the positions of our Senators as of 10:46am CST, 15 DEC 2005:
Imagine activating a live stream of C-SPAN 1 only to discover a debate on a resolution that protects the symbols of Christmas from various "attacks." And imagine having a Jewish man from New York explain how this bill is discriminatory, asking the resolution's sponsor to consider the sanctity of other holidays' symbols. But the sponsor, a certain representative named JoAnn Davis from Virginia, stands rigidly before her microphone and utters as if she were an automaton: "But those symbols are not under attack; what is under attack are candy canes and Christmas lights."
As many have already noted, the filibuster is the topic of vociferous polemics both on the Senate floor and in the general media. Sen. Byrd had to school Sen. Frist on the filibuster, and many Senate Democrats have noted how the filibuster is still "on the table." Alhtough many claim this is impossible given the Memorandum of Understanding signed by 7 Senate Republicans and 7 Senate Democrats, there are a few technical aspects of that document that are worth reviewing.
Let us begin with a bit of history. Melissa Bean, running her first campaign against Phillip Crane in 2002, only garnered 43% of the vote, and she raised $329,027.
This diary considers the Republican party and its relationship to white hegemony. So Momma D comes to Washington. Disenfranchised, traumatized, rightfully exasperated, and equipped with too many stories to recount, she arrives to the Congressional hearing ready to air her concerns. Rep. McKinney is receptive, and Momma Dee understands McKinney to be responsible for this rare opportunity to articulate her concerns. Momma Dee showers her with gifts.
Equally outraged, McKinney prefaces the inquiry with three words whose resonance falls on the deaf ears of her Republican colleagues: poverty, war, inequality. And she repeats: poverty, war, inequality.
Because all of us are interested in the probability of a filibuster on the nomination of Samuel (SC)Alito, I thought I should calculate the rate at which each Senate Democrat and moderate Republican votes against George W. Bush's judicial nominees. Below I glean all roll call and cloture votes on Bush's nominees in which at least one Senator voted "NAY." Dividing the number of times each Senator "NAY" by the total number of times at least one Senator voted "NAY," I managed to obtain a rate that allowed me to seperate Senate Democrats and moderate and maverick Republicans into seven classes. Note also I had to adjust my divisions depending on when a particular Senator was elected to the Senate. Only one Senator qualified for class number 1, and you will discover who this is below. I guess you can consider this one Senator the guardian of our judiciary. View the votes and the results in the extended body.
Superribbie, of course, is the dean of the 2006 contest for the House, but I thought I would supplement his work with a list of Republican seats yet to be challenged.
Republicans presently occupy 231 of the 435 seats in the House. One seat is vacant, and one is held by the beloved Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
According to the DCCC and FEC filing reports, 109 of the Republicans' 231 seats remain uncontested. 47.2% of Republican seats are currently not contested. I list these seats below by state, and those listed by Superribbie as potentially competitive seats are placed in italics. The percentage of the vote the incumbent won in 2004 or the last special election is also provided.
Does anyone know who anyone who can run for these seats? Make suggestions in the comments section, please. We need to aggressively recruit D candidates for these seats, especially those emphasized in italics.
If you are not convinced of the importance of gaining a majority in the Senate in 2006, I hope the following will urge you to reconsider your position. Below are printed five peices of legislation proposed by Senate Repubicans. I provide brief explanations of the legislation, and I also list each bill's cosponsors. As you read the legislation, you will notice certain patterns, which I will explain below. You will also notice how aggressive these bills are in furthering George Bush's agenda. In many ways, this diary is meant to disgust, upset and mobilize the readers of DailyKos. Although some of this may not be very surprising, it can provide us with more ammunition during the 2006 midterm elections.
I quote from Howard Dean's article entitled "Dems Will Win House and Senate in 2006," which was published today in The Hill:
"This is a solid beginning, but there is more we must do. Cutting the fundraising advantage the other party enjoys from 3-1 to 2-1 is good but not good enough."
Efforts hitherto made by us and others have been "good," but, as Dean emphasizes, they are inadequate.
