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Subscribe to RSSA first for President Obama's term in office: Republicans derailed his nominee for the federal bench.
The president's choice for 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Goodwin Liu, was blocked by the Senate after failing to reach the needed 60 votes to invoke cloture and proceed to a vote on the nomination itself.
Liu is a 39-year-old professor of law at University of California at Berkeley, and Republicans call him an ideologue who they believe would become a judicial activist if confirmed for the bench. Democrats pointed out the Liu received a wide range of endorsements. Liu had testified against the nominations of Supreme Court Justices Roberts and Alito.
Even GOP Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham -- who had been part of the so-called Gang of 14 that negotiated a deal to prevent judicial filibusters and defer to a president's choice except in "extraordinary cases" -- voted against Liu.
Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke with her party to support Liu's nomination.
Democrats needed seven Republicans to join them.
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For all those clamoring for Obama to make a break appointment better rethink setting this dangerous precedent. Republicans will occupy the White House again and if Obama uses this to excess than the green light will be on for them. No whining then Democrats.
The right has done it in the past, so has the left. It's part of the system and can't be used as a scare tactic. The only thing that could stop it is no recess. Let's see if the right has the berries to go for that option this time.
rangewolf, you should change your name to rangesheep.
Bet most of your beliefs come from Fox News, too bad, nothing but a bunch of liars.
You should change channels...........how bout spongebob.
You watch Sponge Bob? My kids watch that show also.
hey ---- don't knock spongebob.
go cry gal; you're pathetic
blocking dangerous left-wing radicals isnt blocking progress; it IS progress
it's funny how both the republicans and democrats forget that it's the independent voters who decide who gets elected, at all levels.
You know what I find frustrating. I never see articles about these people and their views on important topics, or their major cases. I only see stupid arguments about things that do not matter ("She will be the first female hispanic", "He is a professor of law at so and so"). Who cares about that crap. Give me the facts and stop trying to use the media to sway people to a certain point of view. So this person is a professor, what other qualifications does he have. Has he ever been a judge? What big cases has he tried? How did he settle those cases? Where does he stand on some of the important cases today? these are the things I want to know.
very true
Obama was a professor and look at the mess he is making due to the failure of the voters to inquire into his experience, background and political philosophy. Why expect any thing different for judges? Moron voters and moron Senators get what they deserve, a sinking ship manned by idiots that don't even know how to swim, let alone bail out the water or plug the hole.
debating a leftard is like arguing with a child. dems had 4 whole years as a majority of BOTH chambers of Congress to repeal the Bush tax cuts if they really though the tax cuts were what devastated the economy as the left likes to whine about. 2 of those 4 years Dems had a Dem president and one of those they had a filibuster-proof majority
Why are complaining about this. Did the Repubs filibuster? Yes. But politics is a dog eat dog world. If the Dems wanted this enough, they should have sat through the filibuster.
Good Good And Double Good we don't need radicals on the bench
oppie; you can call the bush tax cuts whatever you want to. if it makes you feel better to call them obama's then go right ahead. obama did say it was the right thing to do when he signed the bill extending them. i'll give him credit for doing a republican-like thing if you will. if you want to call them the bush tax cuts that obama like a hundred dems voted to extend then thats' cool too
Funny thing is, if those tax cuts never happened under Bush, perhaps the economy would not have been so bad off that a bail out, stimulus and extended tax cuts wouldn't have been needed. I thought tax cuts produce jobs and promote capitalism. Ten years of tax cuts, leading into a terrible economy, how is that possible. At that rate we should be able to wipe America out in no time if we can just continue to cut taxes. since government is the problem, and the private market has had us on the right track for the last decade.
the average bush unemployment rate is just 5.2%. i'd say they worked fine. what changed? a dem congress came in and EXPLODED spending over what it was during the bush years. chew on that
oppie ---- i defy you to prove that none of the recent private industry jobs were a result of either those tax cuts, or investment by wealthy people.
Well I can't deny that those things have helped the economy, but you also have to admitt that job losses were increasing over the last decade, while those tax cuts were in effect. As far as wealthy people creating jobs, you don't need to hire a person to create a job, that s a nice talking point since it ties the employer to the idea of a job. People that spend money also create jobs. If you really think the wealthy can spend enough to promote the economy back to a good level, then I ask exactly how many wealthy people do we have and what are they buying. Its those people that aren't wealthy and make up a much larger portion of the population that purchase many more goods and services due to their shear numbers that really drive job creation. I would sooner take 5% of Fords profits for a year than I would Ferrari's, even tho more rich people buy Ferrari's then chevy's.
it's a tough call --- i live in a resort town, with resort hotels, most owned by very wealthy people ---- one in particular has recently hired 5 additional employees. ---- i'd guess that those 5 people are happy about the owner's optimistic view of the upcoming tourist season. ----- and it could be a coincidence, but i found it curious that those positions became available shortly after the tax cuts were extended.
And that might be fine if the future of America is service related. We seem to be moving toward the service and entertainment end of things. But that is where the lower paying jobs are. I just don't think it's good for America as a whole when we are pushing the purchasing powerhouse of the American economy into lower paying careers.
i'm uncertain about your ferrari/chevy reference ---- i know some fairly wealthy people who drive or are driven in high-end chevy and ford products. ------------- as to low-end jobs, i agree there seem to be a lot of them, but it is also true that someone has to fill those positions, and who better to do so than those people who will unlikely ever attend higher education, through no fault of their own ---- not everyone is geared up intellectually for higher education, no matter how much money you may try to shovel into the situation.
it's been awhile, so i no longer recall the website, but the article i read demonstrated just how many people in this country are employed either directly or indirectly related to the purchases of goods and services by the wealthy.
btw ---- do you have any idea how much a high-end auto mechanic makes ?? ---- i wouldn't turn down that kind of money if i had the talent to do the work.
I'm back with hard questions for Rob - unemployment was at 4% when Bush took office. What was it in January, 2009?
Oil was $25 a barrel when Bush took office. What was it in January, 2009?
Bush inherited a 236 billion dollar budget surplus. What was the budget surplus/deficit in 2009?
People are calling each other losers, socialist, idiots and other bad names. Just because someone disagrees with your political views, why call them names and insult them. My hope is that these are teenagers and not adults posting here. If these are the adults that vote and represent the American public we are really in bad shape. Blaming each other for any problems that exist and each side saying the other side hates America is so juvenile. I don't have to list peoples names, if you insult and name call this is about you, other respectful people posting this doesn't apply.
i agree, with one small exception ---- being called a socialist is only a bad name if you are of the opinion that socialism is evil. ----- if a person espouses socialistic ideals, it is unlikely he or she will be offended for being labeled properly. ----- in the same way, a person who espouses conservative values is unlikely to be offended for being called conservative. --- etc, etc, etc.
remember all the seniority lost in the 2010 elections ??? ---- well, hang onto your hats folks, because 2012 is looking like another year of major changes in federal, state, and local govts.
Some seniority is just as well being lost. If you have legislators imitating weathervanes in turning in whatever direction the Tea Party tells them to, Democrats playing the role of wannabe deficit hawks, and both sides, it seems, unwilling to impose a fair tax rate on the wealthy, I'd say good riddance, at least ( but not restricted ) to those I've cited.
keep in mind that the teaparty did not achieve those changes all by themselves ----- nobody, at any level, gets elected without independent voter support.
hiheels ---- that is a good point ---- i have yet to receive any feedback yet on that subject from any of my associates.
ronpal: re # 141.2: That's true,as far as it goes, but the notion of the tea party as a grass-roots outfit that grew huge on the strength of its ideas is, I'm convinced, quite false. They must have been astonished to find that they were garnering so much attention ( actually, it's probably that they were monumentally incurious ). I mean, groups whose platforms are much more coherent then the tea party's are roundly ignored in the media. Rather, I think the networks and the papers could not dare to ignore an asroturf outfit with so many well-heeled backers.
i think what led to the notoriety of the teaparty is their visibility ---- you might be surprised to learn that there are other groups of people, equally influential, who work behind the scenes to promote changes. ----- none of those elections which were claimed as victories by the teaparty happened without independent voter assistance.
Again, true enough. But in our media-drenched society, visibilty doesn't just happen, it's conferred. A choice ( actually multiple choices ) were made to have them "seen" ( and seen as legitimate ). Their "ideas" were less a factor ( I'm saying ) in that choice than the fact that those ideas served the agenda(s) of their benefactor(s).
but it was some of those ideas which got other groups of people involved, including the people i associate with, who are independent voters. ---- the teaparty is mostly republican voters. ------- and many of the mass-media attention labeled and still labels, the teaparty as kooks. ---- what they do not realize is that there are many other people out there who like some of those ideas, and who are also promoting those ideas, albeit without all the publicity. ------ trust me, the people i associate with are totally interested in publicity.
oops, i meant totally UNinterested in publicity.
the point i'm trying to make here is that the teaparty is only one group of people, albeit one which receives significant media attention. ----- however, no matter what the teaparty might do, or not do, nobody gets elected without independent voter assistance. ----- in 2008, independent voters voted against mccain ---- in 2012, i believe we will again witness independent voters voting against a candidate, rather than for a candidate.
The constitution gives the Senate the power to advise and consent to judicial nominees appointed by the Executive Branch. It doesn't give them the power to delay forever. Judicial activism! Give me a f-ing break! Citizens United wasn't really judicial activism. Right!? What unmitigated gall!
Liu is a highly qualified judicial nominee. He is well aligned with the mainstream of American society. He is not some wild eyed alter-Scalia.
The way people are attacking each other is shamefull. People call themselves liberals or conservatives and think they are better than others who they consider having different political alliances. People are neither all liberal nor all conservative. except for the very radical extremist, most people have a little of both depending on the situation. There are conservatives getting unemployment checks and other government benefits and there are liberals who are against abortion and same sex marraige. There is a fine line between discrimination and conservatism and also a thin line between liberalism and lack of social morals. Hopefully most people fall somewhere in the middle and don't cross the line. We are more alike than different, politicians want to divide and conquer, don't fall into the trap. Use your own mind and look at the person not their party.
there are people who think that way ---- they are called independent voters.
The Republican party of No and Hate....vote them out.
The republicans don't hate everybody. If you are rich and white, they love you!
No wonder this country is in political gridlock-all the postings on here are extreme left and right views and attacks.........you people need to take a valium and step aside so the moderates from each party can actually get something done without you holding the rest of us hostage.
We need a Chinese guy on the Supreme Court, it will make it more inscrutable
lol ---------------------------------------------------- actually, i wonder if the chinese have been influencing any elections or appointments......
We do have a black guy on the supreme court but he doesn't know he is black.
You left wingers can't actually believe what you post. It is okay to pay the bills with borrowed money? To threaten not to pay the military unless the debt limit is raised and now to take the money from pensions. Do you really think this will happen. Sweet that Obama is the hero for the killing of bin Laden. Feel safer? Do you like having the DOJ's claim to fame their expertise in defending terrorists? The IRS is now a tool to tax donations made to conservatives. Why do we need the NLRB to tell Boeing where to build their factories? Not a a right to work state. The middle east is on fire and what have we done to build allies, there? Why did gas have to pass $4.50 (in California) to get drilling going?
So the Republicans stop a socialist judge from Cal Berkeley from an appointment and that is the end of the world? You got two in the Supreme Court that will some day wreak havoc. Of course, not in your mind. Liberals are amazing. Taking the country down. Tell me some good news.
Bush is no longer president. This is good news.
The two in the Supreme court - are you talking about the two that are owned by the Koch brothers?
I have heard that humans share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees making them our closes relative. I don’t agree. I think that republicans are closer to human than chimpanzees. Why? Republicans can speak although they just repeat things they have heard with no understanding of what it means. And, we can cross breed with them. This is not advisable as the children turn out weird. Some think that the tea party is a result of this cross breeding.
You need to STOP drinking Obama koolaid! I just hope you don't operate heavy equipment? Geez the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Seen big foot lately...say hello? Why is it liberals when they are losing the arguement turn to ugly mean comments? Why are you so angry?
Edward. I'm not angry. I understand your problem is genetics and not your fault. Your parents should not have been allowed to breed.
Thank goodness, how many liberal loons can we survive on the court? With every passing day Obama shows more and more of his liberal agenda. Given this is a center right nation he is handing the Republicans a gift for 2012. Just look at his throwing Israel under the bus? This President wants to choose Palestine murders over the Jews? Obama is a one term wonder! Anybody but Obama in 2012 is what most Amercians want for this nation. Question: If Obamacare is so good why so many vouchers? Pelosi and Reed lead the race for giving out waivers for this wonderful healthcare program.......transparency is not a Hip Hop group!!!
obama care as you call it contains..guaranteed coverage, for kids, prexisting conditions,lower taxes for small businesses,lower premiums, lower co-pays.kids on till 25.more and more.. conservative care...denial of coverage, outrageous premiums and co-pays.ins. co. able to deny coverage for anyreason.limited coverage.more and more.. now lets see which one would i choose.. humm conservative care.. i don't think so, i want to live longer. so i'll choose obamacare any day.
Edward is just repeating what he has heard on Fox or from Rush Limbaugh. Trying to communicate with him won't work. I think the kookaid comments come from Fox.
its amazing how the gop constantly filibusters everything the dems want to do from bills to judges.but when the dems try to do the same they are called unamerican,etc.Phil grahm was right when he said that "we are becoming a nation of whinners."he was talking about themselves...all the republicans do is whine and cry when they don't get their way.hold things hostage if you don't agree with them.like a little kid holding their breath untill they get their way.stop crying and grow up and be a professional and do what you are supposed to do, compromise and do whats best for all not just the top 1%, we are all americans .
Politics to the end I suppose. Democrats won't approve Republicans nominees without crying and neither will Republicans approve the Democrats nominees.
But remember it's only fair if it's in the liberals favor.
Great news!! And great comments by Rangewolf.
"comment collapsed by the community" is WRONG!
Zath, I was raised in Berkeley and very happy to live in environment that is open to everyone even wing-nuts like you are welcome. The majority of Americans voted for Obama we are the mainstream, wing-nuts are in the minority!
I've had a very long look at republican conservatism from Dick Nixon forward. I am not impressed with the way they handle domestic policy and international affairs. It seems that they have lost sight of what America stood for after WWII. After WWII we actually extended a helping hand to our defeated enemies and helped rebuild Europe and Japan with the Marshall Plan. It stimulated their economies and created trade for the U.S. at the same time building a ton of goodwill. Not so these days, not under the republicans. Greed rules, all one has to do in order to understand this is look at how we went about extending our "helping hand" in Iraq. It was a disaster, the U.S. coporations contracted to help in the process turned out to be nothing more than looters blessed by the Bush administration. Same thing applies to the legislature, the republican ruled congress did its best to gut finance rules and regulation in favor of allowing the banking industry and wall street to "regulate" themselves. Again the looters went wild and the treasury of the U.S. was robbed. What gets me is how the American populace can still vote for these folks when the evidence of their corruption is so appearant.