Dems to Bush: No recess appointments for you
Just yesterday, word leaked that Senate Dems, unwilling to see what kind of mischief the president might consider during the congressional recess, might keep the chamber open with a series of pro forma sessions.
Apparently, this wasn’t just a trial balloon — Roll Call reports that Harry Reid pulled the trigger on the idea today.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has decided to keep the chamber in session over the Thanksgiving break to block President Bush from making any unsavory recess appointments while Senators are out of town.
In a statement inserted in the record Friday, the Majority Leader said he will hold the Senate in a series of pro forma or nonvoting sessions to prevent the controversial practice. In the statement, Reid argued that nominations need to get on track, and that Bush has not met the Democrats “halfway” in agreeing to Democratically backed nominees to “important commissions.”
“While an election year looms, significant progress can still be made on nominations,” Reid said. “I am committed to making that progress if the President will meet me halfway. But that progress can’t be made if the President seeks controversial recess appointments and fails to make Democratic appointments to important commissions.”
Good for Reid. He’d considered this move before, but was reluctant to go through with it. Today, he made the right call.
Now that the recess has been cancelled, Congress has time for impeachment investigations.
Finally, after years of impersonating a whining doormat, Reid did his job!
/golfclap.
that flimsy looking whitebread cracker-boy, it's about time to see some juevos
wow.
just wow.
um...great job Dems?
Yes. yes, great job Dems!
Well, it is about time! This administration needs to be impeached. But preventing Bush from making recess appointments is an important step in curtailing the criminality of this rogue administration. What took so long?
Reid is an ass and should be voted out next election. . He should have figured this type of parlimentary action BEFORE now and had it ready to implement it to get the war ended - especially after the last election when Dems took control. Instead, he and Pelosi whored and sold out (again) all of us who had thought we elected representatives to end the war and stop the billion dollar a minute spending on the unilateral debacle. Thanks, dumbass.....you're a whole election too late.
Whoopee! After 7 years, the Dem-o-crats do something useful. Now, Harry and Nancy, let's take the next step.....IMPEACH the BASTARDS!!
Mama, Mama! What's that speck doing in the petri dish??
Hush,child. That's the little cell that will eventually grow into a SPINE for Harry Reid. And about fucking time, too.
As bad as I have been downing the REID Guy, I'm gonna send him a big ol' "ATTA BOY" RITE DAMN NAU, AND HOPE YAWL'LL DO DA SAME!
Can anybody answer this? In the constitution it states that recess appointments are subject to ratification in the next session. Why is a recess appointment now considered permanent? Was there an ammendment, or is it worked out in the congressional rules?
Reid is basically saying, "We have to babysit you now to make sure you don't let in strangers."
The drudgies are in full attack mode against progressiveism, San Francisco, and Mark Morford. Please help!!! http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/
Here's an example of their hate: "Wow I didn't think you S.F. twinks belived in god? Ok well it was much better under Bill if you talk I will kill you Clinton who taught our kids that its ok to cheat on your wife with any whore that will blow you. It was Clintons administration that tied the hands of the CIA that allowed the 911 tragety. Has there been another attack since then??????????? I rest my case. P.S. Prostitution is legal by virtue of Roe vs Wade read the ruling and prove me wrong....If you can justify murder you can justify sex." (posted by someone called "Idontgiveashit"... how mature)
Two thumbs up for Harry Reid.
(If The Dummy would get with the program, we could make it All Thumbs Up)
Should Bush be considered more honest than Nixon, because he never said 'I am not a crook'?
about time. good job!
Finally, some good news. It's a baby step, but it's a beginning. Now repeat after me , IMPEACH, INDICT, CONVICT.
Colour me cynical thanks to the ROLLOVER inactions of Reid, Pelosi, Feinstein, Schumer and Emmanuel, but I am not holding my breath.
Are these just theatrics to keep We The People into thinking they are fighting back bush and his unAmerican activities?
I hope Reid does succeed with his plan because it will help him in a big way to regain so much credibility he and the other sellout Democrats have lost.
Must be some chatter on the wires about a possible plot.
Somebody's been getting his calcium lately. The spine is getting stronger, it seems.
How stupid is CNN?
I was JUST watching "Situation Room", and Wolf Blitzer said they were all heading home for Thanksgiving! Is Wolf not being kept up to date on the news during his LIVE show? (Wolf also went on to call the Dem-led congress a "Do-Nothing Congress". Can you believe he said that?!? I guess oversight and corruption investigations are doing nothing.)
The media is really in terrible shape.
Let's see.....The Republicans block $50 billion in funding for the troops in Iraq because the funding is tied to withdrawal, instead of being a blank check and now the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Reid has grown a backbone.
Has hell frozen over?
See how easy that was? Now, impeach.
a spine ... a spine ... my kingdom for a spine!!!!
this is great, it's just like mailing the junk mailers their own junk mail back in their return envelop. it will cost them for being stupid.
SHEEEEIIIITTTTT!
This means that little 17 year-old nephew of G.W.'s who's been humpin' calves all summer down on the Crawford ranchita is gonna have to wait 'till Xmas for his Assistant A.G. appointment.
RMac @ 6:
if we could vote we would vote out your deceptive ass too........take the spoon out, you have eaten too much of your own sh t..........
Hmmm.... SOUNDS good... we'll see... He and DiFi making waves all of the sudden... Hmmm, we'll see where this all goes... Now IF they wanted to show some real balls? They'd get behind Kucinich and put that 'I' word on 'some kind of table'.. And I don't mean some backroom table to be ignored.... JD
ChrisM70 @ 20:
We assume that's a rhetorical question. :)
With this and the war funding vote especially, the Dems will be under a lot of pressure to fold. I think we need to be loud in support, and let them know we have their backs, to help keep their spines stiffened. Yesterday, I was as disgusted as anyone but yesterday's over. A real Dem Congress is finally back in session. bush just abused them one too many times.
Good. We need more of this kind of thing. If Bush can't be removed and can't be shut down, then block his quasi-legal shenanigans.
It's a pretty safe play, as things go, but at this point I'd like to see the Dems get a few more in the win column rather than back down on the big enchilada: the phoney baloney "showdown" over the war budget which they KNOW they're going to cave on and yet don't mind pretending to the base that they're actually going to stick with it past the holidays.
Jo @ 8:
My God, what has happened........ I am so shocked they showed some spine that I am waiting for them to retract it in their next statement. Grow little cell.....please grow.....
the Dems will be under a lot of pressure to fold. I think we need to be loud in support, and let them know we have their backs, to help keep their spines stiffened.
Absolutely. They're saying the right things. Now we must work to make them do the right things.
Oh, sorry, there's that crazy 'support the rhetoric' idea again. What I meant to say was: Vote for Feinstein! She's a Democrat!
I'll believe it when it happens.
Again, this action by Reid will do nothing with this stand, because Bush is just keeping in temporary posts of his toadies, and retaining complete control of these agencies...the result is the same!
not only rein him in on his recess appointments and any other evil he feels he can concoct between now and the time he leaves in disgrace, find a way to impeach him and his croney, darth. Support kucinich now.
YES!!!!!!!
At LAST they've done something that really makes a difference.
Better late than never....
Knowing the Democratic leadership, they'll talk tough, threaten to not recess and then leave anyways confident that they sent Bush a "message".
not only rein him in on his recess appointments and any other evil he feels he can concoct between now and the time he leaves in disgrace,
Here's an idea: have the appropriate committees in the House and the Senate open a review of Bush's signing statements.
Those are the silent killers here. They will lay Bush's evil little mind out for the public to see.
Signing statements are intended to clarify the president's interpretation of the law he's signing. It's just and appropriate for Congress to review those interpretations and to address any disagreement.
We're talking about hundreds of instances of the president saying "I follow the law unless I decide not to." Surely, with Hillary on the rise, the Republicans' sense of self-preservation can be appealed to?
Suppose president Hillary declares the NRA to be a terrorist organization and its members to be unlawful combatants? Not likely, but suppose she does?
To whom will you appeal?
Stuff like that.
Are those gonads I see making an appearance between the legs of Harry Reid?
Give Hell Harry! Take that chimp by the tail and swing him around your head a couple of times for good measure!
3....2....1.....CAVE!
Another prediction.
Well, my first and only birthday present on this, another shitty day in redneck Georgia - surrounded by those who would sell their mothers to the GOP for a quarter. And who DID, 20 years ago, sell my ass out for their cushy jobs and ludicrous insurance settlements to protect the local criminal GOP players (Newt, et al.). In this part of the country, they are all useless, criminally corrupt bastards - (R) OR (D) after their names. It's the Pisshole South.
Reid's threat for the president to meet him "half-way" is a dangerous call. For it may mean that there are more compromise that will affect the laws of the land and deals to share political and financial gains from the compormises.
White House has become a house of tradings (financial and wall street tradings). The I scratch your back for a million and you scratch my back for a million. At the end compromises enriches the dealers not the people for which the politicians represent.
"He’d considered this move before, but was reluctant to go through with it. Today, he made the right call." -- Steve
It wasn't 'reluctance' per se. The Leader made it clear that he agreed with the WH to move Democratic nominations forward, and then they reneged. So justified, Reid said, fine, then we won't have any more appointments until they do. He even said that the work he did for Mukasey should have been enough quid on his side.
It's a good thing, and the right call. But he backed it up with a specific obstruction, that of Dem nominations and the failure of the WH to live up to an agreement they made this past summer, so it has the benefit of being their fault.
proud American @ 43:
All democratic government is compromise.
soul surfer @ 10:
Because the next session means the next Congressional session; recess appointments would remain in place until January 20, 2009.
make em work! How many other Americans work through the holidays? And with Congresses track record I have absolutely NO sympathy
Lets hope that the Dems can now spell I-M-P E-A-C-H.
So what? Bush gets what he wants from the Dems in congress anyway. Its an empty gesture.
3….2….1…..CAVE! Another prediction.
I actually don't think they'll cave on this one.
A) The Republicans have no fear-based, patriotism-based, phony-outrage-based retort. Not that they won't try to whip one up, but "the mean man is making us work too much" is just a hard nut to crack.
B) The Republicans have no interest in backing the president on this. They're tired of having to apologize for the parade of Albertos Gonzales and Monicae Goodling. They know a recess appointment today means hearings in six months and they want their asses covered.
C) There are no obstruction tactics available, as far as I know (someone correct me if I'm wrong.)
It's not the administration the Dems are afraid to stand up to, it's the congressional Republicans and I don't think they have this fight in them.
Scratch that, I hope they DO. If they're damn foolish enough to dig in on this issue (as with SCHIP), they'll lose ground.
Filthy Harry @ 49:
You are probably right as history has taught us. But lets hope the Dems are starting to grow a spine. A baby has to crawl before it can walk.
soul surfer @ 10:
I'd really like to know the answer to this one too... anyone? anyone?
Naomi @ 46:
Sorry, missed this post.
WHOO HOO!!!! That's fucking beautiful!...Put that in your pipe and smoke it bunnypants!(as my mother used to say to me when she trumped me...except for the bunnypants,she called me a filthy hippy-love ya mom:)).
Dr. Know @ 42:
Happy Birthday!
Jo @ 55:
Thanks.
I'm now officially too old for a family, yet another career, or escape to Australia or Canada.
Oh, hallelujah. Finally Mr. Reid is showing some courage. If only the other Democrats in power would follow his example.
Ti chi @ 47:
Yeah, no kidding. If they want to earn respect, they could just WORK through recess instead of pretending to work through recess.
Paul in LA @ 45:
Some compromises are better than others.
Wait a minute!
Wasn't one of the reasons the Democrats caved on the Mukasey appointment ostensibly because they were afraid Bush would just recess-appoint an even bigger jackass if they didn't confirm him? If this was just a great idea, why didn't they think of it a month ago? Spineless morons....
It is about time these people start learning how to get street smart and stop letting this ignorant thugs run ruff shod over them.
StCyrlyMe @ 60:
AMEN!
no recess appointments ever. I'm sick of the seperation of powers being violated by juntans
Isnt it easier to just fix your broken shit and not allow such a "controversial practice"?
Pericles @ 59:
The seven Democrats on the SJC didn't cave -- they opposed M the whole way through. Two Democrats stopped that action. Once it got to the floor, all the R needed was a handful of Dems, and they have that.
Reid could have blocked it, I think should have. But the fact is that Bush would have just left the AG spot open, and that would slow down the hearings. His gov't is almost wall-to-wall temporary appointments -- not too many actual officials left.
Mukasey is a neocon, one of their bench, second string after Terwilliger. But the 800 page bucket of trash Conyers is going to dump in M's lap in December, and the IG charges against Gonzales would best be served by an actual AG being required to testify to Congressional committees, not an empty chair and someone who can disclaim real authority.
It's a loss MAINLY because M will block special prosecutors being named, as the should be. But people were too busy bashing Pelosi to really oppose M before it was too late.
swarmofkillermonkeys @ 58
[All democratic government is compromise.]
"Some compromises are better than others."
"Four legs good. Two legs bad!"
One of the first things in 7 years anyone has got right. I wonder how they will screw it up.
Bout time. The repugs stop at nothing to forward their slimy agenda. It's about time the Dems started using some of the tools at their disposal to counter the turds.........................
dadams @ 26:
Wow...now there's a meaningful retort. Do you have a point, aside from the one on your head?
16 nohobear Says: Finally, some good news. It’s a baby step, but it’s a beginning. Now repeat after me , IMPEACH, INDICT, CONVICT.
IMPEACH, INDICT, CONVICT
*
Reid, the most mobbed up senator to ever take a bribe via a sweet real estate deal, is not the President and never will be. "...boo hooo The President wont meet me half way and appoint who I want..."
One word there dirty harry.... Duhhhhhh! The most unpopular senate in the history of America? You want The President to turn the job, or at least half of the job, over to you bunch. Over 400 failed attempts to sanction our President instead of actually passing some bills to help this country. Go get a real Job Harry and leave the running of this country to honest people.
While you're at it lets launch an investigation into why your kids all run the gambling in Nevada... THAT'S kinda suspicious isn't it?
IMPEACH DIRTY HARRY REID... THE DIRTY MAFIA CROOK.
*
The slow wheel is turning faster.
About time Harry. Just to let Mr. Reid know, they look like BB's now, but if you use them enough, they grow into giant balls, and scare the shit out of opponents....
P.S. That odd stiffness you feel in your back, thats called a backbone. Eventualy you will like having one of those too.
BERT CONVY @ 70:
Oh look everybody, a repuke! Isn't he smart! Everyone should clap whenever he says something so, so, intelectively!
Did you left wing zealots know that Bush can still make the recess appointments on Thanksgiving Day and by pass the Senate Pro Forma Sessions? *smile*
By the way, Romney, Barrack Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton CANNOT beat Mike Huckabee. He can run oratory circles around the both of these creeps. Huckabee is a prolific debater. He is 'Reaganesque' in style: a great communicator, iconic optimist, and a strong former governor. He will draw away more moderate and conservative dems from the democratic ticket than Reagan ever dreamed about. Huckabee is also a 'Licolnesque' figure: frugal beginnings, a great visionary, and a moral godly man who stands on his convictions, even though he was told (like Lincoln) he could not win. HRC and Barrack Hussein Obama will say anything to get elected. When are you dems going to realize that in order to win the presidency you need a conservative in your party to run for the nomination, other wise you write off the south every time - and w/o the south you have never won the presidency. Huckabee is gaining so rapidly, has the momentum, and will be the GOP nominee. Better luck eight years from now Dems!
This is going to be like potty training a baby.
Your toddler hits the toilet and you have a parade about it.
Let us smother Reid with congratulations for getting closer to the mark this time.
Hey liverpoollaw, which side of Mars do live on?
Take your delusions to some other site.
No! No turkey for you!!
liverpoollaw @ 74:
Look, another clever repuke. Boy you guys sure are smart. Stab yourself in the face much when you eat with a fork?
Huckabee is going to save them!
Right after he loses every primary in the country.
Liverpoollaw,
Go back to your Bible and pray to your Goof in the Sky that he'll leave you some brains by your nightstand before you wake up. I think we are all entitled to our own superstitions but not when they intrude on the tranquility of Those who actually think. If wishful thinking was money, you'd be a flippin' millionaire!
BERT CONVY @ 70:
Remind me again how much time the Congress spent trying to investigate and impeach Clinton?
Die in a fire, jackweed.
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