Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Should the Democrats filibuster the Senate confirmation vote on Alito?

What should the Democrats do now that Alito's confirmation is virtually "assured"? Some argue that a filibuster would be inneffective, but I think it would serve some value.

Sure, the Republican majority can (and would) pursue "the nuclear option" and change the rules for the Senate to override the filibuster, but that would allow the Democrats to take the moral high ground and note that they had no other acceptable choice. The only other choice open to them now is to simply roll over and play dead and vote along party lines. To me, that's less effective than doing a filibuster, which let's them stand tall and say "We tried" and not go down without a fight.

So, my advice to the Senate Democratic leadership is simple: Go for it. Filibuster the confirmation vote for Alito.

Note: a filibuster could disrupt the administration's plans to get the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (Ben Bernanke) confirmed on Tuesday, January 31, which is the end of Greenspan's term. It's not a big problem for Greenspan to serve a few more days or weeks beyond the end of his term, but delaying the vote on Bernanke would surely raise some conservative hackles.

At a minimum, the Democrats should cause the administration at least a little real pain before giving up the fight.

So, come on guys, Go for it.

-- Jack Krupansky

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