Reid, and our squishy on filibuster senators, didn't cave

[dsc]

First, the entire time this was about 7 nominees, Corday to head Consumer Affairs, nominees to Labor, EPA, Commerence and 3 labor board nominees. He got 5 of them now (all but 2 labor board nominees) and the other 2 by the 27 of Aug. He was offered all 7 now but would have given up the right to go nuclear for the rest of the Congress. He said no to that. He won, plain and simple.

http://www.dailykos.com/

Here are the nominees that were part of the deal

Richard Cordray, director, Bureau of Consumer Financial protection. Nominated July, 17, 2011.

_Richard Griffin, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated December 15, 2011.

_Sharon Block, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated December 15, 2011.

_Mark Pearce, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated April 9, 2013.

_Tom Perez, secretary of Labor. Nominated March 18, 2013.

_Gina McCarthy, administrator, Environmental Protection Agency. Nominated March 4, 2013.

_Fred Hochberg, president and chairman of the Board of Directors, U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Griffin and Block will be replaced by anyone Obama chooses by 27 Aug.

[lamp_shade]

1. That's the way I read it. Thanks.

[BlueStreak]

2. No. This is NOT about 7 appointments.

It is about the whole process of blocking ALL appointments. These 7 are relatively minor compared to the Federal bench vacancies, EPA, Consumer Protection Bureau and many others pending and those to come.

I said there would never be a vote on this, that the COP would strike a last minute deal because they want to keep the stall machine alive on the big ones.

It will take Reid another 6 months to get his people lined up again to press for the next batch of appointments. This is bullshit. These Democrats are worthless.

The only worthwhile negotiated agreement, short of an outright rules change, would guarantee timely votes on ALL appointments.

[dsc]

3. that was never in the cards

I would prefer no filibuster at all but that isn't what they were debating.

[BlueStreak]

6. It SHOULD have been in the cards

And in fact, the rules changes that Reid was threatening would have applied to all Presidential appointments, I believe.

[dsc]

8. not judicial ones

[BlueStreak]

11. it SHOULD include judivial appointments

Does this agreement get us votes on EPA, ATF, and the consumer protection agency?

[dsc]

12. No ATF

Here is the list.

Richard Cordray, director, Bureau of Consumer Financial protection. Nominated July, 17, 2011.

_Richard Griffin, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated December 15, 2011.

_Sharon Block, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated December 15, 2011.

_Mark Pearce, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated April 9, 2013.

_Tom Perez, secretary of Labor. Nominated March 18, 2013.

_Gina McCarthy, administrator, Environmental Protection Agency. Nominated March 4, 2013.

_Fred Hochberg, president and chairman of the Board of Directors, U.S. Export-Import Bank.

The delayed nominees will be Griffin and Block who have to be replaced but can be replaced by anyone Obama wants and those would be confirmed by 27 August.

[BlueStreak]

22. Do you think the judicial appointments are less important that these bureaucrat jobs?

It is complete crap to make a deal that does not guarantee that Obama's judicial appointees will get a timely vote.

And we know how this little game works. This is the last deal for another 6 months. There won't be a bit of action on the nominees that were not on this list. The Dem cowards will not take any action until the GOP has stalled for another 9 months. We'll be back here next March talking about Lucy and her football all over again, meanwhile the GOP will have gotten themselves another 9 months down the road without our judges being on the bench.

[dsc]

24. I would imagine he doesn't have 51 votes to go after judical nominations

so that means people need to call DE, MT, and RI where we have wobbly senators.

[BlueStreak]

25. I think that is the case

I know lots of things have changed in 50 years, but I cannot imagine LBJ having any "wobbly senators" when he really wanted to get something done. It seems to me the Majority Leader does have the ability to lay out some punishment, but we never hear of Reid doing that.

I understand a Senator wandering off the ranch for something like gun control or other similar issues that could seriously put reelection at risk. There is no such risk in pushing for the GOP to simply follow the Constitution on the President's judicial appointments. No Senator is ever going to lose an election because he voted for a rules change. Reid needs to bust some balls.

[font size="5"]Elections [/font][font size="1" color="grey"]apparently don't[/font][font size="5"] have consequences.[/font]

[backscatter712]

4. So in essence, he got the nominees, with a slight delay, and he keeps the gun pointed at them.

Not bad.

[dsc]

5. yep

I am not enamored of the delay since it also involves a change of nominees but they can be anyone Obama wants aside from the 2 that are there.

[BlueStreak]

10. Tell me when you think we will see confirmation votes on the DC Appeals Court

Or when we will see votes on the 60 judicial vacancies?

See http://judicialnominations.org/

And when can I expect to see the EPA director confirmed?

And when will I see an ATF director confirmed?

This bullshit is nothing to celebrate. They have just taken another step to institutionalize sabotage of nominations. This is a great day for the GOP. But any day they negotiate with Obama or Reid is guaranteed to be a pretty good day.

[dsc]

14. EPA will be today or tomorrow

ATF wasn't one of the nominees on the list, no judical nominees were on the list. Here is the list.

Richard Cordray, director, Bureau of Consumer Financial protection. Nominated July, 17, 2011.

_Richard Griffin, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated December 15, 2011.

_Sharon Block, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated December 15, 2011.

_Mark Pearce, member, National Labor Relations Board. Nominated April 9, 2013.

_Tom Perez, secretary of Labor. Nominated March 18, 2013.

_Gina McCarthy, administrator, Environmental Protection Agency. Nominated March 4, 2013.

_Fred Hochberg, president and chairman of the Board of Directors, U.S. Export-Import Bank.

[progressoid]

7. Slight delay???

Two years is a slight delay?

[dsc]

9. No a bit over a month

from today to 27 August.

[progressoid]

13. Cordray was first picked for the CFPB in July of 2011

[dsc]

16. that is a sunk cost

[progressoid]

19. It didn't have to be.

Reid et.al. could have done this 5 years ago & saved us all a lot of sunk costs.

[Scurrilous]

15. Thanks.

K & R

[1-Old-Man]

17. What he did was trade 7 possible votes for a functioning Senate. Piss-poor-trade.

No nomination was approved, all that happened was that Republicans agreed to let the nominations proceed to votes - and for that Harry agreed to more of the same, on Mitch McConnell's word as a Senator and a gentleman.

[dsc]

18. they will be approved

Cordray has already passed the filibuster and either will be voted on today or tomorrow.

[msongs]

20. repubs still control the senate from a minority position. weak dems. nt

[Dawgs]

21. "He won"

[Proud Liberal Dem]

23. Why should this be seen as a "cave"?

We're getting the nominees we wanted and if the Republicans don't keep their end of the bargain, Reid can STILL push the nuclear button. That being said, I think that some serious reform of how the filibuster can be used needs to be done (and should be done soon). Personally, I'm in favor of keeping the filibuster intact but requiring more votes to keep it going over time- thus ensuring that both the will of the minority AND majority is respected. It gives opponents the opportunity to state their case (if they have one) and get other people to agree with them but still (eventually) allows an up-or-down vote to be held. The use of the filibuster for the sake of obstruction for obstruction's sake has GOT to end IMHO.

[backscatter712]

26. Exactly. The Republicans caved rather than get nuked.

Reid got everything he demanded, and the gun's still pointed at the GOP.