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The Republican Strategy: Covert Destruction at all Costs

It takes awhile to make sense of the entrails of the Republican Party, partly because they are just so toxic, but also because it's actually difficult to comprehend that an American political party can so deliberately sabotage its own government and nation.

But after observing their behavior and their policy of, "Just Say No" -- sometimes to their own suggestions, one can only surmise that they long ago left the business of governing and have instead agreed to a covert game plan of destruction while simultaneously playing an overt game of seduction with the American public. The seductive part of their plan is the one more familiar to the public -- constantly talk about what the people want to hear. No more taxes. Defend the country. Go Conservatives. Minimal government.

Meanwhile, the depth, width, and long range planning of the Republicans' dark strategy should have every American shaking with terror, especially since it is picking up momentum once again.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline- ... 67728.html

LOL - I remember reading the same thing a few years ago with the parties switched. Seemed to work pretty well for the democrats.

towermonkey wrote: LOL - I remember reading the same thing a few years ago with the parties switched. Seemed to work pretty well for the democrats.

:rofl

Trying to get all the Democrats to vote the same way would be like herding cats....never going to happen. The Republicans have an edge over the Democrats that way.....no matter how a Republican personally feels about an issue, he/she will vote party first, conscience second.

archer wrote: Trying to get all the Democrats to vote the same way would be like herding cats....never going to happen.

Don't know if they herded cats, but isn't that how the Democrats got health care to pass?

And so far as blocking tactics, here's just one example...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6017-2004Jul22.html

pineinthegrass wrote:

archer wrote: Trying to get all the Democrats to vote the same way would be like herding cats....never going to happen.

Don't know if they herded cats, but isn't that how the Democrats got health care to pass?

And so far as blocking tactics, here's just one example...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6017-2004Jul22.html

From that article...

Nearly 200 of President Bush's nominees for district and circuit courts have been approved without filibusters.

And as far as Obama goes, not nearly as many approved...
It is NOT even close the level of obstruction by the R's during this current congress....


http://dpc.senate.gov/docs/fs-111-2-59.html

President Obama’s nominees are facing unprecedented delay due to Republican obstruction. Comparing their first two years in office, President Obama’s Circuit Court nominees are waiting five times longer (an average of 119 days) to be confirmed than President Bush’s nominees were after being favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee. President Obama’s District court nominees are waiting nearly twice as long (an average of 41 days) as President Bush’s nominees to be confirmed after being favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee. [Judiciary Committee data]

Senate Republicans have prevented the confirmation of dozens of highly qualified, mainstream nominees, often without any explanation for their obstruction. Twenty-two federal judicial nominations have been pending for more than a month. This delay has significantly slowed the pace of confirmations and has left the courts without critical support. For many months Republicans have prevented up or down votes on many nominations

And...

Republican Delay Tactics Are Creating Gridlock and Inefficiency

Long delays and extended vacancies are creating a mounting caseload for an overextended federal court system. The federal judicial system is already burdened. In 2008, the average caseload for a three-judge appeals panel was 1,049 per judge. [Alliance for Justice, Justice Can’t Wait] With mounting delays and absences, judges sitting in courts with vacancies are seeing their caseloads grow to unmanageable levels. Stop-gap measures to address the vacancies and unusual workloads are not in the best interest of the legal community.

Litigants are being forced to wait months and years before their cases are heard. In United States District Courts, half of all litigants face nearly nine months or more from the time they file their cases to the final resolution of their case. [Administration Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Caseload Profile, 2009] In 2009, for civil litigants with trials, the average median time from filing to trial was over 2 years (25.3 months). [Administration Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Caseload Profile, 2009] As judicial vacancies have been rising, so too have the delays for litigants.

Confirming non-controversial nominations in regular order could alleviate some of these problems. If the Senate were able to confirm President’s Obama’s current nominees, the vacancies could be filled immediately and caseloads could be more evenly distributed speeding the disposition of cases. Litigants face increasing uncertainty as the length of time between a trial and the disposition of a case grows. Senate Republicans should allow up-or-down votes on the Senate floor on all nominations soon after they have cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Tactics of delay and obstruction by Senate Republicans have caused a rise in “judicial emergency” vacancies. There are currently 41 vacancies classified as “judicial emergencies” based on the size of the caseload in that court or the amount of time the seat has been empty. [Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Emergencies] The longer the vacancies remain open, the more destructive the situation becomes and the longer citizens will be forced to wait for justice.

pineinthegrass wrote:

archer wrote: Trying to get all the Democrats to vote the same way would be like herding cats....never going to happen.

Don't know if they herded cats, but isn't that how the Democrats got health care to pass?

actually....no.

archer wrote:

pineinthegrass wrote:

archer wrote: Trying to get all the Democrats to vote the same way would be like herding cats....never going to happen.

Don't know if they herded cats, but isn't that how the Democrats got health care to pass?

actually....no.

Well, the Senate vote was 60-39, with all 58 Democrats voting together along with two independents. Seems they all voted the same in the Senate (as did the Republicans).

The final House vote wasn't unanimous among the Democrats (34 against), but once victory was assured in the pre-vote count, I think many wavering Democrats were allowed by the leadership to keep their NO vote. I suspect the upcoming elections were a factor, but I guess that's my opinion...

netdude wrote:

pineinthegrass wrote:

archer wrote: Trying to get all the Democrats to vote the same way would be like herding cats....never going to happen.

Don't know if they herded cats, but isn't that how the Democrats got health care to pass?

And so far as blocking tactics, here's just one example...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6017-2004Jul22.html

From that article...

Nearly 200 of President Bush's nominees for district and circuit courts have been approved without filibusters.

And as far as Obama goes, not nearly as many approved...
It is NOT even close the level of obstruction by the R's during this current congress....


http://dpc.senate.gov/docs/fs-111-2-59.html

President Obama’s nominees are facing unprecedented delay due to Republican obstruction. Comparing their first two years in office, President Obama’s Circuit Court nominees are waiting five times longer (an average of 119 days) to be confirmed than President Bush’s nominees were after being favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee. President Obama’s District court nominees are waiting nearly twice as long (an average of 41 days) as President Bush’s nominees to be confirmed after being favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee. [Judiciary Committee data]

Senate Republicans have prevented the confirmation of dozens of highly qualified, mainstream nominees, often without any explanation for their obstruction. Twenty-two federal judicial nominations have been pending for more than a month. This delay has significantly slowed the pace of confirmations and has left the courts without critical support. For many months Republicans have prevented up or down votes on many nominations

And...

Republican Delay Tactics Are Creating Gridlock and Inefficiency

Long delays and extended vacancies are creating a mounting caseload for an overextended federal court system. The federal judicial system is already burdened. In 2008, the average caseload for a three-judge appeals panel was 1,049 per judge. [Alliance for Justice, Justice Can’t Wait] With mounting delays and absences, judges sitting in courts with vacancies are seeing their caseloads grow to unmanageable levels. Stop-gap measures to address the vacancies and unusual workloads are not in the best interest of the legal community.

Litigants are being forced to wait months and years before their cases are heard. In United States District Courts, half of all litigants face nearly nine months or more from the time they file their cases to the final resolution of their case. [Administration Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Caseload Profile, 2009] In 2009, for civil litigants with trials, the average median time from filing to trial was over 2 years (25.3 months). [Administration Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Caseload Profile, 2009] As judicial vacancies have been rising, so too have the delays for litigants.

Confirming non-controversial nominations in regular order could alleviate some of these problems. If the Senate were able to confirm President’s Obama’s current nominees, the vacancies could be filled immediately and caseloads could be more evenly distributed speeding the disposition of cases. Litigants face increasing uncertainty as the length of time between a trial and the disposition of a case grows. Senate Republicans should allow up-or-down votes on the Senate floor on all nominations soon after they have cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Tactics of delay and obstruction by Senate Republicans have caused a rise in “judicial emergency” vacancies. There are currently 41 vacancies classified as “judicial emergencies” based on the size of the caseload in that court or the amount of time the seat has been empty. [Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Emergencies] The longer the vacancies remain open, the more destructive the situation becomes and the longer citizens will be forced to wait for justice.

The only point I was making was in response to archer that Democrats can vote as a block, just as Republicans.

You've added more to it by saying Republicans have obstructed more regarding judicial vacancies during this current congress than Democrats did in the past. That may be true, but the link you provided was from the Democratic party, so I'd want to do some research if I wanted to respond.

If you just talk about Supreme Court nominations, the Democrats may of obstructed more. But that's another subject, and here's an opinion piece on it from a former Bush assistant who now writes for CNN...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/04/11/frum.democrats.court/index.html

Comparing their first two years in office

Hmm, let's think about this for a moment....