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Sunday, May 22, 2005
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Filibusters
Kevin Drum: "Still, Frist has a point. Senate Democrats have relied on filibusters to block judicial nominees far more often than have minority parties in previous congresses. But there's good reason for this: Republicans have steadily done away with every other Senate rule that allows minorities to object to judicial nominees -- rules that Republicans took full advantage of when they were the ones out of power. Originally, after Republicans gained control of the Senate in the 1994 elections and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch assumed control of the Judiciary Committee, the rule regarding judicial nominees was this: If a single senator from a nominee's home state objected to (or "blue-slipped") a nomination, it was dead. This rule made it easy for Republicans to obstruct Clinton's nominees. But in 2001, when a Republican became president, Hatch suddenly reversed course and decided that it should take objections from both home-state senators to block a nominee. That made it harder for Democrats to obstruct George W. Bush's nominees."
Category: 2004 Presidential Transition
9:13:14 AM 
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65 Percent Solution
Here's an article about the proposal to spend 65 percent of education dollars in the classroom from the Cortez Journal. From the article, "GOP legislators outlined their new proposal this week, insisting it is the best way to boost school achievement without raising taxes. They said it would redirect $400 million back to the classrooms statewide. Fifty-ninth District Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, appears not to be endorsing the pitch at this point. His feeling was that legislators should focus more on local control when it comes to schools."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
8:47:04 AM
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Referendum C
John Andrews and Dick Armey take on Referendum C in this column from last week's Denver Post [May 19, 2005, "Proposed TABOR changes bad for taxpayers"]. They write, "As former legislative leaders, we understand the pressures that push officeholders in this direction. But we also know from experience that those pressures are not in the public interest. We urge Coloradans to support TABOR and say 'no' when the issue comes to a vote next fall. The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights has protected taxpayers the past dozen years by requiring voter approval for tax hikes - and by allowing government to grow no faster than inflation and population. It is being watched and imitated by tax reformers in other states from Vermont to Nevada, Wisconsin to Tennessee."
Category: Denver November 2005 Election
8:37:03 AM
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Social Security as Insurance
Here's part 8 of the Denver Post's series on Social Security [May 21, 2005, "Vital safety net for retirees"]. They write, "The court ruling allowing United Airlines to walk away from a $6.6 billion liability in its pension funds underscores that the Social Security system is likely to be an even more vital part of the nation's retirement system in the future than it is today. Cuts in private pensions fall hardest on middle-income workers, who are thus even less likely to support President Bush's plan to sharply cut future Social Security benefits for middle-class beneficiaries."
8:28:27 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 7:31:51 PM.
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