Conference Call With Sen. Schumer
Democratic bloggers just finished a conference call with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) on the nuclear option. The Dems are being very careful. They will not leave the Senate floor unattended even to go to the bathroom in case someone tries to start a vote on Patricia Owen. We learned this because Sen. Schumer had to leave the call for a few minutes while he took the place of a Senator who did need a restroom break.
Sen. Schumer was emphatic in his remarks to us. He said the hard right, both economic and religious, has decided that the only way to push their agenda through is to control the courts. If they win and gain control of the courts, both economically and socially, they will roll back America to the 1930's or the 1890's.
He said that the hard right made a deal with George Bush during the election. It would support him and "not hound him", but he had to cede control of his judicial nominations to the Federalist Society.
The Democrats have agreed to 208 of Bush's 218 nominations but that's not good enough for the Federalist Society. They want them all. Hence, the nuclear option to do away with the filibuster.
The filibuster is a means of achieving checks and balances that have been a hallmark of this country since its beginning. These checks and balances are being eroded dramatically. He called the Republican efforts "appalling" and said they amounted to "a fiat - a ruling from the chair on how the constitution is to be interpreted."
With VP Dick Cheney voting to break a tie, he said it's like we're a Banana Republic.
Sen. Schumer emphasized that the compromise discussions taking place do not involve leadership. Neither Sen. Reid nor Sen. Frist are taking part. The main proponent of compromise is Sen. John McCain who is approaching moderate Democrats and Republicans, trying to get six of each to agree:
1. No nuclear option will be sought through the 109th Congress
2. There will be no restrictions on the right to filibuster extremist judges during this period.
I asked him what the compromise would mean in terms of an up or down vote on the current nominees - on how many would the Democrats have to agree to an up or down vote - and which ones? He said that was unclear, and first they had to clear the first two hurdles (#1 and 2 above). He gave the compromise a 35% chance of success.
Sen. Schumer said there are 25 Republicans who are uncomfortable with the nuclear option, but all but 10 cannot afford to buck the hard right. Of those 10, he said that 7 or 8 are up in the air. The declared ones are Sens. McCain, Chaffee and Snow. Sen. Collins of Maine sounds like one who might side with the Democrats. There's a chance that Sen. Warner and Sen. Specter will vote against the nuclear option. He said not to count on Sen. Roberts from Kansas as had been reported in the media Sunday.
I also asked Sen. Schumer if our activism can help at this juncture - whether the Senators on the fence would be responsive to calls and pleas from constituents. He said absolutely.
I know that when I've tried to call, I've gotten a busy signal. Swing State Project has a solution - for $15 you can send a telegram - go here for the links. This is particularly helpful if one of your Senators is one of those on the fence.
Another blogger asked Sen. Schumer what the Democrats' response would be if they lost the nuclear option. Would they bring Senate business to a halt? Schumer said of course not, they would just use the Senate rules to attempt to wrest control of the agenda from the Republicans and push their own agenda instead.
More on the conference call is available at Seeing the Forest, Daily Kos, BOP News; and Swing State Project.
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