Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

In the News: Senate getting Boggsed down?

Tags:

Found on the Internets …



A series of tubes filled with enormous amounts of material, some of it contradictory.

~

Harry Reid In A Jam Over Controversial Obama Nominee Michael Boggs

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Wednesday he cannot vote for Michael Boggs, a controversial Obama nominee to be a federal judge who has faced fierce criticism from progressives.

“Unless I have a better explanation. I can’t vote for him. This is a lifetime appointment. He’s said some things and made some decisions I think are not very good,” Reid told BuzzFeed. “Boggs is not somebody I’m going to vote for unless I have some explanations on why he did that deal with the rebel flag and things he’s said about abortion.”

As a Georgia state legislator from 2000 to 2004, Boggs voted to keep the state’s old flag which included the Confederate battle flag. He voted for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and for various anti-abortion bills, one of which pro-choice activists say endangers doctors.

~

Senators Grill Obama Nominee On Gay Marriage, Abortion, Confederate Flag

The Georgia Court of Appeals judge has come under fierce criticism from progressive advocates for a swath of votes from 2000 to 2004 as a Georgia state legislator against abortion rights, same-sex marriage and to retain the state’s old flag which contained the Confederate battle flag.

Democratic senators took the lead in grilling Boggs.

“I was offended by the flag, Senator,” he told Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) under questioning, saying it was a “terribly agonizing” decision to choose between his own conscience and the will of his constituents, whom he suggested wanted to keep the Confederate-linked flag. But he said: “I’m glad the flag was changed.”

Boggs said he was very sensitive to the views of African-Americans at the time and that those who know him recognize his vote intended no disrespect to them. “If someone is accusing someone of being a racist, I don’t know how you disprove that,” he said. […]

“I don’t think my legislative record that’s over a decade old is indicative of what kind of judge I’d be [on the federal court],” Boggs said.

Did you lack integrity then, sir, or do you lack integrity now?

Regarding the “deal” that makes Boggs part of a package to get past the archaic “blue slip” rule:

“I have noted before that there is no ‘deal’ negotiated with me as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee or with any of the other Senators,” Leahy said in written testimony. “The constitutional responsibility of advice and consent resides with each individual Senator, and there is no such thing as a binding deal that negates each Senator’s responsibility to determine the fitness of a judicial nominee for a lifetime appointment.”

~

Meet The Republican Judge Fighting To Bail Scott Walker Out Of A Criminal Investigation

Last Tuesday, a Republican federal judge named Rudolph Randa handed down an unusual order cutting off a criminal investigation alleging illegal coordination between several political campaigns – including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) 2012 recall campaign – and conservative groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Randa speckled his order with uncharacteristic rhetoric for a judge tasked with being a neutral and impartial arbiter of the law. At one point, he labels the criminal probe “a long-running investigation of all things Walker-related.” At another point, he compares efforts to reign in excessive campaign spending to “the Guillotine and the Gulag.”[…]

Beyond whatever ideological lens Randa brings to his courtroom, as George Zornick points out, he also has an unusually personal connection to the criminal probe that he shut down. Randa’s judicial assistant is married to a top lawyer for the Walker campaign.

Oh … and Randa’s wife is a huge contributor to Scott Walker’s campaigns.

Lifetime appointment? And lifetime permission to game the system for partisan politics.

~

More …

More News …

Reid Pushes Constitutional Amendment To Limit Money In Politics

Harry Reid endorsed a constitutional amendment Thursday to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and permit restrictions on money in politics, billed in part as an effort to limit the Koch brothers’ influence on elections.

The Democratic Senate majority leader promised hearings and votes on the measure, sponsored by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), which would restore Congress’ authority to restrict campaign spending.

“The Supreme Court has equated money with speech, so the more money you have the more speech you get, and the more influence in our democracy. That is wrong,” the Nevada Democrat said in a floor speech. “Every American should have the same ability to influence our political system. One American, one vote. That’s what the Constitution guarantees. … No one should be able to pump unlimited funds into political campaigns, whether they are a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent.”

Now there’s something to run on.

~

North Carolina Voters Want To End Partisan Gerrymandering

By a wide margin, North Carolina voters say they want to replace their state’s current system of political gerrymandering with a non-partisan redistricting option, according to a new poll. This survey comes days after former Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker (D) and former Charlotte Mayor and gubernatorial nominee Richard Vinroot (R) announced a bipartisan push for a fair redistricting process in their state.

The poll by the North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling found that among those familiar with the idea, 45 percent of registered North Carolina voters support nonpartisan redistricting, while just 18 percent oppose it. The concept enjoys support among Democrats (48 percent to 14), Republicans (37 to 25), and independents (49 to 17).

~

Hagel: U.S. Drones Searching For Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the U.S. is using surveillance drones to try to locate more than 270 kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria.

“We are now providing unmanned reconnaissance intelligence over Nigeria and we’ll continue to do that,” Hagel told reporters in Saudi Arabia at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

~

Editor’s Note: Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 14 Comments

14 comments

  1. JanF

    The Senate rules need to reflect that one of our major political parties has no interest in governing.

    President Obama:

    We’ve got all the ingredients to make this the American Century, just like the last one. To achieve it, though, we’ve got to make sure our political system works better. And, yes, there are all kinds of reforms that we need to do, from campaign finance to how a filibuster works, to going after Republicans hard when their main political agenda when it comes to — or main election strategy is preventing people from voting — we’ve got to push back on all that stuff. But ultimately, there are enough voters out there to deliver if we can turn them out.

    The remark reflects the White House’s frustration with the Republican minority’s obstruction of many of its initiatives.

  2. JanF

    Judge Upholds DC Gun Control Law

    A federal judge has upheld the gun-control law in the District of Columbia, which bans assault weapons and large-capacity magazines while imposing registration requirements for handguns and long guns.

    In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the city seeks to combat gun violence and promote public safety and that the current law does so in a constitutionally permissible manner.

    The previous law had been overturned by the Supreme Court because it did not allow people to keep guns in their homes and the Second Amendment protected the right to own guns for self-defense.

    Here is the Second Amendment, by the way:

    A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

    There it is … wait a minute!! Did the framers of the constitution forget a few words????

  3. JanF

    Diane Humetewa Becomes First Female Native-American Federal Judge


    The Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday evening to make Diane Humetewa the first-ever female Native American federal judge.

    The 96-0 vote made Humetewa a U.S. district judge in Arizona.

    Humetewa, a professor at Arizona State University, has worked in private practice and as an assistant U.S. attorney, according to her official bio. She’s a member the Hopi Indian Tribe.

  4. JanF

    Wonkette Reports: Missouri Legislature Inches Closer To Goal Of 9-Month Waiting Period For Abortions

    Oh Missouri, we were so proud of you earlier this week, what with the St. Louis Rams drafting the first openly gay football player in history after that player spent his collegiate career at the University of Missouri, where by all accounts his teammates and the entire school embraced his decision to come out of the closet earlier this year. Now, just a few days later you have pissed us off with this anti-abortion garbage. […]

    … the bill increases the mandatory waiting period after the initial doctor’s visit from 24 to 72 hours. Since Missouri only has one clinic that performs elective abortions (a Planned Parenthood in St. Louis), this will require women to drive up to 300 miles twice in a week, or take a bus if they don’t have a car, or travel once and find a motel to hole up in.

  5. virginislandsguy

    From NYT: At Last, Recovery Heads Where the Fed Wants It

    Two indicators of economic health that the Fed and its chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, have identified as keys to a stronger recovery – modestly higher inflation and a more robust job market – finally seem to be moving in the right direction, according to new data released by the government on Thursday.

    …

    With inflation now showing signs of picking up, and a gradual improvement in the labor market bringing the unemployment rate down to 6.3 percent in April, the Fed is now on a glide path that could lead to the first increase in short-term rates, starting in the second half of 2015.

    These are signs that we are advancing from recovery to expansion, where truly all boats will be rising.

    Gold prices sink after batch of economic reports

    Gold prices fell Thursday after a batch of economic reports led traders to drop the yellow metal.

    …

    The federal government said the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level in seven years last week. Meanwhile, the European Union’s official statistics agency said the region’s economy expanded at slower pace than economists had forecast. The economic news helped support the dollar, pressing gold and other metals down.

    “When you have a rising dollar, it’s hard for gold to go up,” said Sterling Smith, a commodities specialist with Citigroup in Chicago.

    Improving employment numbers (possibly U3 less than 6%) will be a positive for Democrats in ’14.

    UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN ILLINOIS GOVERNOR RACE

    The unemployment rate in Illinois has dropped to its lowest level since December of 2008, falling to 7.9 percent last month according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, and those numbers immediately took center stage Thursday in the race for governor.

    …

    “Unemployment is at its lowest rate in the last five and a half years,” [Gov] Quinn said.

    …

    “(Thursday) was the largest drop in unemployment in the history of those statistics in Illinois,” he said. “We have more people working today in our state than at any time since I’ve been governor.”

    The Doom and Gloomers© started drinking early today.

  6. DeniseVelez

    Editorial: Playing politics with women’s reproductive health

    Here’s what qualifies as compromise in the Missouri Legislature these days.

    Late Monday night, Senate Republicans agreed that they’d temporarily halt their attacks on worker rights, the disabled and minorities as long as Democrats sat down and allowed an unconstitutional attack on women’s reproductive rights instead.

    The Democrats, all nine of them, agreed.

    http://www.stltoday.com/news/o…

  7. JanF

    From ThinkProgress: The Red Hot Renewable That Could Incite A Green Power Revolution


    “The worldwide market is moving towards double-digit growth,” said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) during the organization’s recent International Geothermal Showcase in Washington, DC. “There’s lots of exciting things going on. Several years ago there were projects in 24 countries, this year almost 700 projects are under development in 76 countries across the globe.” […]

    Internationally, the geothermal industry is growing much faster than in the U.S. The GEA report released at the recent showcase found that there were almost 700 projects under development in dozens of countries across the globe. With the international power market booming, geothermal showed a sustained growth rate of around five percent, while “U.S. growth was flat because of policy barriers, gridlock at the federal level, low natural gas prices and inadequate transmission infrastructure.”

    U.S. Geothermal “Hot” Spots:

    We use geothermal heat pumps in schools and businesses here. In Wisconsin, the earth is a steady 50 degrees six-feet down all year long. By pumping that into your building, you only have to heat or cool from 50 degrees. So instead of heating from 20 below zero on cold winter days (92 degrees) you only have to heat 22 degrees. There were financial incentives to help pay for the extra costs and the savings are substantial. Here is one case:

    When the city of Fond Du Lac was planning a new high school to serve over 2,000 students they wanted a system that would be energy efficient, to benefit both the environment and the communities budget. They chose a geothermal heat pump system, which was conveniently integrated into the ponds planned for the school site.

       The school is 400,000 square feet, requiring a 700-ton heat pump system.

       Two six-acre ponds, about 20 feet deep, were used for the geo loop. 41 miles of pipe were laid in the ponds.

       Fresh air is delivered efficiently to each classroom using a dedicated outdoor air system with heat recovery.

       Energy savings is estimated to be 30% below a standard VAV system.

       Between energy savings and peak demand reduction from the efficient heat pump system, the district avoids $290,000 in annual costs.

       This includes significant reductions in maintenance – the geothermal system requires only filter changes (quarterly).

    Schools in Dane County often put their geo fields under their parking lots. The size of the field needed depends on how much energy you will need.

  8. princesspat

    Conservatives seek to regain control of Republican agenda

    Although many Republicans are optimistic about their chances in this year’s elections, some of Washington’s leading conservatives gathered Thursday to privately vent frustrations about what kind of party they will be left with after November.

    The group, alarmed by a resurgence of the GOP establishment in recent primaries and what activists view as a softened message, drafted demands to be shared with senior lawmakers calling on the party to “recommit” to bedrock principles.

    Some of those principles laid out in the new document – strict opposition to illegal immigration, same-sex marriage and abortion – represent the hot-button positions that many Republican congressional candidates are trying to avoid as the party attempts to broaden its appeal.

    I used to think that if more reasonable and responsible R’s were elected it would be better for this country but the current conservative agenda makes me distrust anyone connected to the Republican Party. Years ago I used to vote for the better candidate, regardless of party affiliation, but the infamous Willie Horton add ended that choice for me.  

  9. JanF

    Obama Judicial Nominee Vowed To Oppose Gay Boy Scout Leaders

    Boggs, currently a state appeals court judge, apparently ran a staunchly anti-gay campaign for the Georgia state House in 2000. In a flyer from his campaign, obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boggs vowed: “I oppose same sex marriages, I oppose homosexual Boy Scout leaders, and I support voluntary prayer in schools.”

    The flyer makes this pledge, and calls it the most important: “To support conservative Christian values”.

    That is actually the biggest problem with our current politics. Republicans started requiring their legislators to promote christian values instead of American values.

Comments are closed.