April 28, 2005

Leading for a Change

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is actually doing something productive for the conservative cause:

Frist, the Senate majority leader, said he would "guarantee" up to 100 hours to debate any nominee to the appeals courts or U.S. Supreme Court. But Frist also said he would require that they all get a confirmation vote, meaning filibusters against these candidates would be banned.

"It may not be a perfect proposal for either side, but it's the right proposal for America," said Frist as he stood in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, called the proposal a "big wet kiss to the far right," which has pushed to ban judicial filibusters and get more conservatives on the bench.

Yet Reid promised to study the multifaceted offer as Democrats and Republicans seek to find common ground and avoid what could be a nasty fight.

Hopefully Frist has told Reid this is the best deal he's going to get. If Democrats don't go along Senate rules will simply be changed. 100 hours of debate is a long time. With the slow pace of the Senate that could be weeks or months. That's plenty of time for an opposition to make its case to the American people. Heck, there hasn't been any debate on the John Bolton nomination and it was close to going down.

Who are more important than Reid are the squishy Republicans Frist hasn't been able to keep in line. The Democrats won't go for any deal if they know a few Republicans are around to trash it.

"Republican Leader Offers Compromise on Judges"