Dems Have Already Had Their Delay in Alito Vote

GOP Bloggers points us to a Forbes piece which states:

Democrats confirmed Friday that they will make a last-ditch attempt to slow Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito’s momentum by delaying the first vote on his candidacy. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in the waning minutes of Alito’s confirmation hearing that unnamed Democrats will “exercise their rights” to put off next week’s scheduled Alito vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Dems have already had their delay, however. Watch this video from 11/03/05. (Political Teen)

In it, Senator Specter says,(emphasis mine)

Our staffs have been stretched very, very thin, having given up August and we had to go through a difficult scheduling process to have Chief Justice Roberts seated by October 3rd, but we did that. And then we had a difficult process with Miss Harriet Miers, and we finally worked that out with the consent of Senator Leahy to start on November 7th. And I said to Pat a few minutes ago, after all these years of training and practice, I’ve turned into being a professional scheduler, that’s all I do is schedule. So we have worked through the process and my preference on a starting date is January 2nd, which would have given us hearings on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th, with an exec on Tuesday the 10th, and floor action on the 11th, 12th and a vote on the 13th, but that allows for a week’s holdover as a matter of right by any senator. And January 2nd is a difficult day, technically it’s a holiday. We could work on a holiday around here,if we really had to. And it implicates Hanukkah, I’m told. But we could have done that. Not me, I’m not giving up Hanukkah. But at any rate, Senator Leahy and I have worked through it, and since it could be delayed for a week in any event, by any senator, who wants to hold it over for a week that we would put that week back at the start, on the 9th, with the good faith understanding that our intent would be to go to an executive committee meeting on the 17th, the day after Martin Luther King holiday. So that the schedule will be we will start hearings on at noon on the 9th. And we’ll have them Tuesday the 10th, Wednesday the 11th, Thursday the 12th, Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th if necessary. We will then go to the exec on the 17th, and here we can’t get everybody bound in writing to waive it in advance, but Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter have had had no problems, nor have we anybody on the committee, of not fulfilling what we’ve said we’d do as a matter of good faith intent which will put the executive session on the 17th, we finished that with Chief Justice Roberts in the morning, and then we would go to the 18th, 19th, and 20th for floor debate with the vote on the 20th. Now that would require senators coming back. Senator Frist has been apprised of this every step of the way, as has Senator Reid. Senators Frist, Reid, Senator Leahy and I met earlier today, and there are a lot of people…

(the video ends there)

Senator Specter does say,

…we can’t get everybody bound in writing to waive it in advance, but Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter have had had no problems, nor have we anybody on the committee, of not fulfilling what we’ve said we’d do as a matter of good faith intent which will put the executive session on the 17th…

which gives the Dems an out of a sort, but does leave them reneging on a “Good Faith” agreement. Leahy in particular, agreed to this. Now he’s allowing some “unnamed”democrats to renege on the good faith agreement for him.

Good Faith just doesn’t mean anything to them, does it?

Blogs for Bush has more.

mm-5