President Obama, Your Legacy Clock Is Ticking Third Branch
It s been over a year since Americans elected Barack Obama but we re still living in George Bush s world acirc 8364 8220 two wars a recession a deficit and so much more President Obama has his hands full cleaning up these messes and establishing a legacy on healthcare and climate change I get that But there s one blind spot that he can t afford to ignore any longer We re living under the rule of George Bush s judges He picked over 40 of all current federal judges We re talking about lifetime appointees and so few cases ever make it to the Supreme Court that they usually get the last word Bush s judicial legacy didn t ha
pen by accident or overnight He made it a priority The numbers are telling as Obama approaches the end of his first year he acirc 8364 8482 s picked roughly 30 nominees 11 of whom have been confirmed By the end of his first year Bush had nominated 65 and nearly 30 had been confirmed To be sure Republicans have been obstructing Obama s nominees at every turn acirc 8364 8220 that s why so few have been confirmed But Obama has played into their hands by not nominating more people which would throw their obstruction into sharp relief and amp up pressure on the GOP I know it might not seem this way acirc 8364 8220 in the midst of the healthcare fight acirc 8364 8220 but Obama s legacy the future of progressive legislation and the well being of our nation depend on the character and quantity of the judges he nominates This issue deserves equal billing with the others at the very top of the administration s agenda The serious news is that unlike with many problems we face Obama can ramp up nominations without sacrificing progress on his other priorities There is no shortage of highly qualified acirc 8364 8220 and progressive acirc 8364 8220 nominees and Senate Democrats can crush judicial filibusters when they set their mind to it The bottom line is that Obama may never have another opportunity like the present with 60 Democrats in the Senate to push through his nominees and return some balance to the judicial branch And he has only four or so months before the 2010 election season causes the Senate to grind to a halt President Obama your legacy clock is ticking We need you to act now
Tags: barack obama, george bush, Uncategorized
Add A Comment