Political Quotes

“it hasn't been even a month since the end of the Republican shutdown of the government, and they are already back at trying to paralyze the government again. Yesterday, the Republicans blocked an up-or-down vote on the nomination of Nina Pillard to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. This filibuster comes just 1 week after Republicans filibustered the nomination of Patricia Millett to the DC Circuit, and less than 1 year after Republicans filibustered Caitlin Halligan, who eventually just gave up and withdrew her nomination. Republicans now hold the dubious distinction of having filibustered all three women that President Obama nominated to the DC Circuit. Collectively, these women have diverse experiences in private practice, in government, and in public interest law. Between them, they have argued an amazing 45 cases before the Supreme Court and have participated in many more. All three have the support of a majority of Senators. So why have they been filibustered? The reason is simple. They are caught in a fight over the future of our courts--a fight over whether the courts will be a neutral forum that decides every dispute fairly or whether the courts will be stacked in favor of the wealthy and the powerful. Every day in Congress we deal with the influence of powerful groups and their armies of lobbyists. But in our democracy, when we write laws, sometimes we can push back on that power.…”