Emanuel Cleaver: “we should always be cautious in this quest for absolute power here in Washington. This was not the vision of our…”

“we should always be cautious in this quest for absolute power here in Washington. This was not the vision of our Founding Fathers. Today, we are dealing with a manufactured judicial crisis. Since President George Bush took office, the Senate has confirmed a whopping 208 of his judicial nominations and turned back only 10. That, my friends, is a 95 percent confirmation rate. That rating is the highest approval rating of any President in modern times, including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Thanks to these confirmations, the President presides over the lowest court vacancy rate since Ronald Reagan was President. Congratulations, Mr. President. Instead of accepting that success and avoiding further divisiveness and partisanship here in Washington, my hope is that our President will not add to the current bitterness here and around the Nation by resubmitting the names of rejected nominees again this year. ____________________”