Chuck Schumer: “The bottom line is this: We are defending the Constitution. We are saying there should be some balance. President Bush…”

“The bottom line is this: We are defending the Constitution. We are saying there should be some balance. President Bush didn't win by a landslide. This Senate is not 62 to 38 or 70 to 30. This country is narrowly divided, and that means when laws are made, they tend to move to the middle. The prescription drug law is an example right now. But judges don't have to move to the middle. Once they are appointed, they are there for life, and they have virtually absolute power over cases. All we have is the constraints within their own heads. My good, learned friend from Texas knows that in the 'Federalist Papers,' Alexander Hamilton said ideology should play a role. My good friend from Texas--he is a student of history--knows one of the first nominees of George Washington, John Rutledge, was rejected because of his views on the Jay Treaty. My good friend knows in that Senate that rejected John Rutledge were a good number of the Founding Fathers. So this is not new. This is not made up. In fact, what is new is the view on the other side that if they don't get their whole way, they want to change the rules.”