Charlie’s dilemma . . . Will they pull the Football away Again?
Everyone already knows, Feinstein can retire or stay put. This is also one of our issues with government and the judiciary. The people in elected and appointed to positions make their decisions based upon what they want which leaves the constituency in a bad position. No matter how many good things done, they can all disappear over time.
No, Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein Is Allowed to Resign, rsn.org, Jim Newell @ Slate
The arguments portrayed by the author . . .
Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Time this week, said that 89-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who’s ailing both physically and mentally, should not retire from the Senate. She didn’t try to argue that Feinstein was actually, secretly, very healthy. Her argument was pragmatic. If Feinstein retires, Clinton said, Democrats won’t be able to replace her on the Judiciary Committee, and the Democratic plan to rebalance the federal judiciary would go poof.
“Here’s the dilemma: the Republicans will not agree to add someone else to the Judiciary Committee if she retires,” Clinton said. “I want you to think about how crummy that is. I don’t know in her heart about whether she really would or wouldn’t, but right now, she can’t. Because if we’re going to get judges confirmed, which is one of the most important continuing obligations that we have, then we cannot afford to have her seat vacant.”
I understand why Hillary Clinton, who has lived the life that Hillary Clinton has lived, would assume Republicans would pull the most cynical move available to them in any given moment.
But this theory of Republicans not allowing a Feinstein replacement on the Judiciary Committee in the event she resigned is one I see Democrats float more often than Republicans. For example, in April, for example was still away from the Senate and unable to attend to her Judiciary duties. Montana Sen. Jon Tester told Politico “whether she resigns or not, it isn’t going to make any difference,” since Republicans wouldn’t allow a Judiciary replacement in the event of a resignation.
A paragraph later, though, Texas Sen. John Cornyn threw cold water all over that idea. Sure, they were filibustering Schumer’s request for Feinstein to be temporarily replaced on Judiciary. But that’s a whole other thing than not letting the majority have a majority on a committee.
“Traditionally that’s when the resolution has been changed—when somebody is no longer able to serve. There’s never been a precedent for a temporary replacement, it’s my understanding. So if the circumstances were to change, I assume that the precedent would be applied.”
Ok, Lucy is holding the football again and waiting for Charlie to kick it. Will she pull the ball away at the last minute and Charlie ends up on his back after wiffing? As one of those “whoa’s me Dems,” why should we trust Repubs to do the agreed to thing, precedent, or the right thing now?
Why is it we seem to find ourselves in this situation time after time?
Because we don’t learn from experience.
Jack:
Yes of course. We find ourselves on the same old path.
It’s a lot like Biden abandoning the 14th Amendment today through the mouth of a Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Unilateral disarmament! Charlie may well end up on his back yet again.
Don’t worry. We can trust Mitch McConnell to abide by precedent. After all, when has he ever…oh wait, never mind.
Aside for Run, earlier post by Fred Dobbs:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/us/politics/medicaid-coverage-pandemic-loss.html
May 26, 2023
Hundreds of Thousands Have Lost Medicaid Coverage Since Pandemic Protections Expired
As states begin to drop people from their Medicaid programs, early data shows that many recipients are losing their coverage for procedural reasons.
By Noah Weiland
ltr
I read it. I appreciate the direction given by comments. I am pretty sure Charles Gaba has something up which I can grab too.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=14GnA
January 15, 2018
Life Expectancy at Birth for United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and United Kingdom, 2017-2021
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=11RG7
January 30, 2018
Infant Mortality Rate for United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and United Kingdom, 2017-2021