It looks like Harry Reid and the Democrats have achieved a small victory on judicial nominations. After moving to force votes on some of Obama’s nominees, Reid obtained a significant concession from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:

The top Democrat and Republican in the Senate struck a deal Wednesday that will avert a nasty floor fight over judges and allow the chamber to take up a small business jobs bill Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) planned to brief their respective caucuses on details of the agreement later in the afternoon. But aides said the deal will allow Democrats to move 12 district court judges and two circuit court judges through the confirmation process by May 7.

That’s excellent news, but next time Reid should ask for more. After all, Republican obstruction of Obama’s nominees has been relentless and unprecedented. In fact, they even blocked the nomination of a tried-and-true Republican, whose nomination was intended as an olive branch.

Clearly these nominations mean little to the GOP. They’re just blocking them to run out the clock, and because it’s their policy to do everything they can to thwart Obama. But they’ve shown they’ll give up on the nominations easily. Reid should do this again — and next time, he should demand even more.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen arcane Senate procedures stretched to their breaking points as Senate Republicans have weaponized them and used them to thwart even President Obama’s least controversial actions. Whether controversial or not, Senate Republicans regularly refuse to take action on every single bill put before them. In this way, they’re trying to run out the clock on the Obama presidency.

This tactic has been particularly pronounced when it comes to the President’s appointments. Although the President has the power to make appointments to the executive and judicial branches, the Senate has regularly refused to vote to confirm even the most benign. In the process, they have decimated the judicial branch, leaving it barely functional.

After years of refusing to fight back, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is finally taking action to move 17 uncontroversial district court judges toward confirmation:

Read More

A long-overdue bill introduced by Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) and Rep. John Larson (D-CT) would move Election Day from the “first Tuesday after the first Monday” to the first full weekend in November.

This bill is long overdue, and it should be adopted immediately. Voting on Tuesdays is an absurd relic from pre-industrial times, which reduces voter turnout. In fact, Israel and Larson’s bill is the absolute minimum standard that should be adopted. We should also implement expanded early voting nationwide, without voters being required to provide an excuse for voting early.

There is simply no justification for maintaining our current system. And no, “tradition” is not an acceptable reason to continue policies that make it harder for people to vote. We need to ensure that elections are open to everyone — and that includes those who work odd hours, those who work multiple jobs, and those with limited ability. It’s time we started getting serious about helping eligible voters to exercise their rights.

On the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s horrendous Citizens United ruling, Al Franken took to the Senate floor to lambaste the decision and urge legislative action to overturn it. Below is video of Franken’s statement, as well as a few excerpts.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court handed down the landmark decision, Citizens United, and with it, they gave corporations a blank check to utterly destroy our political system.  I’d like to take a few minutes this afternoon to tell you about the practical impact of this decision, how it threatens our democracy, and why we need to do something about it….

Read More

The House GOP tried really hard to avoid passing a middle-class tax cut. Most likely, they would have jumped at the chance to give that money to the rich, but they just could never get interested in working for the middle class. Eventually, though, a frustrated John Boehner reluctantly agreed to extend the payroll tax credit for the middle class.

Before Boehner caved, Karl Rove advised Republicans that this fight was not a good one for them:

Republicans “have lost the optics on it,” Rove told Fox News, “the question now is how do the Republicans get out of it.”

Rove is certainly right on that count. The “optics” are absolutely horrendous when doing something to help the 99 Percent is seen as a serious defeat for your party. Boehner and the GOP fully deserve the beating they’ve taken on this issue, for turning a no-brainer into a months-long battle royale. It’s truly amazing how hard they fight to keep the middle class down.

The House was supposed to vote last night on a Senate bill to extend a middle-class payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance benefits, but Speaker John Boehner chickened out at the last minute. Why? Because some Republicans didn’t want to vote against the middle class, but Boehner wanted to make absolutely sure the bill didn’t pass.

In a stunning move, the House Republican leadership postponed a vote planned for late tonight on a two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits that passed the Senate with a huge bipartisan majority. Republicans planned to reject the Senate bill today in a gambit to force the upper chamber to come back from recess and pass a longer term extension. But it seemed House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) caucus wasn’t as united as he expected, as there was “a desire among some rank-and-file lawmakers to cast an affirmative vote rather than a negative one” favored by Boehner, Politico reports.

Now, Boehner may resort to procedural tricks to help ensure his desired outcome when the House votes on the package tomorrow. The House will most likely vote on a motion to reject the Senate bill, instead of regular up-or-down vote. That way, Republicans won’t have to outright vote against the payroll tax holiday and Boehner doesn’t risk the measure accidentally passing in case he miscounts his votes. [Think Progress]

Is it just me, or is Boehner going to absurd lengths to screw the middle class? This sort of procedural nonsense is the worst sort of cynicism, and it’s aimed at preventing a tax cut that’s important for the consumers that drive our economy.

The two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that Boehner is blocking isn’t at all ideal; it should be done for a full year. However, it’s the Republicans’ own fault that we have to do it this way. And now they won’t even give the middle class two stinking months.