Cease Fire

I can’t add a lot to the rivers of pixels that have been expended on the filibuster “deal.” Obviously, it’s not a good deal for Republicans, who for the future get only vague assurances of not filibustering except in “extraordinary” cases, which means nothing. Plus, as with cease-fires in war, an agreement of this nature is only useful if the will to enforce it can be summoned at the first violation. Making a deal when you have your forced mobilized always makes it harder to rally them again later.
Then again, it’s not such a great deal for Democrats, either, as the Republican promises in the deal are entirely unenforceable once the Democrats filibuster again on ideological grounds. Thus, the only thing the Democrats get is to step back for a while from the brink at a time when the GOP may or may not have had the votes.
In that light, the deal’s not a disaster overall – both sides went home unhappy, and Bill Frist got humiliated, but Bush does get a floor vote on three appellate court nominees, so unlike the typical Trent Lott-era deal at least there should be something lasting to show for all this.
Anyway, the pressure will only increase now on both parties not to compromise again at the next stage, when a Supreme Court nominee comes up. It’s gonna be ugly.

6 thoughts on “Cease Fire”

  1. It’s worth noting that one of the Democratic signatories already failed to live up to his part of the bargain by not voting for cloture on Owens.

  2. Why is that worth noting? Didn’t Owen move on after a 81-18 cloture vote? She got her up-and-down vote, and now her undeserved lifetime appointment. Try not to be such an ungracious winner, Richard.

  3. I haven’t looked at the tally, but if one of the signatories violated the agreement the day after it was signed, that bodes ill for its chances of surviving very long.

  5. Not having read the specific text of the agreement, my take on this would be similar to the Voinovich/Bolton situation—the signatories agreed to move the nominee on to an up-or-down vote, but didn’t promise (or weren’t required to promise) how they’d vote. (Much as Voinovich voted to move Bolton out of committee, and then promptly voted against him) And since the Dems won’t filibuster, it doesn’t actually matter how they vote, the cloture will be reached.

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