Wow! I'd forgotten how much power one senator can have. He can hold this country hostage till he gets what he wants. Things like this encourage me to wish for the end of filibusters.

Report: Shelby Blocks All Obama Nominations In The Senate Over AL Earmarks | TPMDC

Report: Shelby Blocks All Obama Nominations In The Senate Over AL Earmarks

"Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary "blanket hold" on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, CongressDaily (sub. req.) reports. The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.

Shelby has been tight-lipped about the holds, offering only an unnamed spokesperson to reporters today to explain them. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke the news of the blanket hold this afternoon. Reid aides told CongressDaily the hold extends to "all executive nominations on the Senate calendar."

According to the report, Shelby is holding Obama's nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track. CongressDaily laid out the programs Shelby wants to move forward or else:

- A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers. From the report: "Northrop/EADS team would build the planes in Mobile, Ala., but has threatened to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to a draft request for proposals."

- An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI. From CongressDaily: "[Shelby] is frustrated that the Obama administration won't build" the center, which Shelby earmarked $45 million for in 2008. The center is due to be based "at the Army's Redstone Arsenal."
...
A San Diego State University professor and "Congressional expert" told the paper "he knew of no previous use of a blanket hold" in recent history."

more at link
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Bringing the nation's business to a halt to get earmarks...I don't think I like that very much.

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Here, kitty kitty...

Give me a damned break. What a greedy piece of worthless hairball this "senator" is.

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I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

Some of them take their role as the party of opposition literally...

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"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"-FDR

http://jeffersonblog.history.org/doe...ecision-making

Personally, I find this disgusting...

But the Democratic leadership has already shown that they are willing to pay off people for their votes, so Shelby is doing the same thing Democrats like Nelson and Landrieu did during the healthcare debacle...Hold their vote in escrow until the Democratic leadership pays up...this would've never had happened had Reid and Pelosi not expressed their willingness to bribe Congress for what they want...

The title of this thread should be "Republican figures out the Democratic game"...

BTW - Cheap plug - That's why I'm creating Unincumbent2012...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Cheap plug noted

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The confirmations are important. Some things like trade and what not cannot go forward with new plans till that happens.
I don't like the Nebraska Sen any better though.

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I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

Hhhmmm... for some reason I did not go to the web page but a list of 'related sites"
Could be my browser settings.

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I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

Reminding the congressweasels of who they work for, and what their job is, has become extremely important.

This "I'm going to take my ball and go home cause you won't play it my way" BS has got to stop. Both sides. Any sides.

What they are all effectively doing is screwing the nation for the want of childish, self-motivated reasons. This is not acceptable.

The time to remove them ALL, is now. And just to show I know, but still believe it:

(If I loose my sense of humor, someone best imbalm me)

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Freedom is the only thing that means a damn to me.... you can't fake it" Bad Company, Simple Man

Well if I lose mine DON'T start the cremation process cuz there's no "oversies"

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I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

I see the Grand Obstructionist Party is hard at work.

I understand completely why Senators and Representatives work to bring Federal dollars into their states/districts, but it can get embarrassing for some of them. Shelby is a good example of the embarrassing ones. Check out this. From the article:



On Redstone Arsenal there is a building named for him - the Richard C. Shelby Center for Missile Intelligence, dedicated in December 1999, and built using pork barrel money. Maybe they'll name the FBI IED building after him too. Jeez.

He does a lot for Alabama, and he seriously screws the rest of the country in the process - but he's no different from any other Republican or Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

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Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)
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Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind