(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Abbreviated pundit roundup: More on Kathy Hochul's pursuit of control [1]
['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags']
Date: 2023-01-21
x I'm thrilled to be joined on the Science Committee by my Republican colleague Dr. George Santos, winner of not only the Nobel Prize, but also the Fields Medal - the top prize in Mathematics - for his groundbreaking work with imaginary numbers.
https://t.co/RJQ7eP8n8x — Congressman Bill Foster (@RepBillFoster) January 20, 2023
More on why a Senate committee rejecting Hector LaSalle, Hochul’s choice for the top court, was norm-busting, same piece as above:
Returning to New York reveals a very different approach to the confirmation process, one that has traditionally empowered the governor much more. The appointment process starts with judicial candidates submitting applications to the Commission on Judicial Nomination, which compiles a list of up to seven finalists from which the governor must choose her nominee. Despite some sharp criticism of the Commission for placing partisan interests over legal ability, the norm that’s developed is essentially one of senatorial deference. Since this system was enacted in 1977, governors have filled thirty-five vacancies—five of which have been the Chief Judge position. No nominee has ever failed. The last several decades suggest the norm is unanimous confirmation, typically by voice vote. The norm has persisted even when the governor’s mansion and senate were controlled by different parties. In the late 2000s and for most of the 2010s, Republicans controlled the senate, while a Democrat occupied the governor’s office. Yet Associate Judges Abdus-Salaam, Stein, Fahey, Garcia, Wilson, and Feinman—who were nominated during those periods—were all reportedly confirmed via unanimous vote. So too were the Chief Judge nominees. The votes for Chief Judges Lippman and DiFiore—who were nominated by Democratic governors and confirmed by Republican-majority senates—were also described as unanimous. In light of the senate’s tradition of deference, scholars and commentators have described the advice and consent process as a “rubber stamp.”
Quinn Yeargain/Substack:
Kathy Hochul is wrong about the New York Constitution Any argument that the State Senate is constitutionally obligated to vote Hector LaSalle's nomination up or down is contradicted by the plain text We might question why Kathy Hochul is so committed to the seemingly-doomed nomination of Hector LaSalle to the state Court of Appeals. Fresh off an embarrassing re-election campaign—in which she barely defeated her hard-right Republican opponent—she’s decided to use her limited political capital to nominate a conservative jurist to the state’s highest court, locking in a prosecution-friendly, center-right majority. Needless to say, it hasn’t gone well.
She’s threatened to sue, but it’s unlikely she will find relief. She might lose the case, or the Senate may just vote the nominee down, and/or not vote at all despite a court ruling—by ignoring it. Any of those are possible, none leave the governor any room for claiming a win.
Well played, governor. Well played.
And why is she doing this all? No one seems to know, though the norms discussion suggests that perhaps she’s affronted by being the first New York governor to be gainsaid on a court of appeals choice.
NY Times:
Despite Red Flags, G.O.P. Backed Candidate Now Charged in Shootings “We could have picked apart this guy,” one Republican leader in New Mexico said of Solomon Peña, who is accused of organizing attacks on the homes of four Democratic officials. Yet powerful party leaders in New Mexico not only gave the first-time candidate, Solomon Peña, 39, full-throated endorsements, they also opened their checkbooks to fund his race for a state legislative seat in central Albuquerque long held by Democrats. Some knew about his prison record but said they felt that he had turned his life around. Local and state authorities now say they are investigating whether drug money helped fund his campaign.
But you didn’t pick him apart. That was a choice. Also, George Santos. And that was a choice.
Speaking of the courts:
x It's a bit subtle but it seems like this judge is not really a fan of the frivolous lawsuit Trump filed
https://t.co/64Avml0peg pic.twitter.com/zb0WFGr06m — Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) January 20, 2023
Hakeem Jefferson/FiveThirtyEight:
x are the people still pissed in iran?
absolutely pic.twitter.com/KSH2DWgS1M — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) January 20, 2023
John Stoehr/Editorial Board:
When Trump accused white evangelical Protestant leaders of disloyalty, it wasn’t a sign of division between them It was an order. In politics, if you’re looking for something, you’ll find it. Washington’s newsspeakers and opiniontalkers have been searching, since last year’s congressional elections, for evidence underscoring the suspicion that, for the Republican Party and the criminal former president, the thrill is gone. Specifically, that Trump’s relationship with white evangelical Protestants, the hardest of his hardcore supporters, is soft. The occasion was his appearance Monday on Real America’s Voice. The evidence was his mewling about white evangelical Protestant leaders, who have been withholding support, he said, for his third campaign. “It’s a sign of disloyalty,” Trump told the host, David Brody. “There’s great disloyalty in the world of politics and that’s a sign of disloyalty.” If you’re looking for something, you’ll find it. For Vanity Fair’s Caleb Ecarma, Trump’s deathless remonstrations suggested that “several high-profile evangelical leaders and activists have signaled that they want a new standard-bearer to lead the Republican Party into 2024.” No. Yeah, no.
David Dayen/The American Prospect:
McCarthy’s 21 Republican Defectors Didn’t Get Much That’s because the party already agreed with them. But what about the secret three-page agreement, which included additional concessions not voted on by the House? We obviously don’t know what exists on those pages; it’s a secret. But we are starting to learn the results of what we think was included, and as much as it surprises me to say it, [Marjorie Taylor] Greene has the better of the argument: The concessions to the insurgency were minimal at best. While making a lot of noise and giving C-SPAN viewers exciting camera angles for a week, nothing much of substance changed throughout those 15 votes. I’m making a very specific argument here. I’m not saying that Kevin McCarthy ignored pleas from his far right and managed to win the Speaker’s gavel without concessions. He was forced into some important changes to democratize Congress, like more amendments on voting, the single-subject rule for bills that should prevent omnibus legislation, and a 72-hour notice before a bill is placed on the floor. But as Greene has pointed out, all of those decisions were made before anyone took any vote for Speaker on January 3, 2023. In other words, Kevin McCarthy wasn’t hijacked by a small group of angry dissidents during a harrowing week of Speaker votes. McCarthy was “hijacked” years ago by the strain of conservative thought that has predominated since the late 1970s. In today’s Republican Party, everyone is a hijacker. And that’s what makes the next two years more dangerous.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/21/2148299/-Abbreviated-pundit-roundup-More-on-Kathy-Hochul-s-pursuit-of-control
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
