Senate Rules panel moves controversial FEC pick

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Source: The Hill

The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday voted to report out all four Federal Election Commission nominations without recommendation, an unprecedented maneuver aimed at accommodating Chairman Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) objections to Hans von Spakovsky’s nomination.

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Von Spakovsky’s nomination became controversial earlier this year during the Democrats’ investigation of the firing of U.S. attorneys and whether the Justice Department had been improperly politicized during President Bush’s tenure. Former top officials of the civil rights division, where von Spakovsky held the position of counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, have sent letters to members of the Rules Committee accusing him of politicizing the voting rights section and arguing against his confirmation.

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Feinstein, however, warned that she would voice her concerns about von Spakovsky’s nomination when it reaches the Senate floor for a vote.

“I don’t feel that this is an unbiased individual,” she said. “We’re coming into a critical time in elections, a key presidential election, key Senate elections, key House elections, and that is why I personally feel so strongly about it.”


Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senate-rules-panel-moves-controversial-fec-pick-2007-09-26.html

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Feinstein feels strongly but the criminal will be confirmed because she let him out of comittee. I'm so proud to be a Democrat.

[mod mom]

1. DU post here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1910899

Did you forget your sarcasm button? I agree-he will be confirmed-Feinstein et al pushed responsibility to others. there are Dems who want to see the other 3 appted so they will allow for this criminal to also be appted-imho:

Posted September 18, 2007 by J. Gerald Hebert
No Deal On von Spakovsky
Roll Call has a piece today about Senate Democrats’ deal with the devil.
"Senate Democrats are expected to name a top lawyer for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY) to fill a vacancy on the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a potentially safe selection that would avoid a brewing showdown with Republicans over a controversial GOP commission pick.

"Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) office plans to ask the White House to nominate Cynthia Bauerly, Schumer’s legislative director, to replace Democratic-nominated commissioner Ellen Weintraub, whose term expired last spring. Weintraub has said she will continue to serve on the commission until her successor is confirmed."

Ms. Bauerly may become a fine FEC commissioner, but for reasons we have explained previously, Hans von Spakovsky is unfit to be a poll watcher, let alone one of the six commissioners who regulate our federal elections.

Senate Democrats know full well the various misdeeds of von Spakovsky, so any decision on their part to hold their nose and confirm him despite such a record is simply inexcusable. For several years now, the Democratic leadership has been a profile in spinelessness when it comes to the FEC. It is painfully apparent that leadership sees the FEC as a dumping ground for party apparatchiks who will follow the party line and do no real damage. They then can blithely reassure themselves that parking von Spakovsky at the FEC will also do no real harm because he will only be one of six commissioners who are evenly split (3 Democratic and 3 Republican appointees). And this is an agency whose commissioners usually deadlock 3 to 3 on the most important or controversial matters that the agency faces. Is it any wonder why the campaign finance system continues to disappoint?

-snip

http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-169.html


Reid and Schumer's Secret FEC Deal? (It's Not Good)
by clammyc
Fri Sep 21st, 2007 at 12:30:51 PM EST

Note: Action item down at the bottom of this diary
I haven’t seen this posted anywhere, and with the focus no longer being on the US attorney firing scandal and the relationship between many of the US attorneys and election integrity issues, I think it bears pointing out. The deal involves the reconfirmation of Hans von Spakovsky, a hyper partisan republican who has many MANY shady ties to voter suppression tactics over the past couple of decades, as one of six members of the Federal Elections Commission.


Back in May, Ice Just Ice wrote a great diary called ”Keep Yer Vote Thievin' Hans Off the Federal Election Commission: Action Alert!”, and I followed it up (with much help from the ePluribus Media folks) with the three-part series on Hans von Spakovsky that is linked above. Needless to say (as I will highlight yet again below), von Spakovsky is quite possibly the worst person to serve as one of the FEC Commissioners, and his recess appointment was protested by Senator Kennedy as well as a number of other legal scholars.
Additionally and more recently, von Spakovsky was implicated in a voter suppression flap in Missouri, where he shot down a lawsuit that would more fairly represent the voters and representation for local elections. Of course, the lawsuit would have allowed more minority board members as a result of the district being a largely minority district, and probably would have resulted in less republicans being elected.
All of this being said, Senators Reid and Schumer are ready to cut a deal that would allow him to be reconfirmed for a full term, despite his large role in voter suppression, controversial and illegal voter ID laws, sockpuppetry and the illegal TX redistricting that was engineered by Tom DeLay.

-snip

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/9/21/123051/137

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2. How about it if they just

select qualified people who aren't partisans for this job. I wouldn't give a damn if the whole board were Republican, if they were honest (assuming you could find four honest Republicans). This is a system that shouldn't be gamed by either side.