GOP Senator (Coburn)To Propose Vote of No Confidence -- In Congress

[deminks]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/06/10/gop-senator-responds-to-g_n_51502.html

http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2007/06/gop-senator-to-propose-vote-of-no.html

(snip)

If it's not James "Ice-Age" Inhofe raving like a crazy man on a street corner about climate change being a big liberal hoax, it's his colleague, Dr. Tom Coburn, trying to divert attention from Republican corruption with childish legislative games.

The no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, scheduled to take place in the Senate Monday afternoon, is as straightforward as a Congressional resolution can be, simply expressing "...the sense of the Senate that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the American people."

It should be, if you'll pardon the expression, a slam dunk, right?

Enter Coburn with an amendment to the Gonzales no-confidence resolution, which is the legislative equivalent of something I would expect to see in my son's fourth-grade class.

In the face of his fellow Senators pushing to express a lack of confidence in George W. Bush's boy, Gonzales, Coburn says "Oh yeah, well I'm going to express no confidence in you."

(end snip)

Actually, isn't he saying he has no confidence in himself? as well?

[DrDan]

1. well - put it up for a vote - and if it fails,

is that not a good thing for us?

[VP505]

2. Why bother,

we already know the vote will be along party lines and this will give the RePukes 49 opportunities to bad mouth the Dem's.

[BlueStater]

4. Is there no thug corrupt enough that the Pukes won't defend? n/t

[RogueSpirit]

3. pardon my ignorance, but...

What exactly is a vote of no confidence? How does it effect the Attorney General? Will a successful vote remove him? Who will his replacement be?

Sorry these may be very elementary questions, but I am fairly ignorant of the machinations of our government.

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. It is a non-binding, symbolic vote

[RogueSpirit]

7. To what end?

I understand symbolic votes, but to what end? Isn't the AG an appointed position? In my mind, it seems like a colossal waste of money and resources to lobby a vote of no confidence against someone that is part of an administration that is on it's way out anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the symbolism behind it, but the fact is, Bush isn't up for re-election so how will this hurt him? It seems to me that this could a big dog and pony show to deflect attention away from something else. Why is our house wrapped up with this when we have a highly divisive war going on?

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. To make a statement and put Republican Senators on the spot

Those Republcian Seantors now have to take an official stand wheather or not they support Gonzalez.

[RogueSpirit]

9. I understand that, but what I mean is this...

Let me back up a bit to try and explain what I mean. I am in my mid 30's and never voted before. I was never interested in it, but because of the way I see things shaking out, I plan on it in '08 and I would like to make an informed decision based on my concerns (mainly the way this administration is executing the war on terror and getting us involved in stuff that's not our business). I will admit, I am clueless as to what the issue is surrounding the AG. The only thing I really know about it is that it has something to do with lawyers that got fired. I know zip about the details.

Now, I would consider myself an average citizen, I fail to understand what good it would do to force the senators to make a stand, especially if it was along party lines and purely symbolic. hard liners from either side will vote for their party in '08, regardless of what the no confidence vote turns up. Swing voters have not really paid enough attention for it to matter and will vote on things like the War, Health Care and Petroleum costs.

It just seems to me that the time and effort spent doing this could be more wisely used to try and get something done that matters in the long run.

[krispos42]

6. Then follow it with a vote about Dickie and Georgie

or on the Republican side of the Senate.

Or my cat.

No, no, not my cat. I wouldn't want to demote The Fluff to their place on the evolutionary manner.