response 115 of 154:

Mar 1 22:16 UTC 2006

>jep dont ask me to cite facts when you haven't.

jep didn't, but I did.  Bush and Frist are on record as opposing ending
the filibuster on legislation.  Maybe they're lying, but that's what
they said.  If you've got an actual quote otherwise, sock it to us.

>Only 45 Senators voted for cloture on the Fortas nomination, making it 
>pretty obvious that he didn't have enough backing to be confirmed.

45 voted for cloture, 43 voted against, a dozen were unaccounted for.  
 The AP "found 47 Senators favoring confirmation of Mr. Fortas and 27
opposed. Twenty-two described themselves as uncommitted and four were
not reached."  The NYTimes wrote, "Informal polls in recent weeks have
shown that a majority of Senators now favor confirmation of Justice
Fortas. Opponents believe that only by staging a filibuster can they
block confirmation."  Republican leaders acknowledged that, by their
count, there were enough votes to confirm. Hence, the filibuster--If
they had the votes to defeat the nomination, there'd be no need.