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Daily Archives: March 27, 2017
Lawmakers want infrastructure funded by offshore tax reform | TheHill – The Hill
Posted: March 27, 2017 at 5:10 am
A bipartisan group of lawmakers thinks the key to uniting Republicans and Democrats around a massive infrastructure package is coupling it with a sweetener for conservatives: tax reform.
Reps. John Delaney (D-Md.), Ted YohoTed YohoLawmakers want infrastructure funded by offshore tax reform Defying Trump, Freedom Caucus insists it'll oppose GOP ObamaCare replacement The Hill's Whip List: 36 GOP no votes on ObamaCare repeal plan MORE (R-Fla.) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) have pushed the concept for years. But now the group who came to Congress together in 2013 might have their best shot yet.
These two ideas were working on are better poised to become a reality than the entire time weve served together over the past four and a half years, Davis said in a sit-down with reporters this week. President Trump has brought the debate to the forefront.
Delaney, Yoho and Davis are seizing on that momentum and renewing their effort to link international tax reform with infrastructure spending.
The group introduced two bills this week aimed at tapping into cash overseas that would use the money to upgrade U.S. roads, bridges and other public works. An estimated $2 trillion in earnings is stashed overseas, they say.
One measure sponsored by Delaney and Davis would establish a $50 billion infrastructure bank to finance local transportation, energy, water and education projects.
The bank, which would put an emphasis on public-private partnerships, would be funded through the sale of 50-year bonds to U.S. corporations that want to repatriate overseas earnings. In turn, the companies would be allowed to bring a certain amount of overseas earnings back to the U.S. with no federal tax liability for every $1 invested in the bonds.
The other bill, from Delaney and Yoho, would allow U.S. multinational corporations to repatriate earnings at a mandatory, one-time tax of 8.75 percent, a discount on the current 35 percent rate and deferral option.
Those revenues would be used to improve the nations infrastructure, with an estimated $120 billion going to the Highway Trust Fund, $50 billion going to an infrastructure bank and $25 million going to a pilot program focused on rural infrastructure.
The legislation also sets an 18-month deadline for international tax reform and creates a panel to explore long-term funding solutions for financing the ailing Highway Trust Fund.
Its giving each side something they really cared about for a while, Delaney said. Democrats have really made infrastructure one of our top priorities. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have made fixing this broken international tax system a priority.
The lawmakers make strange bedfellows. Yoho is a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, Davis is a rural Republican who supports medical marijuana and lifting Cuba restrictions and Delaney is a wealthy former banker who represents part of the Washington, D.C., suburbs.
But the lawmakers, who traded both barbs and compliments during their sit-down with reporters during an otherwise tense and partisan week on Capitol Hill focused on healthcare, say they share the common goal of boosting the economy through infrastructure investment.
The trio believes their legislation can bridge the partisan gap in Congress.
Fiscal conservatives have been reluctant to back massive federal spending on transportation, especially if it blows a massive hole in the deficit. But tax reform may be one way to get them on board.
Infrastructure was something I campaigned on as a Republican, which there wasnt exactly a hot bed of conservative support for, Davis said. Its going to take Republicans like me and Democrats like John to be able to come together and understand how do we actually pay for those projects.
Yoho said the Trump administration, which is collecting funding ideas as it begins to craft a comprehensive infrastructure bill, appears to have some appetite for the idea.
The chairmen of the House and Senate Transportation committees, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Sen. John ThuneJohn ThuneLawmakers want infrastructure funded by offshore tax reform Senate GOP hedges on ObamaCare repeal timeline Week ahead: Robocall crackdown tops FCC meeting agenda MORE (R-S.D.), respectively, have also signaled interest in using repatriation to pay for the plan.
Ive shared this with [Vice President] Mike PenceMike (Michael) Richard PencePence meets his 'second-favorite Ron and Nancy' Sanford: 'Testosterone can get you in trouble' Flynn discussed how to 'whisk' away cleric wanted by Turkey: report MORE and said these are the things we have, Yoho said. And Mike Pence says, You know what, youve brought this up to me before. Were seriously looking at it.
So I feel were making headway on it, Yoho added.
But even though Trump and Congress have both signaled interest in tackling tax reform and infrastructure this year, that doesnt mean they will dovetail together.
For one thing, lawmakers tasked with writing tax laws have been reluctant to commit to spending the cash from repatriation on infrastructure. Instead, they prefer to use that money to overhaul the tax code, and there are questions over whether theres enough revenue to effectively accomplish both.
And Trump and leadership have both suggested that tax reform will come before infrastructure, which could spell trouble for the trios legislation if repatriation gets all used up.
If you sequence these things, so you do tax reform first and infrastructure second the chances of the people doing tax reform setting aside some money for some future infrastructure discussion are non-existent, Delaney said. Unless infrastructure has a seat at the table, it will be much harder.
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Vroon, Fred Olsen, MPI Offshore and ZPMC all linked with A2Sea takeover – Splash 247
Posted: at 5:10 am
March 27th, 2017 Sam Chambers Europe, Offshore 0 comments
DONG Energy and Siemens Wind Power are finally close to selling their joint venture shipping line A2Sea after years of hawking the wind turbine installation specialist.
Danish newspaper Berlingske reports a sale is now close for the line described by the daily as an unwanted child. A series of bids have been lodged for the line with DONG and Siemens in the process of picking a winner.
Berlingske lists European owners Vroon, Fred Olsen, MPI Offshore as possible buyers as well as Chinas ZPMC with a figure thought to be in the region of $200m to $250m.
A2Sea was founded in 2000, with DONG buying it in 2009 and Siemens taking a 49% stake the following year.
A2Seas fleet of three vessels has not kept up with the supersizing of wind turbines, Berlingske reports. When DONG bought the line eight years ago the average turbine was around 140 m tall, nowadays they soar 220 m.
Sam Chambers
Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the worlds oldest newspaper, Lloyds List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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Vroon, Fred Olsen, MPI Offshore and ZPMC all linked with A2Sea takeover - Splash 247
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Quintis reveals identity of offshore sandalwood buyers after ASX inquiry – The Australian Financial Review
Posted: at 5:10 am
Quintis founder and managing director Frank Wilson topped up his stake last week by 50,000 shares.
Quintis has conceded its biggest customer in China, Shanghai Richer Link, has not ordered any shipments this year but the sandalwood group has advanced talks with other buyers in China amid alleged customs duty avoidance by other importers.
The company has lost 22 per cent of its market value since short-seller Glaucus published explosive allegations last week likening Quintis' business model to a ponzi scheme and estimating its equity was worth zero. The former TFS rejected the claims as untrue and self-serving. With a declared short interest, Glaucus stands to make money when Quintis shares fall.
On Monday, Quintis sought a trading halt to respond to questions posed by the ASX following its dismissal of Glaucus' claims. The ASX wanted to know who the company traded with, and more details about the "inaccuracies" identified in the short seller's research report.
"Just because an activist US-based short seller makes various claims, claims which it stands to benefit financially from, does not mean those claims are true," Quintis shot back. Among its conclusions was that Glaucus failed to distinguish between high-value Indian sandalwood which it has sold at more than $US4500 ($5900) a kilo and other, cheaper varieties that change hands for around $US550 a kilo.
"Glaucus has performed a highly flawed and, as a result, misleading pricing analysis as surely as if they had analysed the price of BMW vehicles by looking at import data for Kia vehicles," Quintis said. Sandalwood and its oil are used in religious carvings, as prayer beads, as well as in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.
Authorities in China have cracked a sandalwood importing ring that it is alleged failed to properly declare the value of unidentified sandalwood originating from Australia. Quintis distanced itself from the investigation, where only one of its employees in China was interviewed. Shanghai Richer Link officials were also questioned but no charges were laid, the Perth-based company added.
It extended its own diligence last year when a law firm was commissioned to review Quintis' export documentation to Shanghai Richer Link, completed this year, and found it to be compliant. Shanghai Richer Link presented no credit risk, in Quintis' opinion, and it paid for orders upfront.
Previously, Quintis had declined to name the other parties to its sales agreements, beyond saying they are in China, India, the Middle East and the United States, and citing commercial confidence. In November 2016, the company's chairman told shareholders that "the vast majority of our harvests through to 2021 are now forward sold".
It has gone a step further in response to intense scrutiny of its operations and unmasked its Chinese client as well as Medinext General Trading as an associate of a client with a two-year deal and a three-year extension option in India, North Africa and the Middle East. International Flavors & Fragrances or IFF and Paspaley were named as uncontracted customers of its high-value Indian oil and wood, and Givaudan was a significant buyer of lower-value Australian oil.
Asset manager GMO was identified as the new institutional plantation investor alluded to in 2016.
In February 2016, news of major supply deals sent the shares rallying.
Quintis was a target of short sellers before Glaucus made headlines with its freely distributed 39-page report. According to Australian Securities and Investments Commission figures as of March 21, 14 per cent of its shares are in the hands of short sellers. Founder and managing director Frank Wilson topped up his stake last week by 50,000 shares.
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Cardboard vessels take to the ‘high seas’ at MCA – News Item
Posted: at 5:10 am
High school students test design skills during boat regatta
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MOUNT CARMEL Will it float?
The answer to the age-old question was answered Friday during the Mount Carmel Area Junior/Senior High School ninth annual Boat Regatta.
Boats made of cardboard, rubber sealant and a limited amount of duct tape either sank or stayed afloat during the double-elimination event organized by industrial arts teacher Keith Fourspring.
Leading up to the humorous event, Fourspring taught his students how to create small-scale models and solve formulas to determine if their ships would be sea worthy. Months of hard work by students was ultimately put to the test Friday in the head-to-head competition that contained several heats.
First place was awarded to Selana Guererro, second to Alyssa Karycki and third to Evan Salamone.
The event included live music by students and light refreshments for event sponsors. The boats that did not make the finish line were ultimately decommissioned and placed in a district garbage truck.
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Jonestown survivor to present at USI – USI Communications
Posted: at 5:09 am
The University of Southern Indiana will host a presentation by Laura Johnston Kohl, a Jonestown Survivor and author of Jonestown Survivor: An Insiders Look, at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 10 in Carter Hall located in University Center West. The presentation, entitled Jonestown Survivor Evolution of Peoples Temple in the 1960s and 1970s, is free and open to the public.
Kohl, spent nine years in California and Guyana with Peoples Temple, the religious organization led by Jim Jones. She was away from the organization on November 18, 1978, when 918 people died from cyanide poisoning, and was one of only 87 who lived through the event. After spending 20 years recovering and rebuilding, Kohl became a speaker and author on Jonestown and communal studies.
Kohl is a regular contributor to the Jonestown Report, a publication from the Jonestown Institute. She is organizing a survivors visit to Jonestown with a documentary crew. Kohl has bachelors degrees in psychology and philosophy from the University of New York and a bilingual teaching credential from Chapman University.
Kohl is a writer, a bilingual teacher, a regular public speaker and a presenter and board member of the Communal Studies Association.
The presentation is the spring 2017 lecture for USIs Center for Communal Studies, which promotes the study of contemporary and historic communal groups, intentional communities and utopias. For more information, contact Jennifer Greene at 812-464-1832 or jagreene@usi.edu.
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Stephen Hawking is making plans to travel into space – CBS News
Posted: at 5:08 am
Physicist Stephen Hawking at The Royal Society in London, July 20, 2015.
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Breakthrough Initiatives
Stephen Hawking has booked a ticket to space. The renowned theoretical physicist announced that hes accepted Richard Bransons invitation to board a flight on a future Virgin Galactic trip to space.
Hawking revealed the news in an interview on ITVs Good Morning Britain. He said that while his three children brought him great joy throughout his life, the next milestone that would make him happy now would be to travel in space.
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I have already completed a zero-gravity flight which allowed me to float, weightless, Hawking said. But my ultimate ambition is to fly into space. I thought no one would take me, but Richard Branson has offered me a seat on Virgin Galactic and I said yes immediately.
Bransons company has not announced how Hawking, who has a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrigs disease, which has gradually paralyzed him since his initial diagnosis at age 21, will make the journey. Any trip to the stars would likely be some years in the future since Virgin Galactic has not made any set plans for the start of regular commercial flights to space.
The company received an operating license for space tourism from the Federal Aviation Administration last year, but is still in the testing phase for its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft that it hopes will ultimately introduce commercial space flights for civilians.
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Rick Wiles: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Singularity, and the Next Society – TRUNEWS
Posted: at 5:07 am
What does the Next Society being designed by Agenda 2030 technocrats entail? Today on TRUNEWS, Rick Wiles is joined by Technocracy News Editor-in-Chief Patrick Wood and Christian author Carl Teichrib to discuss the quantum progression of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Ray Kurzweils Singularity, and the formation of a ubiquitously connected Global Brain. Rick and this panel of experts also detail the direct implications of the emerging telecom 5G network, comprised of thousands of low Earth orbit satellites, and how the 4th Industrial Revolution will leverage the Internet-of-Things as a secular replacement to human reality.
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The Rise of a New Species of Human Being – Singularity Hub
Posted: at 5:07 am
Today, what survives on Earth can be determined entirely by human beings. We can alter the genetics of almost any life form and potentially design entirely new ones. According to renowned physicist Freeman Dyson, In the future, a new generation of artists will be writing genomes as fluently as Blake and Byron wrote verses.
In their book Evolving Ourselves , Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans describe a world where evolution is no longer driven by natural processes. Instead, it is driven by human choices, through what they call unnatural selection and non-random mutation. As a result, we will see the emergence of an entirely new species of human beings.
There is no doubt that Enriquez and Gullans describe a powerful tool for accelerating human progress. We could use it to eradicate genetic diseases, increase our lifespan and design life that can survive on Mars.
Naturally, there are possible negative applications. To what extent should we allow designer babies? Should we bring back extinct species? How do we prevent criminals from designing harmful viruses or bioweapons? Like many other experts, Enriquez and Gullans stress the importance of stimulating an ethical dialogue around such advancements.
As a science author, researcher and entrepreneur, Juan Enriquez has been studying the widespread implications of genomics and other life sciences on society. In a conversation with Singularity Hub, Enriquez painted a radically profound future for humanity.
Your work describes a world in which humanity is altering its genome and controlling its evolution. If Charles Darwin was alive today, how would he describe this new world?
I think we see two parallel evolutionary structures. There is one evolutionary structure that Darwin and Wallace discovered that applied for four billion years, where random mutation and natural selection continue to occur. But then there is a world where the primary determinant of what lives and dies becomes human beings. This is a world of unnatural selection, because humans would rather have dogs and cats than snakes and grizzly bears. Its a world where we deliberately insert genes into bacteria, plants and animals for specific purposes. This is a form of intelligent design, and has nothing to do with random mutations.
In your 2009 TED talk, you say We are becoming a new species, we are becoming Homo Evolutis. How exactly do you envision the Homo Evolutis being different from Homo Sapiens?
If you look at the history of humanity in hominids, there have been at least 32 different species of hominids alive. We coexisted with at least five of them. We interbred with several of them. The normal and natural state of the planet is to have various species of monkeys, elephants, tigers and also hominids. Having other species of hominids walking around is not unusual or unnatural. It involves going back to a normal state.
How long before we see the emergence of Homo Evolutis? Is this something that is already occurring?
Even Darwin had difficulty defining species. We have at least 19 different definitions of the term species. Depending on which of these definitions we adopt, it could be much earlier or much later. Already, we are seeing this by controlling our reproduction, which is the core of evolution.
Imagine you were able to get a time machine, sit down your grandparents when they were 17 and had a birds and the bees talk. You would explain a world where it is normal and natural to have sex and not have a child. That is completely unprecedented in natural history. You would describe a world where you could artificially freeze sperm and eggs, not requiring physical contact to conceive a child. You could go on to describe a world where you can have a child fifty years after it was conceived, separating birth from time.
With these situations, we are basically saying that even the most fundamental aspects of life, that our grandparents took for granted, are completely different today. Given that, our grandparents would probably already see us as a different species.
Would you argue that we have a moral imperative to continue to evolve ourselves?
I think it is a decision that various human societies have to make, and we just have to be aware that theyre making it. There will be societies that say, Lets do it all. There will be other societies that will say, Lets do some of it. There will be societies that say, Absolutely not. Precisely because there are differences in those areas, we will see some speciation.
Our ability to re-engineer and recreate ourselves will allow us to overcome our biological limitations and be a major contributing factor to the survival of our species. But do you think there are scenarios in which it can be detrimental to our progress?
Yes. Most evolution doesnt work. 99 percent of the species that have ever lived are extinct. Evolution is actually a continuous set of experiments, many of which fail. It would not be surprising to see some things go horribly wrong. That is simply what happens in nature.
But if we dont take those steps forward, then we dont have a real chance at eventually allowing our species to live long enough to travel across space. If we dont do these things, it is likely that we will not cure cancer or Alzheimers. There is a cost and a risk to acting, but there is certainly a cost and a risk to not acting.
Human desire and choices can vary across individuals and entire societies. One can imagine there will be some conflict and debate on what characteristic we should choose to select for. Who gets to decide what traits we do select for?
I think each society will have its own moral and ethical structures, and will choose. The reason we have so many different religions is precisely so we can have various options as to where and how we want to live. As long as people are free to choose and understand the potential risks and benefits, then they can make an intelligent decision. I dont believe that any smart person will state a certain number of rules should apply to the entire world, simply because Ive seen those rules change so many times.
What are some human traits you are looking forward to tackling with genetic engineering?
Firstly, there are several horrendousyet simplegenetic diseases we can get rid of. Cystic fibrosis is caused by a single letter change among 3.2 billion letters, something we can eradicate with these advancements. Sickle cell anemia, hemophilia and cancer genes are other examples.
Beyond that, there are traits that may make us more radiation-resistant, and that may be something we want to do if we ever want to colonize Mars. There are traits that may give us aesthetics or sports benefits, and the standard of safety for that better be high before we allow it. We take risks every day. We take risks crossing the street, when we get in the elevator or when we do plastic surgery. As long as the risks are clear, the procedure is relatively safe and the individual is well-informed, I think that individuals should be allowed to make these decisions.
So far our conversation has been focused on changing life as we know it, which is based on DNA. But do you think we can design a completely new and alternative genomic language to DNA?
First of all, there is a whole series of ways in which you can modify gene expression within the DNA code itself. We can alter the expression of that code. We can modify how the environment interacts with the code. We can modify the metabolism or the microorganisms that execute on that code. We already have instruments at many different levels to modify the expression of that DNA, even if it is written exactly the same way.
That aside, we are starting to see scientists who are able to create heredity using alternative chemical structures. So we can add or substitute letters to DNA and still have living organisms that inherit in different ways. This means DNA is not the only solution for life; we could have alternative chemistries that are not DNA-based. This means the chances of finding life in the universe are very high.
Finally, would you say that you are optimistic about the future of humanity?
I realize how many things can go horribly wrong. I realize how awful leadership can be sometimes. But within that context, Im quite optimistic about the future of humanity. We are doing things our grandparents would see as magical. Our grandkids will take for granted things that surprise, shock and awe us, because I think this whole thing is accelerating.
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World Order’s ‘Singularity’ raises profile of singular girls group – Japan Today
Posted: at 5:07 am
By KK Miller, RocketNews24
Entertainment Mar. 26, 2017 - 06:00AM JST ( )
TOKYO
Music group World Order isnt only known for their robotic dancing and electronic beats. Their act can also be delightfully comedic when employed in the right situations, usually during their publicly shot music videos set around the world. Seeing the group pump their arms and walk by popular destinations is now as iconic as it is mesmerizing. While Genki Sudo, the founder of the group, is no longer the full-time front man, it seems he is continuing to dance with World Order, at least in their newest music video, Singularity.
The video features the perfect mix of all the elements weve come to love from the group, including suited dancers moving around robotically and an intricate dance machine that could only come from the minds of World Order. Fans are treated to a few special guests part way through the video as well. World Order is basically challenged to a dance off with a bunch of office women in the conference room. However, these arent just any regular office ladies though; theyre eight members of SKE48, one of the sister groups to AKB48 that are based in Nagoya. Theyre the perfect companions to help World Order enjoy the sights and sounds of the third largest city in Japan, as soon as they all bust out of the office.
It isnt too surprising to see World Order collaborating with the idol group SKE48, as fans will remember that members of AKB48 joined them in Akihabara for the Have a Nice Day music video. Both idol groups and World Order have gained some popularity by synchronizing their dances and positively representing Japan around the world, but given the choice between emulating cheerleaders or eclectic robotic salarymen, well take the robots any day of the week.
Source: YouTube/WORLD ORDER
Read more stories from RocketNews24. Japanese band robot-dances their way around London in latest music video AKB48 founder plans Japan48 idol group for Olympics, Phillipines spinoff Genka Bar, where your drinks never cost more than what theyre worth!
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It’s not Neil Gorsuch’s fault, but we can’t support his ascension to a stolen Supreme Court seat – Los Angeles Times
Posted: at 5:04 am
A decade ago, The Times urged the Senate to confirm John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court even though he was a conservative judge nominated by a conservative president and was likely to pull the court to the right for decades to come. We backed him, despite our disagreements with his judicial philosophy, because we believe that presidents Democrats and Republicans alike are entitled to significant deference when they nominate justices to the high court, so long as the nominees are well qualified and scandal-free, respect precedent and fall within the broad mainstream of judicial thinking.
Under normal circumstances, that same reasoning would lead us to support the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. Like Roberts, he is conservative but competent, with more than a decade of experience on the appellate bench and a well qualified rating from the American Bar Assn.
But these are not normal times.
Not after the outrageous obstruction of Judge Merrick Garlands nomination for 10 full months by Senate Republicans. That debacle began in March 2016, when President Obama nominated Garland, a moderate and well-respected appeals court judge, to fill the seat on the court that had become vacant with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Instead of doing what the Constitution requires and offering their advice and, if merited, their consent, Senate Republicans refused even to engage in the process. They denied Garland a confirmation hearing and in many cases wouldnt even meet with him on the hastily fabricated pretext that a president in his final year of office shouldnt be allowed to name a new justice because well, it was never really clear what the supposed principle was behind this self-serving position.
They stonewalled the nomination until Obama was safely out of office and a Republican had won the election. And now, with Gorsuch subbed in for Garland, their cynical and dishonorable strategy is about to deliver its rewards.
Some people think its hyperbolic to suggest that the seat was stolen. But how else to describe it? Republicans took the opportunity to fill the vacancy away from Barack Obama without justification and delivered it up instead to Donald Trump. Gorsuch could now tilt the balance on the increasingly polarized Supreme Court for the next 30 or more years, influencing rulings on free speech, gay and transgender rights, campaign finance, abortion and gun laws, among other subjects. He may not be outside the mainstream of judicial thinking, but he is a textualist, an originalist and a likely ally of the courts conservative justices.
The Republicans underhanded ploy to subvert the Garland nomination has put the Democrats in an untenable position. They can now do what would ordinarily be the right thing to do by going high after the Republicans went low. They could grumble a little bit but then decline to filibuster, or they could even vote in favor of Gorsuch effectively capitulating in the quixotic hope that an act of good faith would encourage the Republicans to behave more honorably in the future.
Alternately, they can go down kicking and screaming. We say go down because no matter how hard they kick or how loud they scream, they seem unlikely to win this battle. The reality is that without filibustering, they dont have the votes to defeat Gorsuch. And if they do mount a filibuster, Senate Republicans can vote to do away with the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees entirely. Under either scenario, Gorsuch gets his job.
To be clear, Democrats and Republicans share the blame for the long roll down the slippery slope of polarization and dysfunction in the judicial selection process. (Some Democrats have even suggested in the past that presidents shouldnt fill Supreme Court seats in election years.) And as that selection process has become increasingly politicized, the court itself has become more ideologically riven as well. Although there are differences between Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, for example, on some important 1st Amendment issues, its also true that in recent years, justices appointed by Democratic presidents have tended to vote for liberal outcomes and justices appointed by Republicans for conservative outcomes. That polarization is a bad trend.
The judicial system works best when justices are neither rigidly ideological nor biased along partisan lines. To get there, we need a less highly politicized selection process, along with a measure of cooperation, compromise and civility in Congress.
For the moment, though, it is imperative to remind the world of what the GOP did. By all means, lets hear a cri de coeur from the Democrats, even if it is in vain. The Republican misuse of power took partisan obstructionism to an extraordinary new level and must not be ignored now as if it never happened. President Obamas nominee was robbed of his right to a hearing, and the Senate Democrats have no obligation to be complicit in the theft.
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