Maybe it’s just me talking here, but I think that if you’re going to choose a hill to die on, one involving a bill that helps put an end to modern day slavery seems like a pretty good choice.
Not so if you’re a Democrat, or have a seemingly vested interest in seeing Loretta Lynch become our next Attorney General. Democrats are digging in on the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act over the application of the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old add-on to federal spending legislation that will prevent the use of fee dollars collected via the Act to be used to pay for abortions.
Again, Democrats are obstructing the passage of a bill that would protect victims of rape and forced prostitution because of the inclusion of a provision that they have approved in decades of federal spending legislation. You can’t tell me this is about being pro-choice; I think this is about being pro-obstruction for the sake of obstruction itself.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to delay a vote on the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as the new AG until Democrats put an end to their little game, and guess what hasn’t happened yet? Dems are still playing games, so Loretta Lynch is still waiting on a confirmation vote.
Guess which vote is creating the biggest scandal? You guessed right! Millions of men, women, and children are being exploited (and not just on the border) but the real injustice here is that Loretta Lynch has had to wait to start her new job.
Over at WaPo, Stephen Stromberg had a legitimate meltdown over it:
No, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is putting off Lynch’s vote; the delay is not an essential result of the unrelated fracas over abortion language in a human-trafficking bill. To be sure, Democrats have dragged their heels on the trafficking bill, but McConnell chose to link the two issues, refusing to give Lynch’s nomination floor time until the Democrats deal on trafficking. This is a power play that has nothing to do with Lynch’s merits, which have nothing to do with the trafficking bill.It’s also not the case that the Senate is frozen until it clears the trafficking bill off its schedule. …Instead of even more delay, the Senate should confirm Lynch quickly and without controversy, as it should have done months ago. And if it doesn’t, blame Mitch McConnell.
Even Jeb Bush could help but open his mouth:
“I think presidents have the right to pick their team,” Bush said, according to reports of his stop at the “Politics and Pie” forum in Concord, New Hampshire, on Thursday night.The former Florida governor made sure to get in a few digs at current Attorney General Eric Holder, saying that Republicans should consider that the longer it takes to confirm Lynch, the longer Holder stays….“If someone is supportive of the president’s policies, whether you agree with them or not, there should be some deference to the executive,” Bush told reporters. “It should not always be partisan.”
Talk about the talking point that literally no one asked for. Thanks, Jeb.
The vast majority of MSM media outlets are framing this as a fight over the Lynch nomination, which is predictable. No one who wants to keep singing for their supper is going to hold tight on their huge megaphone and proclaim that Democrats don’t care about ending modern day slavery.
Except me. I will. Democrats don’t care about ending modern day slavery.
According to bill sponsor Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), some Democrats have come back to the table to talk about the Hyde language, but he wouldn’t give a date for a vote. I suspect this is on purpose—if you give Democrats their D-Day, they’re going to take advantage of the ticking armageddon clock hanging over everyone’s head and make as much media hay as possible before time runs out. Harry Reid is threatening to force a vote on Lynch, but that threat has gone largely unanswered by Republican leadership.
Let him threaten all he wants. We’ll get to a vote on Lynch’s nomination eventually—but not before Democrats are forced to reveal where they stand when it comes to protecting innocent people from the ravages of human trafficking. I hope they’re ready for that.
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