Need some helping crafting a response to Krauthammer's op-ed

[NewJeffCT]

I need a site that has data on what the Republicans did to 60+ of Clinton's judicial nominees. Also, anything on how they changed the blue-slip rules in the Senate as well. Thanks.
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Four years ago this week, President Bush nominated Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the federal bench. Four years later, she and six other circuit court nominees remain unconfirmed and unvoted upon because of Democratic filibusters.

This technique is defended by Democrats as traditional and rooted in history. What a fraud. The only example that comes close is Lyndon Johnson's nomination in 1968 of (sitting) Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas to be chief justice. But this case is muddied by the fact that (a) Fortas was subject to conflict of interest and financial impropriety allegations, (b) he did not appear to have the votes anyway, and (c) the case involved elevation on the court, not appointment to the court.

Even if we concede Fortas, that is one successful filibuster, 37 years ago, in two centuries of American history. In 2000, a small number of Republicans tried to filibuster two Clinton judicial nominees, but were defeated in that attempt not only by Democrats, but by Republicans voting roughly 3-1 for cloture.

There has certainly never been a successful filibuster in the case of a judicial nominee who clearly had the approval of a majority of the Senate. And there has surely never been a campaign like the one undertaken by the Democrats since 2001 to systematically deny judicial appointment by means of the filibuster.

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-krauthammer0516.artmay16,0,3159825.story?coll=hc-headlines-oped

[Justice]

1. Here are some

http://www.ualr.edu/~japp/maltese.html (Journal of Appellete Process)

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200310/102803b.html (Leahy speech in 2003)

"According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), cloture votes to end a filibuster were held on 14 appeals court nominations from 1980 to 2000.

However, the filibuster is only one way that Senators can block a vote. For example, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (UT) bottled Clinton judicial nominees "in committee" -- effectively denying them a vote on the Senate floor. The Judiciary Committee uses "blue slips" to obtain home state Senator opinion on the nominee; Hatch required two yes votes for Clinton nominees, but only one for Bush.

Democratic senators filibustered 10 of President Bush's 229 first-term judicial nominees; this confirmation rate exceeded other first-term presidents since 1980."
http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/i/filibuster.htm

[NewJeffCT]

2. Thanks, some good info

Now, I need to find the Chuck Hagel quote from the other week, too.

[NewJeffCT]

3. lunch kick

thanks for any help