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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor I want to take this time to thank all the volunteers who gave their time to work and participate in this years Thanksgiving day meal at the Westfield Soup Kitchen. To those who worked on Wednesday evening, peeling vegetables and setting up the tables. And to those who did all the decorations.To all the volBy Jennifer Epstein unteers who helped prepare and serve the meal. To those who Politico.com took the time to cook all the turkeys needed. To all those who The Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigadonated pies for dessert. To all who helped make this Thanksgiving the great and meaningful day that it was. A heart tion into the killing of Eric Garner by a New York police offifelt thank you to all. We served 62 meals to all who came to cer, a department official said Wednesday. The probe — being conducted by the department’s civil enjoy this special day. rights division and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn — Ed Fournier comes after a grand jury decided Wednesday not to indict the Westfield Soup Kitchen officer, who could be seen on camera placing Garner, who is black, in a chokehold. President Barack Obama hinted earlier Wednesday at the To the Editor Where are all the Democrats and why are they not sticking investigation, adding that Attorney General Eric Holder would up for our current President? Instead of being deluded into soon have more to say. “We’re not going to let up until we see a strengthening of the believing President Obama has done harm to our country when in fact the reverse is true, it seems leading Democrats are dis- trust and a strengthening of the accountability that exists tancing themselves so as to be not stained by Obama haters. between our communities and law enforcement,” Obama said Forget the phony faux news shows who present biased views less than three hours after the grand jury’s decision was and their rabid, talking heads only giving their one sided argu- announced, speaking more broadly about his administration’s ments. Change the channel now and then. You might develop a efforts to improve relations between law enforcement agencies and the communities they police. more well rounded basis for opinions on issues. “When anybody in this country is not being treated equally Why don’t the Obama haters bring up how the stock market has never been so high, how the gas prices are so low, how oil under the law, that’s a problem. And it’s my job … to help solve production has increased, how the 401K’s have been restored or how the auto industry has come back, all under Obamas watch? What about Obama overseeing banking consumer protection, restoring the real estate industry, enacting two major tax cuts for the middle class, lowering unemployment and By Manu Raju launching the Affordable Care Act? Bring up how our president Politico.com reversed the Bush mega recession and ended the Iraq War. Why GOP senators were outraged at Senate Majority Leader Harry no discussion on how President Obama brought up lowering college loan interest rates,blocked by the GOP, or how our Reid for invoking the “nuclear option” last year, calling his President brought up more jobs for veterans, two job bills push to weaken the filibuster on presidential nominees a destructive and heavy-handed move with far-reaching conseblocked twice by the GOP? Now people are upset due to the fact that President Obama quences. But now that Republicans are about to take control of the pulled an end around and amnestied up to five million so called illegal aliens when Congress wouldn’t move on the question at Senate, they seem unlikely to reverse it. As they begin to plan their opening steps in the new majority, all? I think it was a brilliant maneuver and a face slap to the do a growing number of Republican senators are expressing deep nothing bums in Congress. What a gutsy move. reservations about changing Senate rules back to the old system Stephen S. Crooker in which 60 votes were needed to overcome filibusters on Westfield, MA presidential nominees. Instead, a number of senior GOP senators like Orrin Hatch of Utah and even junior Republicans like Ted Cruz of Texas are signaling privately and publicly that they want to stay at the 50-vote threshold set by Reid’s Democratic Senate majority. How Republicans resolve the issue will have major consequences for President Barack Obama’s Cabinet and judicial nominees, with a defense secretary and attorney general slated for confirmation votes in the next Congress along with scores of federal judges. The closed-door GOP debate over the potent delaying tactic is scheduled to take place Tuesday with the new Republican freshman class. Behind the scenes, the debate has been intensifying for days. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the incoming majority leader who has not publicly taken a position on the matter, has been making the argument privately that it’s long been historical precedent that a simple majority of senators — not 60 — have been able to confirm presidential nominees, according to several senators. Others have been more forceful, saying it makes little sense to engage in a messy fight over the filibuster rules when Democrats may lower the threshold again should they take the majority in 2016 or beyond. Now that the Democrats have changed the rules, future Republican presidents, too, should benefit from a weaker filibuster, several GOP senators said Wednesday. The change that Democrats made was “long-term and permanent,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of his party’s leadership. A publication of the Westfield News Group LLC “I think it’s well within the traditions of the Senate for a Jim McKeever majority to decide nominations and a supermajority to decide Director of Content legislation,” Blunt said. James Johnson-Corwin Dan Moriarty Multi-Media Manager McConnell is likely to ultimately side with the overwhelming Managing Editor consensus in his caucus. But even if he decides to change the Marie Brazee Business Manager rules, he probably won’t have enough votes to increase the filiFlora Masciadrelli Lorie Perry buster threshold to 60. Classified Manager Director of Ad Production McConnell would have two options to change rules. He Fred Gore would need 67 votes on the floor, meaning he’d need at least 13 Chris Putz Chief Photographer Sports Editor Democrats to join his caucus, which is expected to have 54 members in the new Congress starting next month. But Patrick R. Berry Democrats have overwhelmingly supported weakening the filiPresident buster rules, so it’s unlikely there are 13 Democrats who would be willing to raise the threshold back to 60. 62 School Street, Westfield , MA 01085 “It’s hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube,” said Sen. (413)562-4181 Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). www.thewestfieldnews.com McConnell could also attempt to move on a straight partyline vote by invoking the “nuclear option,” an arcane and rarely
DOJ to look into N.Y. police case it,” he said, weighing in at the start of a speech before the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Capital Hilton. The administration, he added, is determined to keep “investigating cases where we are concerned about the impartiality and accountability that’s taking place.” Justice Department’s civil rights investigation into the death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin began in 2012 and is still ongoing. In November 2013, Holder said it would be completed “relatively soon,” but conveyed in September that the probe was still being conducted. “That matter is ongoing. There are active steps that we are still in the process of taking,” he said. “There are witnesses who we want to speak to as a result of some recent developments.” The department is also in the midst of a civil rights investigation in the August killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. “Unfortunately, we are seeing too many instances where people do not have confidence that folks are being treated fairly,” Obama said. “In some cases, [it is] a misperception but in some cases, a reality.” ———— Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.
GOP unlikely to raise filibuster threshold
The Westfield News
used procedure to change Senate rules by just a simple majority of senators, rather than 67 votes. But McConnell has constantly berated Reid for using the nuclear option, contending Reid “broke” the Senate rules to weaken the filibuster. Moreover, if McConnell were to employ the nuclear option, it could give future majorities even more incentive to use the tactic to further weaken the filibuster — potentially going to the most extreme step of allowing legislation to advance by simple majority support. As a result, many Republicans are skittish about invoking the nuclear option to change the filibuster back to a 60-vote threshold. “There is a right way to do it. … It takes 67 votes,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), McConnell’s No. 2. “And certainly if that’s the way our conference wants to pursue it, that’s the right way to do it. Breaking the rules to change the rules, as you’ve heard before, is not the right way.” The inside-the-Beltway fight over filibuster rules has significant implications for the current administration and future ones. Reid employed the move because, he argued, Republicans had so abused the filibuster that he had no other way to fill basic positions in government. It has allowed Obama to dramatically reshape the federal judiciary, as Reid’s majority continues to push through a slew of judges in its final days in power. When Republicans take control next year, Obama will have a number of major nominations due for consideration at the beginning of the new Congress, including Loretta Lynch to run the Justice Department and Ashton Carter to run the Defense Department. If a Republican sought to filibuster a nomination under the current rules, Obama would have a much better chance of winning the simple majority of senators to advance his choice. Some Republicans, like Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, argue that the GOP should take the principled route and return the Senate to 60 votes on nominations. The 60-vote threshold must not be weakened, they argue, otherwise future majorities will continue to eat away at the filibuster and simply run roughshod over the minority, forever changing the deliberative body. A number of senators said they were waiting to see Tuesday’s debate unfold before deciding which side to come down on. “I’ve been kind of conflicted on it,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 3 in Senate GOP leadership, who had just met with Senate procedural expert Marty Gold to discuss the matter. “It’s a hard decision. I’m not there yet.” Cornyn said he had not taken a position yet but added that Republicans “have to recognize that if Democrats got the majority again, no matter what we did, they would probably take it back to 51. They’ve really shown their colors on that.” Cruz, the Texas firebrand and potential presidential candidate, has privately voiced a similar view, arguing that Democrats would simply change the filibuster rules later if Republicans acted now, sources said. A number of senators are reluctant to engage in a messy fight right off the bat in a new majority. Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the ranking member of the Rules and Administration Committee, said the new GOP-led Senate should first focus on bipartisan votes before acting on the filibuster. “I think we ought to put the genie back in the bottle. I just don’t know if it’s possible,” Roberts said.