Article: An Alabama Republican is holding Democrats hostage

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An Alabama Republican is holding Democrats hostage.

Enough is enough.

Your message to Harry Reid:

Enough is enough. Do not honor Sen. Shelby's shameful hold on all 70 of Pres. Obama's appointees. Stand up, fight back and make the Republicans filibuster these nominees and suffer the consequences in the court of public opinion.

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A Republican Senator from Alabama has put what is by all accounts an extraordinary "blanket hold" on almost every single nomination that President Obama has sent to the Senate.

This is what happens when the Democratic leadership plays nice with bullies. The country loses. And if Sen. Richard Shelby is successful, this kind of extortion will only get worse.

At least 70 nominees to important positions at the White House, the federal judiciary, and crucial cabinet agencies - including those charged with keeping us safe from terrorism - cannot move forward until this hold is ignored or lifted.

Click here to automatically sign the petition telling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: Enough is enough! Make the Republicans filibuster.

What's worse, this is not just the typical Republican obstructionism, but a brazen brand of political extortion. According to reports, Sen. Shelby will lift his hold on the President's executive appointees if the Senate agrees to pour billions of dollars into Alabama via two federal programs:
- A $40 billion contract for Northrop/EADS to build air-to-air refueling tankers in Mobile, Ala.
- The construction of a $45 million FBI lab outside Huntsville, Ala.

It's time for Democratic leadership to stand up to Republicans, starting with Sen. Shelby. Senate Majority Leader Reid should refuse to honor Shelby's "blanket hold" on more than 70 nominees. If Republicans want to block every single Obama appointee, they must filibuster them one-by-one and deal with the very public consequences of their obstructionism. Sen. Shelby should be ashamed - but he is not.

Harry Reid has refused to honor holds in the past - including when Sen. Chris Dodd tried to block retroactive telecom immunity for big telecom companies who helped the Bush White House spy on Americans.

Imagine the gall of blocking every single one of the President's appointees, just to bring home pork to the state of Alabama.

If ever there was a time for Sen. Reid to say enough is enough, it's now. We can't let Senate Democrats simply stand by while a Republican Senator brazenly takes advantage of their spinelessness to extort billions of taxpayer dollars for boondoggle projects in his home state.

Click here to automatically sign the petition telling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: Sen. Shelby's blanket hold on all of President Obama's nominees is nothing more than extortion - fight back and make the Republicans filibuster and suffer the consequences in the court of public opinion.

Thank you for demanding action from Democratic leadership.

Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets