# Sen Shelby from Alabama institutes a blanket hold on Obama nominees **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 6, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938 "2010-02-06T18:38:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/1 "2010-02-06T18:38:51Z")
Whats in the water in Alabama? They keep voting for Sessions who is an embarrassment to the nation. Now Shelby has issued a blank hold on 70 Obama nominees. He insists that his earmarks get reinstated before he will drop the filibuster. > **[Shelby's Blanket Hold Puts Spotlight On Defense Contractor Ties](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shelbys-blanket-hold-puts_n_450934)** > > Shelby's Blanket Hold Puts Spotlight On Defense Contractor Ties He wants a 35 billion dollar air tanker project to be funded. Then a 35 million dollar explosive testing lab ,must be funded. Then he will release the hold. He is holding 70 positions hostage in order to get his earmarks through. This is unheard of and so wrong. Want to defend his fiscal conservatism? How about his ability to work with the Dems? How about how much he cares about the country when he holds up 70 positions? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/2 "2010-02-06T18:53:03Z")
In fairness, I don’t think even his own party is defending him. As I recall, Mitch McConnell has indicated he intends to get the issue dealt with speedily (read, he’s not supporting the hold and wants Shelby to lift it). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/3 "2010-02-06T19:06:06Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > In fairness, I don’t think even his own party is defending him. As I recall, Mitch McConnell has indicated he intends to get the issue dealt with speedily (read, he’s not supporting the hold and wants Shelby to lift it). And in all reality, McConnell will make a public face of disapproval, while he and the other Republicans will be celebrating what Shelby is doing in private. Shelby takes the heat for doing what the Republican party wants to do, and they cry crocodile tears, shrug their shoulders and say,“Golly, what he’s doing is horrible, but what can we really do?” ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/4 "2010-02-06T19:13:37Z")
Embargo on. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/5 "2010-02-06T19:22:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And in all reality, McConnell will make a public face of disapproval, while he and the other Republicans will be celebrating what Shelby is doing in private. Shelby takes the heat for doing what the Republican party wants to do, and they cry crocodile tears, shrug their shoulders and say,“Golly, what he’s doing is horrible, but what can we really do?” That’s about the size of it. They know that Alabama voters would elect a wet dog turd as long as it was bent in the shape of an “R”, so there is no chance of losing his seat over such a stunt. This and the endless threat of filibuster shows to me the Senate is a broken institution. One person should not have such power. Of course if he holds his breath until he gets what he wants and Alabama gets those contracts, his next step will be to slam Obama for not reining in pork barrel projects. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/6 "2010-02-06T19:22:31Z")
This appears to more about Shelby and the EADS angle than a GoP issue. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/7 "2010-02-06T20:02:23Z")
Is there any way to override this, like there is with a filibuster? Would all the Republicans in the Senate band together to support a pork barrel project that involves granting a defense contract to a European company against an American competitor? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/8 "2010-02-06T20:14:58Z")
It isn’t a pork barrel project. The Air Force is soon going to lay out the ground rules for a competition for a new tanker plane: Boeing is on one side, and Northrup Grumman and EADS have teamed on the other side. Northrup Grumman and EADS won a competition last year, but the Government Accountability Office said the Air Force screwed up in deciding the winner. So the Air Force had to revise its competition rules, and it sounds like Shelby is concerned that the revised rules give the contract to Boeing, wrapped up with a pretty green bow. Now, I don’t know if that is truly the case, nor do I think that putting holds on, say, a Department of Agriculture nominee (or whatever) is the right way to express displeasure with how the Air Force is doing business. But the concern about the fairness of a $35 billion competition shouldn’t be dismissed as some “pork barrel” project. It’s a legitimate taxpayer issue, Shelby’s interest in more jobs in Alabama notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/9 "2010-02-06T20:36:28Z")
The competition for the contract should be on the up-and-up, and the contract should go to the company that can provide the best value for cayying out the aircraft’s mission. But is that why Sen. Shelby is fighting this battle, or does he just want goodies for his state? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/10 "2010-02-06T23:43:54Z")
I don’t know. The latter, surely (goodies for Alabama). But that doesn’t exclude the former (contract should be on the up-and-up). A lot of people think that the contract should go to Boeing simply because they’re an American company. Others point out that EADS is teamed with Northrup Grumman and a large portion of the work would be in Alabama. But if the contract is based on guidelines that give greater preference to more US content, and less preference to cost and capability, then someone ought to be asking some questions. Now, if Sen Shelby is holding out for rules that would give NG/EADS a serious leg up over Boeing, that wouldn’t really be fair either. My point is merely to say that with $35 billion at stake, someone raising some questions about whether the competition is fair is a GOOD thing. Stopping nominations going forward for essential government posts unrelated to the Air Force seems over the top, however. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/11 "2010-02-07T00:59:52Z")
Been looking over blogs on both sides of the aisle (including some I’ve never been to before… _shudder_). What strikes me is what a poor move this seems to be, politically. Did Shelby actually think that his reasons would _never_ come out? Or even be hinted at? Because his actions, no matter what the “real” cause, are probably tarred for life now. This really doesn’t seem to be what the party needs right now. If they wanted to hold nominees over principle, they’d be excused, at least by their constituents and supporters. But this just plain makes them look bad, to almost everyone. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/12 "2010-02-07T01:03:01Z")
My own state’s Kit Bond pulled this on a smaller scale. My feelings on this are turning toward hating the game rather than the players. We need to consider whether this is worth being allowable. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/13 "2010-02-07T01:45:25Z")
Some one sent me this in an email but I thought it was made up. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/14 "2010-02-07T01:56:35Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > But this just plain makes them look bad, to almost everyone. It makes him look bad to that fraction of people who are paying attention who think Obama’s nominees deserve an up-or-down vote. That fraction, I’m guessing, is very far from “everyone.” Even if we put aside the fact that no one cares about process stories, I’ll bet if you polled Republicans, you’d find that a majority support Shelby’s actions. Indeed, if I were to learn that his favorability in Alabama went up as a result of this, I would only be surprised because I wouldn’t have expected people to be following the story. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/15 "2010-02-07T02:00:55Z")
Not the actions, but the (apparent) _motives_. Alabama, of course, might be happy, but I’m skeptical that the Republicans want to be known as the party that does the right thing, but does it for earmarks… ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/16 "2010-02-07T02:06:13Z")
If someone is fine with the blanket hold, do they really care why he did it? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/17 "2010-02-07T02:09:27Z")
I don’t see why that’s impossible. In the previously mentioned blog search, I did read one conservative blogger who specifically said he rejoiced when he saw the headline, but became disappointed when he read the story. ETA: Look at it this way: one possible way to interpret these actions is that principle is being sold for political gain. After all, isn’t the whole point of what Shelby is doing that he’ll drop the hold if he gets pork for his constituents? If you like the hold, wouldn’t that tick you off at least a little? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/18 "2010-02-07T02:12:09Z")
But I think what members of the blogosphere say publicly and what the average guy thinks are two very different things. I’m not surprised at all that conservatives who follow politics would express dismay at Shelby’s apparent motivations (Ravenman’s intelligent defense notwithstanding), but I would be very surprised if the average Alabama Republican voter held a similarly nuanced position. Which should not be taken as a knock against Alabama Republicans, but just an observation that people who don’t really follow politics tend not to have such nuanced positions. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/19 "2010-02-07T02:15:13Z")
Well, like I said, I make an exception for Alabamans, considering they’d benefit from the earmarks to begin with. I was thinking more of it reflecting poorly, by extension, on Republicans in general. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938/20 "2010-02-07T06:17:54Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Not the actions, but the (apparent) _motives_. Alabama, of course, might be happy, but I’m skeptical that the Republicans want to be known as the party that does the right thing, but does it for earmarks… Senator Shelby is standing up to ensure that our fighting men and women have the tools they need to keep this country safe; tools made by the best and hardest workers in the world, the proud people of Alabama. What’s an earmark? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-shelby-from-alabama-institutes-a-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees/527938.md?page=2)