No "No Confidence" Vote

Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats plan to hold a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was blocked by a parlimentary manuver yesterday.

I for one am glad, but not for the sake of Alberto Gonzales.

Alberto Gonzales should resign, he has bungled more than one issue and his continued presence in the President's cabinet serves two purposes. One, it gives the Democrats something to gnaw on besides Iraq; and two, prevents a bloody confirmation battle for a new attorney general. Neither purpose is what the nation's top law enfocement official should be doing. Alberto Gonzales should not be attorney general and while the public may have no confidence in his abilities, he serves at teh pleasure of the President and no one else.

But the vote of no confidence by the Senate is political theater of the most crass sort. Like the vote on a non-binding resolution on the Iraq funding bill, this vote of no confidence would have no meaning and no impact and thus is a waste of the taxpayers time and money. There is a reason why, in our governmental system, there is no procedure for a vote of no confidence--we are not a parliamentary system. In a parliamentary system, a vote of no confidence essentially brings down a governemnt, spurring new elections and the formation of a new government.

In our federal system, based on checks and balances, there is no mechanism for a vote of no confidence. The Senate has a role in confirming Presidential appointements, but they have no say in whether that person stays in office or not--that discretion resides in the President alone.

The Democrats can investigate, they can publicize, they can humiliate the attorney general, but they cannot fire him nor can they do anything to force him to resign. All these theatrics do nothing but serve to divert attention from the fact that the Democrats have no ability to pass actual real life legislation, only cheap, meaningless resolutions that serve no purpose for the American people.

We have real problems in this country and Senate Democrats do not and cannot address them effectively. The American public probably has no confidence in Alberto Gonzales, and they certainly have no confidence in Congress. Hopefully, November 6, 2008 will be a vote of no confidence in Congress.