My usual McCain joke (feel free to use it on the air): "Democrats look at John McCain the way Huckleberry Finn looked at Jim- deep down, they feel like he's a Democrat inside."

Dude, not true. I am the most Democratiest Democrat there ever was (not named Kennedy of course) and McCain ain't no Democrat. Not inside, outside or in neighboring areas.

Can I just say that the whole "concerted effort to block nominees" is a total farce in light of six years of Republican blue-slipping of Clinton's nominees.

Not Dawn Summers... even the part of you that yearns to pay MORE taxes??

no, but you can say that the whole "concerted effort to block nominees" is a total farce in light of six years of the fact that we're talking about 10 judges out of more than a hundred.

I just heard it on repeat. Nice going! You got a bunch of good questions in. I wish you had more time with the guests, though, especially Daniel Pipes. And some callers! Maybe you should cut it down to one guest? It seems hard to fit everything in with the current structure.

Ari, if paying more taxes is what it takes to live in nyc in the great us of a -- i will pay away. but i hear wyoming's got real low taxes...so, you know, bon voyage.

10 judges out of more than 100, yes.

They also happen to be 100% of Dubya's nominees to the federal appellate courts.

100%, Oschisms? Just off the top of my head, I know that McConnell was confirmed to the 10th Circuit and he was no compromise candidate.

Since i am here, i might as well. I aint no democrat, but let me be the 1st to say: "I love NewYork". Even with the ridiculously high taxes. However, as a person who has moved on up to the eastside like the Jeffersons from absolute poverty in brooklyn, queens and the bronx, I now have a pretty good perspective on what the government provides for us here in the greatest city on earth. So, after sampling our city's medical facilities, attending public schools on every level, and ofcourse dealing with newyork's "finest", not to mention the INS experience(for all of us immigrants),the DMV experience(which we all know) and driving almost everywhere in the 5 boroughs, I have concluded that i wouldnt trust this or any other admistration to run a lemonade stand. The strength of this great city of ours is the people, and it thrives inspite of government's bungling of everything it gets its hands on. The medical facilities are dirty, overcrowded and most importantly the staff is underqualified and there aint enough of 'em. The school system is adequate at best in decent neighborhoods, and in poor neighborhoods it's a mess. The cops are by far, the most arrogant, lookin for a quick and easy collar while avoiding anything dangerous cops anywhere. There are some roads that get fixed once a month(and still need fixin'....hmmm), while others are hazards and are ignored for years. The DMV and INS I wont even get into, because anyone who has been to either knows the scoop. If all this sounds bad it gets worse. People are not perfect, and they make mistakes. Some corporations do crappy work, some private schools are bad, some hospitals are better than others. But if you are unhappy with what they offer you can fire them or not use them, you can tell others not to use their services. Once the Government gets their dirty mits on something, that's it, hate 'em all you want you aint gettin rid of 'em. We cant fire teachers who have proven to be unfit to be around children(but we pay them to not work)and at the same time, the good teachers and principals who refuse to pass those undeserving and take an interest in their students well being are being burned at the stake for this liberal notion of supposed intolerable "insensitivity" ,we have 5 of the 10 worst roads in the country, but it's $115 for a parking ticket.Not to mention,we get the most amount of money from the federal government.Seems to me that these monies are being grossly misappropriated. So, we in Newyork pay all this money in taxes(considerably more than anyone else in the country)and where is that money going? And I'm supposed to believe that if we give the government even more money, that they will make it all better? Sorry, but I believe that if the people who work at the DMV were concerned about losing their job, they just might actually do their job(I know it's alot to ask, but I dare to dream). And if the contracts handed out to construction contracts were taken away for shoddy work, i believe the roads would be paved in concrete, not cheap ass asphalt. In summation, i believe that if you take in alot of money, but your results are poor and you are short on money, you are doing a bad job using the monies given to you, you do not deserve to continue to be in charge of the money. Sorry for being long winded, but it chaps my butt when i hear these asinine ramblings about how taxes somehow equate to quality results.