Santorum: "Their rhetoric is out of control and counterproductive."

Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania was not talking about John Cornyn, Tom Delay, Edwin Vieira or Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration assault on judiciary.

Senator Rick Santorum called the Senate Democrats, “rhetoric is out of control and counterproductive.”

"I am concerned that a partisan minority of Democrats are threatening to shut down the Senate if Republicans act to restore Senate tradition for simple majority votes" on nominations to the bench, Mr. Santorum said. "Their rhetoric is out of control and counterproductive."

Partisan Minority?

Since shortly after the 2004 elections, Senate Republicans have publicly discussed rewriting the filibuster rules so that a minority can no longer block a floor vote. Republicans' justification for doing this rests on the claim that the GOP represents the popular will, while Senate Democrats are an "obstructionist minority" that "refuses to accept reality."

But do Senate Republicans truly represent the majority of voters?

Not at all. Although Republicans gained four Senate seats in the 2004 elections, Republican Senate candidates actually lost the nationwide popular vote. In 33 Senate races across the country, 41.6 million Americans cast votes for Democratic candidates, while just 38.1 million voted for Republicans.

Though only a third of the Senate was chosen in 2004, the 2002 election had a similar bias: Republicans won 65% of the available seats with just 50.1% of the popular vote (52% ignoring votes for third parties). In 2000, Democrats won 56% of the available seats with a bare plurality of the popular vote, but this was not enough to balance the results of 2002 and 2004. In all, over the past three Senate elections, Democrats have beaten Republicans by nearly 2 million votes -- yet Republicans hold a 55-seat Senate majority. [....]

When a majority of voters are represented by a minority of legislators, those legislators have a special obligation to make their voice heard. The filibuster represents an important way to do this. By weakening the filibuster, Senate Republicans would further magnify the power of the minority who elected them. It may be legal, but it is not democratic.

Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York

"The Republican abuse of power," Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York said, "has been pushed by extremists who want to punish an independent judiciary and simultaneously obliterate checks and balances, effectively making the U.S. Senate a rubber stamp for judicial nominees."

The Republican Party think they are going to be in majority for ever, they do not believe in checks and balances.