Senate needs checks and balances

To the editor:

Next month the U.S. Senate will most likely vote on what the Republicans call the nuclear option. This is about radical Republicans' grasping for absolute power so they can appoint Supreme Court justices that favor corporate interests and an extreme right agenda over the rest of us.

I sincerely urge our senators to stand up for the centuries of checks and balances that have made this country great and oppose the nuclear option. Despite Senate confirmation of almost 95 percent of President Bush's nominees, radical Republicans are threatening to eliminate the filibuster to gain complete control over the Supreme Court. They want to use the court to pay back big donors by rolling back worker protections, environmental laws and privacy rights -- all at our expense.

This is not a partisan issue. Ultimately you don't even have to oppose President Bush's judges to oppose the nuclear option. This is about supporting checks and balances and opposing absolute power in the hands of one party. And that's something we can all agree on.

JOHNNY BINGHAM, Doniphan, Mo.