Michelle Malkin » Shamnesty document drop: The “Clay Pigeon” amendment Update: Pounding Reid…and getting your RNC refund Update: House GOP passes anti-amnesty resolution

Shamnesty document drop: The “Clay Pigeon” amendment Update: Pounding Reid…and getting your RNC refund Update: House GOP passes anti-amnesty resolution

By Michelle Malkin • June 26, 2007 05:21 PM

10:43pm Eastern. Here’s an easy-to-use, interactive video phone guide to the shamnesty senators who voted YEA on cloture today.

10:15pm Eastern update. A reader wants to know whether the Georgia Republican Senators’ amendments are in the clay pigeon package. Yes, they are there. But remember to take all this amendment talk with a grain of salt. These are being used to try and buy off shamnesty votes. They are amendments in name only.

Anyway, the Chambliss amendment relating to Social Security totalization agreements is here. The Isakson preemption/Home Depot amendment is here.

9:12pm Eastern update. The clay pigeon package is now searchable and linkable, thanks to the indispensable NZ Bear.

Ed Morrissey is wading through the amendment package. Here are a few of the quick points he has already raised:

POINT 1: Page 21, lines 12-16, apparently reinstated the 24-hour limit on probationary background checks. Remember when they promised to fix that so that no one would get a probationary card without passing the full background check? I guess they broke that promise.

POINT 2: Page 29, lines 12-end: The Z-visa has unlimited 4-year terms. I don’t think this is a change, but shouldn’t the immigrant at some point actually immigrate?

POINT 3: Page 33, lines 19-25: Z-visa non-immigrants over the age of 65 are not expected to maintain employment in order to remain eligible to be in the US. Again, why would they be here if they’re not working and not applying for a regular immigration status?

POINT 7: Page 69, line 20: The DREAM Act, providing scholarships for the children of illegal immigrants, still exists in the bill.

POINT 8: Page 89-90, lines 22-04: The 24-hour limit on background checks still holds within the Ag Workers section (the temporary guest worker program). If it takes longer than 24 hours, they get their credentials. (h/t: commenter Redherkey)

POINT 9: Page 92, lines 14-15: Do I read this correctly? The new limit on guest-worker visas is now 1,500,000 — not counting dependent Z-A visas? Wasn’t this originally 400,000 and reduced by half later?

7:20pm Eastern update.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Republican Conference today by 114 to 23 passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) that expresses opposition to the Senate immigration bill. “Today’s vote illustrates overwhelming opposition among Republicans in the House to the Senate immigration bill and the process in which it was developed,” Hoekstra said. “The Republican Conference has always advocated for immigration reform, but the Senate bill is bad public policy that does not reflect our position.” The text of the Hoekstra resolution is as follows: “Resolved the House GOP Conference disapproves of the Senate immigration bill.” “We have always reserved concerns about the policies that it advocates, but until now we have remained on the sidelines,” Hoekstra said. “It is important that we publicly express our opposition to the Senate bill before consideration is complete.”

Townhall.com’s Dean Barnett, subbing for Hugh Hewitt on the radio, notes that a large number of House GOP members sat out the vote. That is disturbing.

***

I’ve just received the PDF file of the 373-page “Clay Pigeon” amendment.

Here it is.

The blogosphere’s open-source intelligence-gatherers will be integral in digesting this thing. Dig in.

***

To borrow Glenn’s phrase and Allah’s metaphorical application, what’s needed right now: An army of legislative skeet-shooters.

***

While I wait for my printer to churn out this piece of clay pigeon poop, let me reiterate just how crummy this process is. The Grand Schemers drop this thing in on a Tuesday evening and expect they’ll be ramming it through–in as little as 48 hours–on Thursday or Friday with severely limited debate again.

Crummy. Stanley Kurtz is right:

Something about this immigration battle doesn’t sit well. For all the bitterness of our political battles, there’s at least the sense that the government responds to the drift of public opinion. The Republicans in Congress turned into big spenders and the war in Iraq went poorly. As a result the Democrats prospered in 2006, if narrowly. That’s how democracy works. Our politics are often angry and ugly (and that’s a problem), but this is because the public is deeply divided on issues of great importance. Deep down, we understand that our political problems reflect our own divisions.

Somehow this immigration battle feels different. The bill is wildly unpopular, yet it’s close to passing. The contrast with the high-school textbook version of democracy is not only glaring and maddening, it’s downright embarrassing. Usually, even when we’re at each others’ throats, there’s still an underlying pride in the democratic process. This immigration battle strips us of even that pride.

I’m still stuck on the way this bill was going to be pushed through without a public airing of crucial provisions, in the two or three days before Memorial Day recess. But I should be stuck even further back–on the way this bill was cooked up in a backroom deal that bypassed the ordinary process of public hearings. We take them for granted, but those civics textbook fundamentals are there for a reason. We’re going to pay a steep price for setting the fundamentals aside.

Update:

Flashback..

“The Senate conducts most of its business by cooperation and consent. The minority provides that consent with the expectation that the courtesies it extends to the majority will be met with respect for minority rights. And no Senate right is more fundamental than the right to debate.”

- Senator Harry Reid, March 15, 2005
Letter to then Majority Leader Bill Frist

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) said Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bears responsibility for the immigration bill after Reid used his powers to guarantee votes on a few amendments while blocking all others. According to the Senate historian, this has never been done before in U.S. history.

“Senator Reid has been trying to portray this immigration nightmare as solely the responsibility of President Bush, but today we saw just how bad Reid wants it. He used his power as Majority Leader to manipulate and abuse the rules of the Senate to ram this bill down our throats. He has set up a process that guarantees votes on a few amendments while blocking all others. This has never been done before, and it’s the most heavy-handed and rigged thing I have ever seen. This bill may have Ted Kennedy’s name on it but it belongs to Harry Reid now.”

After the Senate voted to cut off debate on the question of whether to resurrect the Senate immigration bill, Senator Reid set up unique debate process that guarantees votes several hand-picked amendments but blocks consideration of all others. Senator Reid used a parliamentary tool called a “clay pigeon” to divide a giant amendment into multiple amendments and then moved to block all others. No other member of the Senate besides Reid could have accomplished all of this without being stopped by another Senator. No other Majority Leader in history has done this.

“Republicans need to take a step back and realize what happened today. Senator Reid turned the Senate into the House and fundamentally undermined minority rights,” said Senator DeMint. “I was always told the Senate was the saucer that cooled the pot, but Senator Reid is forcing us to drink straight from the spout. Republicans better wake up soon or they can expect Senator Reid to use this tactic in the future to raise taxes, increase spending, and weaken our national security.”

All true. But it doesn’t take away the slap in the face the GOP Grand Schemers and the White House administered when they decided to collaborate on this nightmare.

Speaking of holding Republicans accountable, check out the latest in our anti-amnesty Hot Air ads:

RNC Refund.

Posted in: Amnesty, Document drop

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#98617

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:11 am, trainwife1962 said:

Just contatced my Representative, Chris Smith, R, NJ 4. Learned that he hasn’t even formed an opinion on the amnesty issue- (still waiting to see what the Seante does with the fiasco of yesterday) Sent him, via USPS, a Bush peso
#98629

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:33 am, gayle said:

Kennedy just said that WE NEED TO LISTEN TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and pass this bill…

He must be in withdrawals or a blackout.
#98633

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:40 am, ajmontana said:

Here is Sen. Boxer’s reply to me after I sent her Michelle’s atricle “Clear the Backlogs first” turns out it was baloney. She waffled yesterday… What a shocker…

“Thank you for contacting me to express your views on immigration reform. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, the Senate recently debated S.1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.

In its current form, this bill is unworkable and unfair. I am particularly troubled by its proposal to create a new guestworker program. I have always had problems with guestworker programs because I believe they lead to increased illegal immigration, a downward pressure on American wages, and a loss of workplace protections.

That is why on June 7, 2007, I joined 49 other Senators in rejecting cloture, thereby preventing the bill from proceeding to a final vote. Be assured that I will keep working to fix our broken immigration system in a manner that protects American workers and reduces illegal immigration.

Again, thank you for writing to me. Please feel free to contact me again about this or any other issue of concern to you.”
#98634

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:45 am, jrlingreenbay said:

Boxer’s reply is not a surprise, as was her vote yesterday.

The reply I got from Russ Feingold (D)Wisconsin, was that he voted FOR cloture even though he disagreed with the bill to “move the process forward” and have more debate.

What kind of backward logic are these officials using? Boxer, Feingold, etc…and now Kennedy saying they must listen to the American People – and PASS this bill?

Congress: Listen to the American People and secure the borders now!!!!
#98635

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:45 am, ajmontana said:

Gayle’ Dang, I left the room. Did he really say that? Kennedy must be on Angel Dust.
#98640

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:48 am, gayle said:

Yes, in his FINITE wisdom he did.

Y’all need to watch this debate!

TRAITORS
#98643

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:50 am, gayle said:

Kennedy’s raising H$LL
#98647

On June 27th, 2007 at 10:55 am, gayle said:

I need a Kleenex….those libs are making me feel touchy feely, painting a picture of how the ILLEGALS need all of our rights.

Guess they FORGOT that we the people VOTED and they are accountable to US, not illegals.

Please refresh my memory; what country is this???????????????
#98652

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:00 am, gayle said:

Kennedy is stating that illegals contribute to our economy.

How does he figure that considering all the freebies they get not to mention the taxes.

Oh! That’s right. WE PAY, so I guess we are the true contributors.
#98672

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:22 am, jdawg said:

Just saw this on the Capitolist:

Right before I blocked his address, I replied that in fact, the immigration vote will not change the outcome of a single Senate election…

These people are SOOOOOOO clueless.

We’ll see come next Nov. I’ve decided to pull all my support from Larry Craig, since he voted for cloture.
#98678

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:28 am, ajmontana said:

I’m adjusting my TV set to black and white to be more realistic to a keystone cops flick.
#98679

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:28 am, jrlingreenbay said:

I lost my video feed – only have audio – but someone ( Dominici? ) just asked for an amendment to be read on the floor – then votes on the amendment – each time it was rejected by objection. He then stated that those objections clearly show the powers that be don’t want the the contents of the bill to be heard / known.
#98688

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:33 am, gayle said:

The canary sings……..I OBJECT
#98691

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:35 am, jrlingreenbay said:

Another entry from a Hill Staffer on their forum website: ( I really wish these weren’t anonymous )

“These morons should think a bit before calling and telling us to just “enforce the laws already on the books!” Yes, because it’s just that simple. They actually think it’s possible to detain, process, and deport 12 – 20 million men, women, and children…on top of the thousands already being deported. Yep, Congress should just wave its little magic wand and make this while problem disappear. I am so sick of the f*$&ing idiots, whose only source of information happens to be talk radio, calling to tell us how we aren’t
doing anything about the problem. What?! No, the alternative to this bill is to do nothing.”

Actually, the alternative is to secure the borders properly and enforce existing laws.
#98695

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:37 am, gayle said:

IF they cannot handle what’s here now, what in GOD’S name do they think they can handle a year from now?

Oh, they won’t. A blind eye to all illegals.
#98699

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:41 am, gayle said:

I am WOUND UP TODAY!

Reid stating “We need to FIX THIS”…over and over and over regarding immigration.

How about this; “LET’S FIX THE SENATE”.
You’re FIRED.
#98715

On June 27th, 2007 at 11:59 am, ajmontana said:

If you needed a brain transplant and were offered one of theirs, would you take it? This Bill needed to be roundfiled from the get go.
#98757

On June 27th, 2007 at 12:38 pm, USMCgramma said:

Today I am changing my voter registration to Independent … our Marine is on the way to Iraq for a second time and it makes no sense to fight over there with the gates wide open here. My list of complaints is too long to enumerate, but let’s start by drilling in Alaska.
#98790

On June 27th, 2007 at 1:17 pm, jw said:

The “undocumented workers” will keep coming as long as there is work. No one believes that the federal government can control the border. If the feds can’t figure out how to sit in an office and issue passports who thinks they can figure out a way to cover some rough country…
#98950

On June 27th, 2007 at 5:09 pm, Cowboy said:

SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION like over 68,000 of us have, of Senator Inhofe. Its provided through http://www.powerlineblog.com. Here is the address – http://www.securebordersnow.com/

Here is the wording:

“Members of the United State Senate,

I am one of the millions of Americans who believes our first priority as a nation should be to secure our borders by enforcing existing laws. Amnesty is not the solution.

I urge you to vote against the immigration reform bill currently being considered in the Senate and to oppose any future effort that undermines our national security or grants amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.”

Sign it and check out where the votes are coming from! DO IT DARN IT!