Shamnesty on the Senate Floor Redux: “Let’s end this thing”
Originally posted June 27, 2007 @ 11:31am
Bumped June 27, 2007@9:52pm
11:10pm Eastern. You know all those calls you’ve made? All those faxes/letters you’ve sent? They are working. Don’t think you can’t make a difference. Here’s the Washington Post headline: “Immigration Measure Appears Imperiled Again.” More quotes of the day:
The Senate yesterday turned back a series of amendments from both parties aimed at substantially altering controversial immigration legislation, but the bill shed supporters as it became mired in procedural hurdles that left backers concerned about its prospects.
The legislation faces a make-or-break vote this morning when senators will decide whether to cut off debate and move to a final vote tomorrow. If it does not get the 60 votes necessary, Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has said he will pull the bill, all but dashing hopes for any meaningful legislation this year.
Top legislative aides in both parties predicted today’s vote would be very close but would fall short of keeping the proposal alive.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a key opponent, crowed last night that “they tried to railroad this through today, but we derailed the train.” Another opponent, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said, “I would say to my colleagues: Let’s end this thing.“
Rolling updates on Senate floor activity
8:00pm update. Jeff Sessions gets the quote of the day…Video added:
“Radio talk show hosts know more about this bill than most Senators, if you want to know the truth.”
7:41pm update. Debate on shamnesty is over for the day. Looks like we are headed to cloture vote tomorrow morning. What happened in the last half-hour is good news for our side, bad news for the open-borders brigade.
The Politico sums it up: Immigration bill struggling.
Proponents of the Senate immigration bill were unable to block an amendment Wednesday on identification requirements, casting doubt on whether the overall measure will clear a crucial test vote set for Thursday morning.
The bill survived its first cloture motion Tuesday by a vote of 64 to 35. Only five senators would need to change their position for the bill to collapse Thursday.
It just so happens that four senators who voted Tuesday to move the bill forward have since seen the Senate reject their amendments, potentially moving some of them into the “no” column. The list includes Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
At least one of them, Webb, has indicated that he is a likely to oppose the bill.
Menendez has not made a decision, his spokesman said. Dodd’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Bond was reportedly moving against the bill.
And a fifth senator, Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), said he would vote against cloture.
“It’s a tight vote,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the chief Democratic negotiator. “We are going to work, and work hard.”
How about you?
7:17pm update. I stepped away when the Baucus amendment was voted on. The Senate voted not to table it. A Hill source explains that “this is a big deal because Reid’s Clay Pigeon strategy relied on killing amendments so that he could continue his vice grip on the Senate floor. The result of this vote was the Baucus amendment remained alive and the clay pigeon strategy was temporarily derailed and thus Senators’ rights were restored. The remaining amendments in the clay pigeon will not be voted on now before the cloture vote. In all likelihood Reid will give up on the clay pigeon strategy and move that the next vote be on cloture tomorrow morning because he does not want this bill to be debated under regular Senate order. So now the Senate is moving fast towards a Thursday morning cloture vote (probably at 10:30) that is still a de facto vote for final passage of the amnesty bill.”
Stand by…
Well, there’s debate going on right now. Kennedy bloviated for a bit. Thune is now talking: “The die was cast long before debate began…process was bypassed by Grand Bargainers…blasts those playing the race card. It is not anti-immigrant to be for the rule of law. It is not xenophobic to believe that those who come to America should come here legally.”
6:36pm update. Speaking of lack of confidence in our lawmakers, get a load of blubbering, clueless George Voinovich on Hannity. Good gawd. Keep talking, George. You’re the best help we have in killing the bill out there.
6:30pm update. Tom Coburn on the floor. Typing as fast as I can here:
“We have failed to instill the confidence in the American people in the Congress that we are about doing what is in the best long-term interest of our country. It’s not about being against immigration or for immigration. It’s not about being against or for an ethnic group. It’s not about liberal or conservative. It’s about the worry the American people have about the concept we call liberty…There’s worry that the thing that gives us liberty, which is the rule of law, is somehow being tinkered with in a way that undermines our confidence and security in what the American Dream is all about.”
Couldn’t say it better myself.
5:31pm update. Specter is having a snit fit over Grassley’s remarks about broken promises and bad process. Specter’s thin skin is oozing imperiousness. Everything you hate about the Senate. Specter moves to table the Baucus amendment.
5:04pm update. Reid is asking Sessions to allocate some of his time to Grassley to talk about his amendment on employer verification. Kyl wants time to debate. Reid skips Sessions and gives time to Grassley and Kyl to make remarks “for debate only.”
Grassley: “Thank you for the kindness…I was promised by the senator from Penn and senator from Mass that I would have an opportunity to offer an amendment…that promise has been kept. But no opportunity to debate the amendment…” Grassley is irked. Recounts that the compromise package that he agreed to was not what ended up being produced back in April. I was here in 1986 when we had amnesty, as we have in this current bill. Resulted in more illegal immigration…I’m not one who wants to make that mistake again. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it is a duck. If it looks like amnesty, talks like amnesty, it is amnesty. And it is amnesty.”
Kyl objects to Grassley amendment. Kennedy piles on, bloviating about poor illegal workers who might get caught up in “glitches” with the employer verification system.
Grassley has three minutes to respond. Grassley notes that Kennedy simply parroted a Chertoff letter to Grassley. Grassley says he neglected to read Grassley’s rebuttal. He rebuts Kennedy/Kyl on his sunset provisions, verification measures.
4:39pm update. Menendez-Obama-Feingold amendment is tabled. Sessions now has 30 minutes for debate only.
Meantime, North Carolina readers are e-mailing that Burr’s office is telling them he is a no vote on cloture tomorrow.
4:16pm update. Behind the scenes, the vote-trading deals are ongoing. A source tells me that some senators who were promised that their amendments would be included in the Reid amendment package are now being leaned on by Kennedy and the Grand Schemers to guarantee cloture votes in return. John Ensign is one of those senators.
John Ensign (R., Nev.)
h. 202-224-6244 Fax 202-228-2193
Alternate phones:
(702) 388-6605
(775) 686-5770
(775) 885-9111
Rob Bluey finds more buyoffs embedded in the shamnesty bill in the form of pork-flavored earmark.
4:07pm update. Dodd amendment is tabled, 56-41. Reid refuses to yield for a parliamentary inquiry from Vitter.
An unnamed amendment has been withdrawn without unanimous consent. Reid says unanimous consent is not needed. Menendez-Obama-Feingold amendment to amend the point system and move it back to favoring family reunification is apparently up next. Menendez speaks about his amendment. Vitter is trying to get recognized for a parliamentary inquiry. Vitter: Will the majority leader yield? Menendez keeps speaking over them–engaging in debate despite the rules laid down by Reid that have prohibited GOP opponents from debating.
Reid responds to Menendez. Moves to vote on tabling the amendment.
3:59pm update. Vote is underway on tabling a Dodd amendment. Meantime, Noam Askew hears that Domenici will vote against cloture tomorrow. There’s buzz that Nelson and Bond are also likely no’s.
3:29pm update. The Bond amendment is killed, 56-41. Reid is reading the letter he sent to GOP senators regarding the clay pigeon strategy. I posted the exchange yesterday here. David Vitter is trying to get recognized. He is “acknowledged, but not recognized.” Now, Vitter’s allowed to speak.
Vitter: “Senator McConnell is not being railroaded. President Bush is not being railroaded. I’m being railroaded. My colleagues [who want to offer amendments] are being railroaded.”
DeMint gets time to read the GOP senators response to Reid’s letter.
3:00pm update. The vote on whether to table Bond’s amendment commences.
2:42pm update. Vitter asks Reid point blank if he and others will have a chance to offer amendments. Reid extols the fairness of the process. Translation: No.
Debate begins on the Bond amendment, which would bar illegal immigrants from eventually getting green cards. Ted Kennedy is hyperventilating.
There was also a challenge to Reid about whether the $4.4 billion border security sweetener could be used on implementing shamnesty. Reid says it wouldn’t/couldn’t. He’s wrong.
DeMint’s office issued this press release on a CRS report that contradicts the shamnesty crowd:
U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) released Wednesday a report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) which says the new Senate immigration bill contains a major loophole in border security. Supporters of the bill say it provides $4.4 billion in immediate mandatory spending for border enforcement, but according to the CRS analysis, the funds could also be used immediately to implement the amnesty provisions bill.
“This is just another example of how this bill claims to do one thing but does something else entirely. It’s another example of an empty promise being used to buy votes for amnesty,” said Senator DeMint. “The supporters of this bill have been running around trying to convince people that this money will be used to secure the border first, but now we know that’s not the case. If you read the fine print, the bill says this money can also be used for amnesty.”
Here’s the conclusion of the CRS report:
In response to your question concerning whether the $4.4 billion in funding appropriated under the Immigration Security Account could be used to fund the processing of Y or Z visas under Titles IV and VI of S. 1639, S. 1639 appears to require that the trigger mechanisms be funded first. Receiving, processing, and adjudicating applications for the Z visa authorized by Title VI of the Act is one of the trigger mechanisms outlined in Section 1; this means that funding from the Immigration Security Account could be used for this purpose. Section 2(C) would allow DHS to expend any funds remaining after the trigger mechanisms have been fullyfunded on certain activities, including theimplementation of the programs authorized in Titles IV and VI of the Act. Thus, it appears that funding for the Y visa (and other programs) authorized by Title IV of the Act could only be made available through the Immigration Security Account once the trigger mechanisms had been met. However, S. 1639 does not explicitly stipulate whether the certification required bySection 1 would have to take place prior to fundingbeing made available for the additional purposes outlined in Section 2(C).
2:20pm update. Sessions and Vitter continue to blow the whistle on the crummy process. Here’s the latest wire coverage of the battle on the Senate floor.
Reid is back up, pointing out that he has the “concurrence of the president.” Yes, that is the problem, isn’t it?
Oh, gag. Ted Kennedy asks Reid if it is his understandinng that shamnesty will result in the strongest southern border in history. Why, yes, Reid says, yes, it is!
1:49pm update. Cornyn takes the floor. “This immigration bill is leaving all of us with a sense of deja vu. We’ve been here before and strangely, not much has changed…The condition under which we’re allowed to speak now only allows us to speak, but not be so presumptious as to offer amendments.” (Someone hands him the newly-drafted clay pigeon package.) “I just got the 400-page monstrosity (holds it up)…look forward to reading it.” Points out again that he is constrained by Grand Schemers from bringing up amendments.
1:13pm update. Webb amendment tabled. Sen. Sessions back on the floor: “The process has not been a pretty one to date. Senators do not have copies of the newly-drafted clay pigeon amendment…The procedure that the majority leader has chosen–he has chosen to utilize a procedure never before used in this Senate. That procedure will allow Sen. Reid to approve every amendment that will be offered to this legislation. If it’s not a part of his clay pigeon, you’re not in…He picks the amendments. That has never happened in history before.” Sessions signals that they have procedural moves in mind to try and stop this. “What would Paul Wellstone say? Or Jesse Helms?”…I object to that process. Sessions is waging a full-frontal assault on the shamnesty bill–economic, border security, historical failures. Mocks the “Masters of the Universe” behind the grand scheme. Rips the bogus triggers and phony fencing promises.
12:55pm update. Hutchison amendment killed. Now there’s a vote on Webb amendment.
12:01pm. More squabbling about process. Sen. DeMint wants to reserve the right to object. Reid won’t let him reserve the right to object. DeMint: “How many rules are we gonna change?” DeMint loses. Vote on the Hutchison touchback amendment now underway.
11:48am. Dianne Feinstein is proposing an amendment. Harry Reid asks that it be waived and interjects to make a point about the $4.4 billion security funding sweetener.
Feinstein now speaking in opposition to Hutchison’s touchback amendment. “Who will report to deport?” Hutchison responds that the offer of a secure ID included in the shamnesty bill is the incentive.
Sorry, Sen. Hutchison. It’s a fraud.
11:41am. Sen. Sessions is up. Sen. Reid says he knows what’s in the bill. Neither he nor any other senator has read what’s in this amendment. He says he wants to make us happy. How about making the American people happy? They’re using every parliamentary trick — some that have never been used — to move this bill forward….Make no mistake about what’s being done here…amendments will be blocked…the power to control this process is in the majority leader’s hands. It’s never been done like this before. This is an unprecedented step, a step by which the leadership is creating a new tactic that will eliminate the ability of individual senators to propose amendments and engage in debate.
New video : Jim DeMint fights to keep Reid and Company from railroading the debate.
11:35am update: Vitter notes that a brand, new mega-amendment is going to be dropped. He is asking for a morning business adjournment for time to read the whole damned thing. (My words, not his.)
Reid responds: This is not new. Changes are “minor.” He offers to sit down with Vitter to tell him what’s in the revised package.
Vitter objects to depending on the other side to tell him what’s in the package.
Reid deflects blame again to Republicans. “This is a process. I have really tried to be fair, not tried to take advantage of anyone, tried to be as candid with people who support as with people who oppose.”
Cue the violins. Get out the Kleenex.
***
***
Originally posted June 27, 2007, 11:31 am
Ok, I’m switching gears from the Fairness Watch back to Shamnesty Watch. Debate over the “clay pigeon” package has been ongoing. Jim Geraghty blogs Jim Webb’s statement. Now, Harry Reid and David Vitter are bantering about word changes.
Meantime, word from the Hill:
The Senate is in a bit of a holding pattern right now with regards to the “clay pigeon” amendment. Last night after Reid finally unveiled his “clay pigeon,” conservatives objected to expediting the debate and that gave folks a little time to examine the 373 page document. Now “grand-bargainers” are redrafting the clay pigeon amendment. It is not yet clear how much they will change the document we were introduced to only yesterday, but it is certain that they are changing it to correct a myriad of mistakes.
Apparently the clay pigeon wasn’t ready for prime-time.
So again, we wait for another massive new amendment that nobody will have the opportunity to see ahead of time. Yet the Senate is still expected to clear this monstrosity tomorrow.
Quin Hillyer says keep your hopes up and your eyes on the ball:
According to Insider(s), Burr, Brownback, Gregg, Nelson of Nebraska, and Webb are VERY good targets for switching against cloture (or perhaps not being there, which amounts to the same thing). Pryor, Bond, and Coleman are other serious possibilities. I am told, too, that Barbara Boxer remains decidedly unhappy with the bill, and is still a definite possibility to switch to the anti-cloture, anti-amnesty side. Others to watch are Collins and Snowe of Maine, who I had counted as lost causes but who apparently still might be open to persuasion.
Video: The indefatigable Laura Ingraham rallies.
I missed this, but commenters say that Sen. Specter was on the floor and stated: “The will of the Senate will prevail.” Sounds very Specter-y.
***
Some context on the ongoing battle via an e-mail from Heritage Foundation analyst Brian Darling to The Corner’s Kathryn Lopez:
Someone once said not to watch how sausage or legislation are made. Today especially I prefer to be at the sausage factory.
As if the Senate floor situation could get any worse, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s staff is now rewriting the Clay Pigeon amendment behind closed doors. It is the intent of the Majority Leader to bring this new unread Amendment up without the Republicans seeing the language. Yesterday Senator Reid did not have his massive 373 page amendment ready when he started debate on it and mistakes were made in the initial drafting. This fact was not discovered until Republicans objected to waiving the reading of the bill, and the Senate Clerk had nothing to read. Shockingly, Reid scrambled around, put the floor in morning business for a few hours, and then allowed Kennedy’s staff make final changes to the amendment. The language was finally made available around 5:30 pm and Reid “graciously” gave Republicans the night to go through it before moving to it this morning.
This morning Republicans announced that Reid’s amendment did not include the Sessions EITC provision in the touchback section, despite the fact that all previously passed amendments were supposed to be incorporated in the bill and the Clay Pigeon amendment. This oversight is the only mistake so far found, yet there may be other mistakes and intentional omissions in the 373 page amendment. This morning Reid put the floor back in morning business and sent his staff off to rewrite the mega amendment once again. Today, “the most deliberative body in the world,” is left to debate legislation that they do not have a copy of…
Like Hot Air’s Allahpundit says: Craptastic.
***
WashTimes web exclusive: Let the forging begin!
The head of a Mexican forgery ring was convinced he could make phony documents that illegal aliens could use to indicate fraudulently that they were eligible for a new amnesty, says a government affidavit recounting wiretapped phone calls the man made.
Julio Leija-Sanchez, who ran a $3 million-a-year forgery operation before he was arrested in April, was expecting Congress to pass a legalization program, which he called “amnesty,” and said he could forge documents to fool the U.S. government into believing illegal aliens were in the country in time to qualify for amnesty, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent said in the affidavit.
In recounting a wiretapped telephone conversation, ICE agent Jason E. Medica said he heard Mr. Leija-Sanchez tell an associate the forgery ring could “fix his papers” to meet the requirements of a legalization program such as the bill the Senate is debating today.
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Trackbacks
- Turning 25 » Blog Archive » Open question to Comcast: why is C-SPAN 2 on a higher channel than C-SPAN 3? (Senate debate on amendments live blog)
- Amnesty On the Floor : The American Pundit
- FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
- Watching The Sausage Being Made From Clay Pigeons at Conservative Times--Republican GOP news source.
- The TIW Blog » Blog Archive » DeMint: Amnesty Amendments Offered Sight Unseen
- Sonoran Alliance » All hands on deck!
- Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian Shamnesty on the Senate Floor Redux: Hutchison, Webb, Bond, Dodd amendments killed…Revealed: Enforcement funds could be used for shamnesty…DeMint, Sessions, Vitter, Cornyn shine light on Reid railroad attempts Upda
- Wake up America
- Contact Senator Ensign : The American Pundit
- Webloggin - Blog Archive » Video: Immigration Update - Dems Block Reading of Amendments Before Vote
- The Wide Awake Cafe » Working in the Interest of bin Ladenism
- California Conservative
- FORGED PAPERS RING FOR SHAMNESTY BUSTED « Texas Hold ‘Em Blogger
- Blog @ MoreWhat.com » Blog Archive » GOP Amnesty
- The 7th Vote Is Always The Killer | Slobokan’s Site O’ Schtuff
- Bill's Bites
- BizzyBlog » Wow, Was That Weak (Hannity Skunks Voinovich)
- Amnesty Bill II: Daily Roundup For 06/28/2007 | Slobokan’s Site O’ Schtuff
- politicalpartypoop.com » Blog Archive » “Let’s end this thing”
- Right Wing News
- Voinovich Embarrasses Ohio (Again) « Thespis Journal
- Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog » Blog Archive » Immigration Bill Faces Crucial Vote
- Immigration Bill Faces Crucial Vote | JesusMySavior
- No Runny Eggs » Blog Archive » Amnesty dead, Volume 2
- Senate Votes In Favor Of Continued, Unfettered Illegal Immigration And Illegal Employment Practices
- A Great Day for America | Adam's Blog
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People, including myself, have bombarded these politicians with phone calls, faxes, letters, and emails. We’ve let them know how we feel and think, and they know it well.
Now we need to direct our attention toward the businesses that donate to them. Pick the biggest donors, the biggest lobbyists, and let THEM know. Congressmen don’t have to worry about the public ire except on election days, and people’s memories are often all too short.
Businesses, on the other hand, have to worry about their customers’ ire every DAY. Get them scared, and they’ll pressure congress. There’s your target, people.
Michelle - you are doing an AMAZING JOB!
How do we make Senator Vitter the face of the Republican party - and remove Martinez ?
The bullying by this Senate leader is the height of arrogance.
He slams the door shut on Vitter to ask a question - but Menendez rambles on for 3 minutes, supposedly asking a question, but it’s allowed.
Vitter hasn’t let up at all - he continues to be a thorn in Reid’s side and you gotta love him for it.
Now is the time to buy stock in DuckTape. Listening to this $@^& is killing me, but I’m sitting here rooting for my Texas Senators. So far, they are hanging in there against the shamnesty.
God, give them strenth, and pass the tape.
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!
Check out this map on the above listed website - showing by red flag the zip codes where signers of the petition are from…..
Talk about having a Red-State Country…..if only the electoral college looked that pretty!
Oops….here’s the link:
http://www.securebordersnow.com/petitionmaplarge.gif
As one of the 9.5 million who has his SSN used this year for an illegal’s tax return, and one of the 20+ million who has an illegal using his SSN for employment and other things, I am outraged that Reid would bully the American Public so he could have slaves on his Nevada plantations.
CONGRESS: FIX THE PROBLEMS! CLEAR THE BACKLOGS! GIVE FEDERAL LAW ENFORCMENT TEH AUTHORITY BACK TO DO THEIR JOBS, AND STOP REPREMANDING THEM WHEN THEY DO! STOP INCENTIVING CRIME!
…and most importantly…
STOP PASSING “WORST CASE” LAWS
jrlingreenbay, that map doesn’t show that each flag represents an individual zip code where the votes are coming from. Not the total votes by zip code. But it is cool, huh.
I gots three words for all these traitors: TERM LIMITS…
Sorry Cowboy - I don’t understand what you’re saying…
According to the map - and how I listed it - each flag represents an individual zip-code where a petition was received from.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear…
I just meant that if the country map at the end of the 2008 election looked that red - that would be nice
Michelle’s got an update plus some phone numbers for Sen. Ensign.
I just called and his staffer cut me off before I finished stating my name—no lie!
He said, “I’ll make sure the Senator gets your message.”
I said, “You don’t even know who the hell I am or what my message is!”
Him: “Yes I do. You don’t like amnesty.” *SLAM.*
Bunch of freakin’ ba$tard$.
ahhh, my glasses must have slipped. I stand corrected. It would be nice if we could get a lot of folks to sign it.
Update, they have a map now showing signers from Hawii and Alaska!
http://www.securebordersnow.com/blog/
I just sent an email of thanks and support to Senator Vitter. His efforts in standing up to Reid are a rarity in their strength and volume.
I encourage you all to, in addition to sending word to those fence-sitters, send your thanks to those who have been steadfast in their disapproval of this bill!
What is it about Democratic Senate leadership - scrawny, smarmy, lying, creepy mediocrities. Thinking of George Mitchell, Tom Daschle, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, oops! wrong chamber.
Got through to Ensign’s DC office and the person there at least listened to what I had to say. The guy at the (702) number should be fired.
Now is the time to be calling, emailing and faxing all of the Amnesty 8. Tomorrow it will be impossible to get through.
Check out Michelle’s update people!
Can anyone pull up the data on blue collar/lower paid members of either party? The Dems have always claimed to be for the little guy and down in out, instead of all those “rich” Republicans. Where are the unions in the mess? This bill will kill the middle class in both parties but completely bury wages for the lowest paid. When it dawns on Democrats what their party has done they should be outraged enough to take a look at their own vote in 2008.
Hannity just finished interviewing Senator Hatch. What a contrast to whiney jerk Voinavich.
Hatch was very critical of the bill and picked apart every major objectionable part of it….
BUT when Sean asked how he would vote on cloture, Hatch said he is CONSIDERING voting no.
CONSIDERING??? WHY DIDN’T HE COMMIT TO AN OUTRIGHT NO?
Republican = DODO. One is extinct, one is working on self-extiction.
What’s with this if you don’t vote for the bill you won’t get the 4.4 billion to secure the border. Hey senators , that’s our money not yours and blackmail is illegal. I know ,illegal what’s that ?
If day workers show up in my front yard do I have to take care of them ? I hope Home Depot shuts down that location and other businesses follow. California and DC are in some sort of competition to see who can shock the nation into submission.
They don’t care #117. The dems think they will get the majority of all the currently illegal and of course their families to come votes. Thus killing the Republican party for many years to come.
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!
Cowboy (#120):
Actually, Democrats don’t even need the illegals to vote for them in order to get a big boost from the passage of the amnesty bill.
Congressional districts are apportioned based upon population - or are supposed to be, anyway. I can see scenarios where Democrat-friendly major cities get a bunch of new seats in 2010 because of amnesty - even if the illegals in question never cast a ballot.
When you add in routine run-of-the-mill Democrat voting fraud and cheating the Democrats are well-known for, they could profit quite nicely.
Go go, Grassley! You tell ‘em, Chuck!
Pork for votes. These people have no shame.
I’m watching cspan2 and these boobs are arguing about who gets to speak and about what. Why? Because they are running out of time and want to make sure everything is fair! They’ve wasted for 5 or six minutes AND THEY AREN’T DONE!!!
So Burr might do the right thing after all. I guess having people, ok me, call him Senator Burr-ito struck a chord!
Would you rather that they just passed the amnesty and left to buy their (probably illegal) fireworks for next Wednesday’s celebrations?
I caught Glenn Beck’s show this morning on the car radio and he seems to think that the real motivation behind the Senate’s insisting on passing this Bill is that they are beholden to business and business wants a North American Union similar to the EU. How about that!!!!!
Well, now that killer Kennedy is backing up Kyl’s BS.
This is sickening! These morons are debating a bill that the American people don’t even want considered!
You are absolutely right #120 and #122. There is rumor more illegals voted in south Texas than legals in some districts in the last elections. Nevermind the rumors of whole cemetaries voting in 2004 in one of the northern states. We must have picture I.D.’s required at the polls.
I just called Ensign and left messages at a couple of the Nevada numbers and an intern aswered at his DC office.
I expressed my dismay and asked the intern what he thought. His response, “I don’t think this is a terrible bill” and I went on before he hung up on me. I didn’t swear or raise my voice, he just didn’t want to hear any more. He gave me a Lurch (Adam’s Family) “urrrrrhh” when I said that America strongly preferred that the borders be secured before making illegals legal, and not merely setting aside money as a promise to do that later. (The call was just over a minute.)
And now we learn the language for using that $4.4B bribe is sloppy and the money can be used for other priorities than security.–which of course highlights another reason for voting no on cloture: the process is rushed, disrepectful and violates the principles of democracy.
Sen. Ensign: 202-224-6244
If you need to know who is behind this, follow the money. Pressing the Republicans is the business lobby looking to cheat wholesale on their employment taxes, insurance and recordkeeping requirements as well as stiff American workers. On the other side of the aisle is the social services lobby looking to pig out at the public trough in ministering to the illegals through public and foundation grants. Both sides contribute to political campaigns. Could someone explain to me the boundary line where the “free speech” of campaign contibutions ends and bribery begins?
The more I see of today’s “debate” the more appalling it appears. Is this why you Americans had a revolution ? So that clowns like this run the show, rig the legislation, suppress any discussion or amendment, cram bad law down the people’s throat ? I doubt if more than ten or a dozen Senators have yet read the amendments.
Today’s performance has been shameful. I don’t know who is the most creepy - ghoulish Reid is matched by the unctious Specter, Kyl sounds as bad today as Kennedy.
Compare the supine Senate with the UK House of Commons - give me the rough and tumble, the real passion in the Commons compared to all this “my friend” stuff. Worse than anything, there is not CONTINUOUS debate even during the very limited time being made available. I suppose that ensures that the great unwashed public get bored and don’t follow the ridiculous performance going on today.
I think you need another Revolution over there. Right now you have the bland leading the blind.
The problem is rectified more easily than you might think - and not as difficult as attempting to influence Congress. And - its not exactly ‘too late’ to act, but it takes EFFORT.
Far too many political infants across the blog are saying they won’t vote GOP and are leaving the party. That’s ignorance speaking. The GOP isn’t the few reps in Congress, it is made up of over 100,000 dues paying members in every state.
Do you know who they are - those people in your own district, a few minutes from where you live? No - most do not. They have NEVER attended a single meeting in their own home town, their own political district.
You want representative government? Get with it. Get in your car, turn the ignition key and head for the nearest GOP district meeting - every month. KNOW who is leading there - become a local member yourself (it’s not hard.)
Put bluntly - you get the kind of government you are seeing now - when the people take their eyes off the greater 100,000 in the states, in their own districts - and focus only on the .01 percent of the party in DC.
It is, in a nutshell, a lack of being the watchman on the wall, in your own town, that brings us to the kind of dictatorship on display in DC.
So for those wanting to ‘take to the streets’ - they certainly ought to… and go to the meetings not far from where they live. Take care of business there, and up the ladder in their own state - and things in DC would improve by enormously.
Michelle- You are doing a great job with this. Thank you for your hard work.
I just spoke to Ensigns las vegas office and she said the senator is waitng to see what it looks like.
I explained that they this bill is bad legislation and it needs to go away. Ensign waiting to see what this bill will look like is the same as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Also, the American people are not going to be fooled by his attempt to get double coverage. She said he wasn’t trying to fool anyone. I called her on that BS and told her exactly what he was going to do. Vote yes and then no. What he needed to understand was that a yes vote on cloture is a yes vote for amnesty and he might as well just vote yes on the bill when it comes up for final passage.
I just heard Hannity’s interview with Voinovich. What an idiot!! Voinovich did not even know the results of the vote on the Hutchison amendment! He thought it had passed. This guy is either senile or clueless. He would not answer Sean’s questions about whether any cost analysis had been considered. He admitted that he had not read the bill.
This guy has got to be toast. How could anyone in their right mind vote for this idiot?! It was obvious from his combative nature in the interview that he will vote for cloture - he’s a lost cause. Start working on his overthrow now. This is just confirmation after his idiotic behavior last year on the Bolton nomination. He threatened all of us that he won’t be intimidated. Well, Senator, neither will we.
I’m convinced that some of these guys are just wall paper. Talking to them is like talking to some dumb pretty face like Britney Spears. I’m sure they have handlers that work behind the scenes. They’re just wall paper to provide a public image. When you pin them down and attempt to have an intelligent discussion, they don’t know what they are talking about. I’m also sure that their handlers are raking in the money from special interests. It’s time for a revolution. Money should be pouring into the Tancredo and Hunter campaigns - the guys who have been fighting this battle for years with more than just rhetoric (like Romney, Thompson & Guiliani). Let our response to this amnesty be a tidal wave of support to these “third tier” guys that the MSM loves to ignore.
TANCREDO FOR PRESIDENT
I am sick of wacko Kennedy running his mouth about legalities at the border.
He is so clueless.
States that the borders will never be secure.
Yes. It could be secure with the army aiming tanks in the direction of MEXICO.
I think we all need a tranquilizer to get through tomorrow’s “debate”.
Holy Mother of Pearl! It’s worse than I thought after listening to that Clueless Voinovich.
The message I just sent to both of my senators:
riccola is right: “Start working on his overthrow now.” What we need is a fund just targeting the Senators of Shamnesty in their primaries–and good people to fund to run against them.
I had a pretty good experience when calling my Senators (Murkowski and Stevens). I was on the phone with Murkowski’s office for over 20 minutes and the staffer couldn’t have been nicer. Of course, he also agreed with me. He told me they’ve been getting lots and lots of calls and almost all of them have been in opposition. The guy from Stevens’ office started to argue with me, until he realized that I was actually informed. Thanks, Michelle! And thanks to all of the other posters, too!
Voinovich, talk about thick. You better believe, if he was buying a house, he would be reading the fine print. Since its only taxpayer money, the safety and security of our nation is a stake, why read anything. Ohio, dump this guy before he hurts somebody.
nbarry - “Could someone explain to me the boundary line where the “free speech” of campaign contibutions ends and bribery begins?”
I am not sure where the line between campaign contributions ends and bribery begins, but I do believe that many of them have long since left that boundary line way back in the rear view mirror.
Did Reid just give us the bird? Hit rewind.
I can tell you that Voinovich’s position is rock-soid in the State of Ohio and he will be around for a long time. Get used to it. He’s a smart guy.
Trent Lott is on right now.
Great job keeping us up to date Michelle. Some of us could not watch live. Besides, your personal interjection is priceless!
Well, there is ONE upshot to all of this…
The most ethical congress in history is actually WORKING instead of talking about working. Granted, that work is trying to undermine the constitution and American freedom, but one step at a time, right? Right?
…Right…?
On a more serious note, THANK YOU MICHELLE for liveblogging this. I’ve thrown this website to all of my family and friends to get them informed and it’s really turned some people around. Thank you, this is fantastic!
Smartest comment of the day;
“Radio people know more about this bill than most Senators.”
Ain’t that the truth! LOL!
Yes, that was great, good dig on Voinovich I’d say… Go Bama!
News link from Drudge - great story!
“Fla. Sheriff Targets Illegals”
“The sheriff’s department has developed a remarkably effective - and controversial - way of catching illegal immigrants: Deputies in patrol cars pull up to a construction site in force, and watch and see who runs.”
Full story at link.
As far as I am concerned any talk of granting Amnesty or any other form of pardon to any person who is illegally in the United States is a slap in the face and an insult to all the LEGAL Immigrants that entered the US. Also an insult to those of us who’s ancestors Legally came to the US.
What will the next group of persons be that have done illegal things to receive pardons or amnesty?
Aw, com’n, Bear - what do you have against BankRobber-Americans? We can’t stop all the banks from being robbed, so the only logical alternative is to grant BankRobber-Americans a massive blanket Amnesty.
Michelle, if we can kill this thing off it will be in part to all the fine work you have done to raise awareness and channel peoples justifiable anger at this miserable selling out of our country by our spoused “leaders”. Again, thanks for your hard work.
For those needing further proof that all R’s who AT ANY TIME voted for cloture are just stupid tools, I meant fools, look no further than this comment from Senator Domenici -
The ass helped make this all happen and NOW he sees that the bill is bad because he’s finally noticing it’s futility and the personal political costs. A pox on all of them. It will take years for most of these bastards to crawl their spineless ways back into my good graces. Yes, that is squarely aimed at you Mr. Burr and Mr. Graham.
Whether or not this law passes (I sure hope it does not) we should begin a campaign to recall every democrat and republican who votes for this law. It is the most UN-AMERICAN act (aside from an attack or passing state secrets) I can imagine to give a free pass to those who came here illegally and thumb there noses at the few who followed the law and waited for their due process to immigrate to America.
Regardless of this, that, or the other amendment passing or failing, anyone who thinks Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) will vote against amnesty is sadly mistaken.
There are enough built-in holes in this monstrosity to allow any “representative of the people” to worm their favorite little cubbyhole agendas in with no, or token, opposition after the fact.
purplepeep “We can’t stop all the banks from being robbed, so the only logical alternative is to grant BankRobber-Americans a massive blanket Amnesty.”
They may have to buy some bank robber credits though.
I think that Al Gore sells those in the bin next to the carbon credits.
From Senator Burr-ito’s web site:
Burr Statement on Immigration Reform Bill
“Tuesday’s vote was on whether the Senate should continue to debate immigration, not on the bill itself. I still have concerns about the immigration reform bill in its current form. Unless the bill changes drastically, I can find no way to support it.”
Maybe he will do the right thing after all and I can stop calling him Senator Burr-ito!
Where is Hillary in all of this mess? Why isn’t she getting her name mentioned as a sponsor of an amendment? Why isn’t she waxing eloquent in favor of some provision on the floor trying to ram this thing down our throats? Doesn’t she want to list this as one of her accomplishments for the election?
Max Baucus is proud of himself. I am proud of him too.
From the Max Baucus’s Senate web site -
“We scored a major victory today in our efforts to protect privacy and defeat a bad immigration bill at the same time,” said Baucus, Montana’s senior U.S. Senator. “If Jon and I just brought down the entire bill, that’s good for Montana and the country.”
Michelle I just want to take the time to say Thank You for the fantastic job you have done throughout this nightmare. I appreciate how hard you’ve been working to stop this craptastic bill. Me and my family and friends have been making calls and faxing like never before. I am more scared than ever after seeing that video where they would not even let him read the amendment. Madness! This is shady, underhanded,and undemocratic and should be criminal. What are they trying to hide?
Didn’t Dirty Harry promise to kill this thing if it failed that vote on the 7th? Any one want to bet me a sixpack it really stay’s dead if it gets voted down tomorrow?
There is a bit of anecdotal evidence that the GOP may have lost over 100,000 members already. Many members actually are two. When a spouse becomes a member, the family gets the lit etc. Interestingly enough, all my liberal friends are in an absolute tizzy over this. Rank and file union members, Dems here, feel that this is a total betrayal by the Democratic party. They have not quit yet, but are confused. The real message by the Senate seems to be that American values, labor, and a representative form of government are over. The Mexican Embassy or Consulate seems to be above State law.They tell Washington what they want and it happens. Americans speak up and are ridiculed.
You know, if the self-obsessed, power-hungry morons in congress took even half the time and energy to debate on the senate floor the way this post board does on the same issues, they might actually get something done that the people who elected them could live with.
Where is a strong anti-amnesty leader among the Republican presidential candidates? I hate to agree with Senator Sellout McCain about anything now, but he correctly stated that other candidates that oppose the current bill should put forth their own proposals instead of only general opposition.
I dunno, I listened to the last debate and I clearly heard one of the leading candidates, Mitt Romney, articulate a specific immigration reform plan. It was:
ENFORCE THE CURRENT LAW and SECURE OUR BORDERS FIRST.
works for me.
Thanks, Michelle, for the “fly-on-the-Senate-wall” reporting during all of this. It has been much appreciated!
1. Malkin. Many, many laurels to Malkin, pillar of the Republic.
2. Burr, and the other final few. How about their phones ring, faxes hum, and email melts ALL MORNING, UNTIL THEY VOTE NO-CLOTURE? It’s not over until it’s over.
3. Clinton. Will keep voting Yes, with Kennedy, BUT wants the bill to fail in Senate (or House, if it comes to that). HRC: “I tried so hard. Oh, darn.” If it becomes law, she is running on Bush’s border policy, on which she will have voted Yes over and over. She doesn’t want to run as Bush, Chapter III, on anything. Therefore, she doesn’t want a bill. It’s possible she will jump ship today, Thursday, and vote No-cloture, but I doubt it. If Clinton bails out, it is opportunism only; she is for mass amnesty, on various grounds.
4. Romney. Gov. Romney sounds great to me: enforce the law, secure the borders first. That is clear enough for even a Senator or Congressman to follow, don’t you think?
I tried to call three senators first thing this morning, but they all when to mail boxes that were full. This is either good news or bad news? Either they are getting swamped with calls or they all just decided they knew the right answer and didn’t want to hear from the public any longer. I’ve kinda given up on my two ditzy senators from Maine, but I think Gregg from NH is sensible and may vote NO.
Call, call, and call again.
Now I’m laughing. Drudge says Tancredo has sent a head of lettuce to Chertoff to protest the immigration bill. I love it !!
Climate change is real! Some Senators felt the heat of the American public and decided to do what was right. Thanks to all Americans who gave of their time to voice their concerns and save our Republic. Now we see why China is determined to suppress truth through the internet. It certainly wasn’t MSM who turned the tide with the truth. It was talk radio and bloggers. Note the absence of serious discussion of 1348 by Fox News. O’Reilly seemed to be MIA last night on the most serious news of the nation. We can look for attempts to produce a “fairness doctrine” for bloggers soon. Did I hear Bush’s reaction to the news right? Did he include a veiled threat to the Senators who did not do his bidding? Bottom line, thanks to Michelle, Laura, Sean, Micheal and all for their unyeilding loyalty to our nation. It is truly a great day!
Time To more Than Whisper The “D” Word.
Deportation.
An ugly word to too many people that sounds to many like how pre-1960’s people thought of sending people to the moon.
But as ugly and “impossible” as Deportation sounds, we have to start if even only as a trickle object lesson. Until we take Berlin Wall measures our borders will still be frightfully porous to millions (that measure might sound Draconian until a massive plague hits South America). Without Deportation in our quiver, legal threats on illegal homesteading is a joke. We will be wimps and accomplices to our own culture’s take over — and like virginity once it’s gone you can’t get it back. We have to coldly ignore the tidal wave of violins and teary media reports of illegals with little kiddies in tow waving bye-bye to friends and anchored relatives here as they’re herded into vans and buses back home. We got the wheels; we just need the will (spine) to roll ‘em. If this country could ship 20 million people over here from Africa in creaky wooden boats we can damn sure pack people in air conditioned buses to the (hopefully) new border fence gates and have them be the responsibility of the rightful government.
To say we will tolerate and accommodate “12 million” illegals within our borders is in one breath saying we’ll do such for 75 million later on because our will to check the situation wouldn’t have changed.
But by that time your vote won’t mean much.
James Greenidge
Queens, NY
James:
Wholesale deportation is impractical. Deport criminals, yes. And deportation should be used when busting a business for hiring illegals - for the most part.
The exception above is for families with kids born here. I know that concept takes a lot of abuse but the rationale of deporting the mother while leaving the baby escapes me. And under current law, if the baby is born here, it is a citizen - entitled to exactly the same rights as you and I.
Not only that, each deportee is entitled to a hearing. That’s the law and changing it will involve altering Supreme Court decisions.
For all these reasons, mass deportation would be inadvisable. Targeted deportation would be much more beneficial and could be used to dampen the enthusiasm for coming here in the first place.