Kill the Bill: Shamnesty showdown Update: Telephone system has shut down Update: Video of Kennedy’s “Gestapo” diatribe Update: Reid attacks talk radio Update: VICTORY! Roll added Update: Goat of the day–Sen. Sam Brownback Switchback Video of the switchback added
9:30pm Eastern update. The venerable economist George Borjas weighs in on his blog with a sober and sobering assessment:
The President bet all his remaining political capital on a proposal he knew would tear his party apart. And the Senate came close to enacting very bad policy. It really makes me wonder: what the heck were they thinking?
There’s something else worth pointing out. Here’s a policy shift–amnesty and guest workers–that the entire political establishment as well as much of the mainstream media and academic elite wanted badly. It is seldom the case that something that the powers-that-be want so much fails to make it through. I am pretty sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere. And the tactics used by the bill’s opponents to fight the establishment’s power and to weaken their control over key junctures in the information flow will provide lots of case studies that will be studied far into the future. No “Mission Accomplished” banners this time around.
Does this end the debate over immigration? No.
Why? Because our immigration system is truly broken.
Regardless of what happened at the Senate today, there are still 12 million illegal immigrants living in the country, and that number is increasing at the rate of about half-a-million a year. And there’s no longer any need for the Bush administration to keep playing the charade of “more enforcement” that received wide media attention in the past few months. The economic and social dislocations caused by illegal immigration are not going to disappear simply because the issue is no longer in the political headlights.
Combine this with a legal immigration system that admits about 1 million immigrants a year–most of which tend to be low-skill workers. The economic pressures that both legal and illegal immigrants put on the low-skill labor market are severe, and have been ignored for years. I suspect that the immigration “problem” would have been long resolved had the labor markets for high-skill workers–say, for example, journalists and attorneys–faced the same pressures as those faced by low-educated workers.
Now that the debate is over, perhaps we can return some sanity and honesty into the intellectual discussion of what immigration does to the United States…
4:30pm Eastern update. Check out our new Hot Air political ad: Meet Senator Switchback.
2:59pm Eastern update. Caught on tape. Allah captured Sen. Sam Switchback’s dirty deed. Gotcha:
1:46pm Eastern update. What does President Bush have to say about shamnesty going down in flames? This:
Connelly Hall, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, White House News 12:38 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: I thank the members of the Senate and members of my administration who worked so hard on the border security and immigration reform bill. I’m sorry the Senate was unable to reach agreement on the bill this morning.
Legal (sic?) immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress’s failure to act on it is a disappointment. The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws. A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn’t find a common ground — it didn’t work.
12:40pm Eastern update. Vote-switching weasel Sam Brownback should really just end his presidential campaign bid right now and stop wasting his poor staff’s time.
Reader Dave e-mails: “I think an enduring legacy of the vote will be a new nickname for the Senator from Kansas: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Senator Sam Switch-back.”
12:34pm Eastern update. Now what? Sen. Jim DeMint has it right:
“When the U.S. Senate brought the Amnesty bill back up this week, they declared war on the American people. This act created a crisis of confidence in their government. Thankfully, the American people won today,” said Senator DeMint. “This is remarkable because it shows that Americans are engaged and they care deeply about their country. They care enough for their country to get mad and to fight for it, and that’s the most important thing of all. Americans made phone calls and sent letters, and convinced the Senate to stop this bill.”
“The Senate rejected this bill and the heavy-handed tactics used to ram it through. Americans do not want more of the same – amnesty and broken promises on the border. Americans want legislation to be written in public – not in secret – and they want Congress to engage in an open and fair debate.”
“There is a better way forward without this bill. The President has said that the border security measures can be implemented over the next 18 months, and they can be done under current law. Now the Administration needs to prove it and stop holding border security hostage for amnesty.”
“Once we have secured the border and restored trust with the American people, we can begin to take additional steps.”
Over to you, President Bush.
Polipundit adds:
In order to pass the Bush-Kennedy amnesty, el Presidente tacked on a $4.4. “emergency supplemental” funding request to the bill. The president should still ask Congress for that “emergency” money to help solve the crisis on our borders.
11:57am Eastern update. Roll added:
Allah adds:
The yes/no switchers were Bingaman, Bond, Brown, Brownback, Burr, Coleman, Collins, Domenici, Ensign, Harkin, McConnell, Murkowski, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Stevens, Voinovich(!), Warner, and Webb…I guess you can thank Sean Hannity for shaming Voinovich into flipping.
It’s worth going back and looking at the order in which they voted, to see who held back and waited to gauge how the vote was going before casting his/her ballot. I’ll bet Mitch McConnell was one of them.
11:55am Eastern update. “A stake through the heart.”
11:30am Eastern update. VICTORY. 53 No’s. Shamnesty is dead. A stake through the heart.
And yes, so was my website for about 10-20 minutes.
Thanks to the stalwart, true leaders in the Senate — especially Sens. Sessions, DeMint, Vitter, Inhofe, Cornyn, and their staffs. Thanks to the House GOP members who made their opposition known. Thanks to the Loud Folks on the right side of the dial. Thanks to the Loud Folks at The Corner, RedState, Human Events, Townhall, Kaus, N.Z. Bear, my colleagues at Hot Air, and all the enforcement-first bloggers out there who weighed in. Thanks to the analysts at the Heritage Foundation, the enforcement/assimilation proponents at The Manhattan Institute, George Borjas, Kris Kobach, Eagle Forum, 9/11 Families, FAIR and Numbers USA. Thanks to the immigration enforcement activists who’ve been at this for years and decades before this one battle began. Most importantly, thanks to all the ordinary “Loud Folks” who called, phoned, e-mailed, and blogged their opposition.
The bill is dead. The work of immigration enforcement and border security continues.
Rolling updates on Senate floor activity
11:04am Eastern update. Finally. The vote begins.
Notable votes so far:
YEA: Brownback (Update: Apparently changed his vote at the last minute.)
NAY: Bond, Domenici, Ensign, Webb
10:59am Eastern update. Sessions interrupts Reid’s drone. What about the time limit? Obama is giving Reid overtime. Now, Reid is using his “leader’s time.” Reid chastises Sessions for rudely interrupting him.
Readers: This is your Grand Bargain. I hope as many of you are watching this as possible. It’s really revolting. Reid continues to drone. I remind you again: The opponents were allocated 10 total minutes to make their case. Harry Reid has exceeded the rest of the hour they said they would take.
10:48am Eastern. Well, here we go. It’s sniveling Harry Reid: “Is immigration a problem? Of course it is. But is immigration a problem limited…to border states, big cities? No. Immigration is a problem all over America.”
Another Sherlock Holmes!
The Corner is buzzing that Reid will be able to strong-arm some of the anti-amnesty Dems.
Now, he’s mentioning a hate mail. As I’ve been noting all morning, this is the Big Theme of the shamnesty side. This is all they have. “Talk radio has had a field day. These generators of simplicity.” After playing the hate card, he disingenuously asserts that he is not suggesting that senators who oppose shamnesty are prejudiced. Reid tells his melting pot story for the 999th time. And he keeps muttering about a watch.
Now: “Mr. President, my skin is real white.” He points out that Obama is black. He points to a Hispanic. “But my skin is American skin.” This is what the precious time on the Senate floor is being used for–emotional bleating that ignores the actual bill on the table.
What an incredibly less-than-mediocre speaker Reid is. And he keeps going on. It’s way past time for the scheduled vote.
10:43am Eastern update. While Specter drones, here’s the video of Teddy Kennedy’s Gestapo diatribe.
Specter: “A vote against cloture is a vote to kill the bill.”
He’s a veritable Sherlock Holmes!
10:37am Eastern update. So we have two basic themes from the pro-amnesty and anti-amnesty sides this morning. The shamnesty senators are playing the fear/bigotry/can’t-do-nothing card. The enforcement senators are repeating the point that the American people have lost faith, confidence, and trust in the government to do its job. Arlen Specter is now trying to argue that the “silent majority” supports his side and that the noisy callers and e-mailers who oppose amnesty do not represent the vast American majority who have consistently supported immigration enforcement first.
10:32am Eastern update. Mel Martinez. Groan. He plays the “can’t do nothing” card. How many seconds before he plays the fear/bigotry card? Waiting. Oops, he ran out of time. Specter jumped in and gave him an extra three minutes because he’s an immigrant. Martinez obliges and echoes the other pro-amnesty senators who have repeated the line about “ugly” opposition.
10:30am Eastern update. Ted Kennedy is yelling at the top of his lungs again, doing his Jesse Jackson impersonation. Invokes civil rights legislation. “We were part of the march for progress. And today we are called again…who among us would retreat on any of those great traditions? Now is the time to secure our borders…Now is the time! This is the place! Are we going to vote for our hopes? Or are we going to vote for our fears?”
In case you didn’t catch this, the opponents of shamnesty are rushing through their statements because the Grand Schemers have only given them 10 minutes to speak. The shamnesty senators will get the rest of the hour to talk. “Typical,” says Session, of the way this debate has gone. And so starkly absurd. You’ve got the pro-amnesty senators on the floor now all bleating about how debate shouldn’t be ended…having just limited their opponents’ time to a measly 10 minutes.
10:24am Eastern update. Vitter spoke briefly about arrogance of the out-of-touch Senate. DeMint notes again that the phone system has crushed. Session– I wish our side had gotten more than 10 minutes. Durbin is now up attacking “dark” and “ugly” voices against amnesty.
10:20am Eastern update. Jeff Sessions gives a reality check to the shamnesty claim that illegal immigration will be reduced by referring to CBO analysis. Sessions reports that the Senate telephone system has shut down and crashed because of overwhelming public feedback.
10:16am Eastern update. Salazar’s up. This is the shamnesty talking point of the morning: People are afraid. People are filled with hate. Now, he’s invoking Cesar Chavez! He is obviously clueless about Cesar Chavez’s position on illegal immigration.
10:10am Eastern update. Mr. Melodrama, Lindsey Graham is up. “I don’t claim to be on the right or the wrong side of the American people.” No need to claim. It’s clear as day. I need a Dramamine, he’s moving around so much. I feel bad for the C-SPAN cameraman. “This is as good as it’s gonna get.” Mercifully, he has run out of time.
Meantime, a reader e-mails:
Just got off the phone with Gregg’s office. He’s still NOT committed one way or the other. All offices are open for business.
(202)224-3324
(603)622-7979
(603)577-3823
(603)225-7115
(603)431-2171
(603)752-2604
Another reader e-mails:
Dear Michelle:
I’m a member of the Republican State Committee of Maine. Susan Collins was blasted on local talk radio today by Republicans who said they will not support her re-election next year if she votes for the Immigration bill. There are rumors going around that she has doubts about the bill. If you could post her phone number, it might help swing her to our side. Thanks. Susan Collins Maine office – 207-780-3575.
10:09 Eastern update. DeMint — “This immigration bill has become a war between the American people and their government. It’s a crisis of confidence…This vote today is really not about immigration. It’s about whether we are going to listen to the American people…the allocation of time as we approach this vote is very symbolic. the supporters of this bill out of an hour’s time have allocated 10 minutes to the views of the American people.” Urges vote against cloture.
10:06am Eastern update. Corker: “I have voted three times against cloture, and will vote a fourth time against it…A lot of different things at play–compassion, cheap labor, party politics…America has lost faith in our government’s ability to do the things it says it’s gonna do…People feel they are losing their government. Not to people who speak or look differently. They are losing it to a government not doing the things it says it will do.”
10:02am Eastern update. Dole invokes Grassley’s admission that 1986 amnesty was a debacle. My strong view is that it’s not just promises, it’s proof (of border security and enforcement) that people want.” Dole notes that she has met with sheriffs to help enforce 287(g) to deputize local law enforcement to help enforce immigration law.
9:57am Eastern update. Kyl pimps shamnesty. “I hope that my colleagues will accept that doing nothing is not acceptable.” No. Passing shamnesty would be much worse.
9:49am Eastern update. Teddy Kennedy did his best Geraldo impression, likening immigration enforcement to Gestapo tactics. Video coming. Arlen Specter is lavishing praise on the maaaverick, courageous John McCain, pleading to the Senate not to kill the bill.
Dianne Feinstein: “There is no more important bill than this one.” She invokes the NYTimes line about the “threats” being made to pro-shamnesty. She parrots the line that we are stupid, that “people don’t understand this bill…they don’t understand the threat to national security.” Oh, we understand the threat this bill poses to national security just fine. She plugs the Graham amendment. “Puh-leeeease vote for cloture.”
BTW: NR reports that Ensign is a definite no and informed the the White House and McConnell last night.
***
The second cloture vote, as you know, is scheduled for 10:30am. I’ll be here doing my thang. As I reported last night, there are dire forecasts for shamnesty from every corner of the blogosphere–and MSM: Illegals bill loses support in Senate. Senate Immigration Reform Bill Takes Step Toward the Grave. New Senators Resist Overhaul of Immigration. Immigration Measure Appears Imperiled Again. Shamnesty in deep, deep doo-doo.
Ok, I made that last one up. Dire forecasts never sounded so good. But nothing is in the bag. As readers e-mailed yesterday and the WashTimes reports today, Sens. Burr and Nelson look like solid no’s. Repeat: Nothing is in the bag. Here are some quick phone numbers:
Christopher Bond (R-MO) (202) 224-5721
Sam Brownback (R-KS) (202) 224-6521
Richard Burr (R-NC) (202) 224-3154
Larry Craig (R-ID) (202) 224-2752
John Ensign (R-NV) (202) 224-6244
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (202) 224-2541
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) (202) 224-6665
Of note: A source tells John Hawkins that Linsdey Graham-nesty is “running scared.” Keep running.
While we wait for the Senate to start its business, here’s a little entertainment from James Kole, who penned “The Amnesty Bill Blues” (hat tip: Freedom Folks):
More entertainment: Be sure to check out the update to the story about Tom Tancredo’s special delivery to DHS head Michael Chertoff. Priceless.
And a great one-liner from Lucianne in response to a NYTimes sob story about shamnesty senators trembling at negative mail from constituents: “How are they supposed to fight an enemy that beheads people if the mail turns them to jelly?”
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Trackbacks
- Voinovich Embarrasses Ohio (Again) « Thespis Journal
- Pajamas Media
- The Roundtable
- James Kole for Senator | BitsBlog
- Amnesty: The Finale? : The American Pundit
- …gettingpaidtowatch » This morning’c cloture vote on the amnesty bill
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » 10:30 a.m.: Cloture 2 — Something Wicked This Way Comes
- Bluey Blog | Robert B. Bluey » ‘Let’s End This Thing’
- Amnesty Bill II: Morning Roundup For 06/28/2007 | Slobokan’s Site O’ Schtuff
- FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
- Shamnesty Bill to die today? | BitsBlog
- Right Wing News
- BizzyBlog » Further Reflection on Voinovich
- Turning 25 » Blog Archive » Senate Scratchpad
- Bill's Bites
- Wake up America
- Blogmeister USA
- Ankle Biting Pundits » Blog Archive » VICTORY! Amnesty Bill Dies A 2nd Time
- AMNESTY IS DEAD!!! | Political Vindication
- Amnesty Bill Killed « Axis of Right
- Vote For Cloture On Immigration Bill : The Nays Have It! | Stuck On Stupid
- Dinocrat » Blog Archive » It wasn’t just the GOP
- PAXALLES
- Pierre Legrand’s Pink Flamingo Bar » LOOKS LIKE WE ARE GOING TO KILL AMNESTY!!! THANK YOU MICHELLE MALKIN, RUSH, HUGH HEWITT, THE CORNER, MARK KRIKORIAN Y'ALL DID GOOD!
- Immigration bill pwned in the Senate!
- A Blog For All
- Out And About! » Freedom Folks
- Ding Dong! The Bill is Dead! The Bill is Dead! « Chaotic Ramblings
- JammieWearingFool
- Joust The Facts
- The TIW Blog » Blog Archive » Lindsey Graham Defiant to the End!
- Happy No Amnesty Thursday « Freedom Ain’t Free & Take Our Country Back
- Wake up America
- NixGuy.com » Ohio Senators Stake Immigration Bill
- Pirate’s Cove » >>Americans Never Quit » Senate Shamnesty Goes Down In Defeat
- The amnesty bill is dead. « HoodaThunk?
- Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog » Blog Archive » Immigration Bill Faces Crucial Vote
- Keith Burgess-Jackson » Immigration
- A Lady's Ruminations
- Cloture FAILS on Immigration Bill and Reaction Roundup at Conservative Times--Republican GOP news source.
- Lump on a Blog » Blog Archive » Amnesty Bill Dies In Senate (for Now) - Next Target: Fairness Doctrine
- UniversalUpdate.com
- Iowa Voice » » Bloggers React To Amnesty Bill Defeat
- Thinking Right » Blog Archive » Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead
- Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian Kill the Bill: Shamnesty showdown Update: Telephone system has shut down Update: Video of Kennedy’s “Gestapo” diatribe Update: Reid attacks talk radio Update: VICTORY! Roll added Update: Goat of the day–Sen. Sa
- Tel-Chai Nation
- Conservatives Under New Thinking » Here Sir, The People Got Their Mojo Back
- Life on the Road - A Trucking Blog » Blog Archive » Why The Immigration Bill Failed
- Blog @ MoreWhat.com » Blog Archive » Senator McCain’s Support of Amnesty
- June, 2007 Archive « Right Minded Online
- Time to break out the finest meats and cheeses for a celebration « Right Minded Online
- Michelle Malkin » Today was a good day for conservatism
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Mmmmmmm……Fruit salad with a side of grilled amnesty.
In the immortal words of Ted Nugent, “Kill it and Grill it!”
No Offensive Everyone, but I am still pretty pissed.
I urge you all to remember how your senators handled themselves through this process and stick it to them continually up to and through the next election cycle if they were for this abortion of a bill.
AND, perhaps enough noise will get some enforcement, so keep up the pressure, we really haven’t won anything yet.
A BIG BEAR HUG TO MM
Thanks for helpiing save us.
AS Churchhill said
Never have so many……….
Well you know the rest.
Break out the Bubbly!!! To Michelle and everyone a Heartfelt Thank You for all you’re hard work and keeping me sane during this Gigantic ClusterF__k.
Comment from a Hill staffer on their web forum: ( expletives deleted for decorum’s sake )
“So now all the stupid f#@%s who called and wanted the bill to fail…but also wanted the borders secure and illegals deported….they don’t get s@#t now. Dumb f*#%s…you asked us to do this s@#t and then told us to vote against it. So what happens now? Not jack s@#t. Nothing changes and the situation…yet again…remains unsolved.”
Here’s a hint – enforce the laws already passed and maybe even send up a bill that deals with securing the borders only – AMNESTY is what we don’t want. Leave that out of any discussion.
Uh-huh. Shamnesty was supposed to be dead a week ago, yet Congress still brought it back.
Time for the stake, the axe and the fire. Just to be sure.
Any idea what Byrd is talking about…besides being OLD???
I’ll see you at the Bill signing Mr. President!
Let’s see if they take the initiative to close the border and do enforcement first so we can have a workable solution in 2010….
200,000 school buses sit idle in school district lots around America during summer vacation. Each one carries 60 passengers. Now that we have achieved victory, we could have all 12 million out of the country by July 4th. Now that would be an Independence Day to celebrate!
Fingers … numb
Ears …. still ringing (is that a busy signal?)
Eyes … can’t focus
FAX machine … on life support
Whats that? 46 to 53? Which way?
We won?!!
Must
….have
………tequila
M I S S I O N……A C C O M P L I S H E D
Thank you Michelle for the great work. Sorry El Presidente Bush. Looks like some major house cleaning is needed in ‘08.
My two Senators in Tennessee,(and our possible PresidentFDT!) got the message.
I told you guys Michelle is ROYALTY! We did it folks! I think Jeff Sessions deserves a Medal of Freedom, along with Demint and Cornyn. That thread over at Ace of Spades “Cool facts about Jeff Sessions” is hilarious!
Did you know Jeff Sessions can drink Kennedy under the table, he wrote “Sweet Home Alabama” while glaring at Neil Young that a southern man don’t need him around anyhow. He also turned polar bears white with fear! Haha.
Michelle:
America was the real winner today, but you deserve great thanks from all of us for your tireless efforts on behalf of immigration enforcement for many years, leading up to today’s vote.
Meanwhile, the border is still leaking and we need to find some leadership somewhere willing to enforce the laws and fix the border first, and not obsess over legalizing immigration criminals.
The fight aint over, but we won an important victory today by PREVENTING AN UNMITIGATED DISASTER FROM HAPPENING>
Wes s. Dont forget the Silver Bullet’s.
Anyone got a wooden stake? I think it’s time we start the brick sending campaign to the House and Senate. That is how they should proceed now that this horrible bill is killed (hopefully for good).
I hope this is the last time this sorry piece of legislation gets considered. I wonder how many of the senators actually “read” the bill. It’s common practice that most of our “dear” legislators don’t even read the bills they’re considering. I didn’t elect my representatives to do that. If any of us did that at work we’d be fired.
Let’s deport the invaders and enforce the damn borders. We really do owe it to our children. Not the anchor babies.
thank GOD! All those emails and calls were not in vain. Sometimes the correct result does happen. Thanks Michelle, and all your blogger co-patriots, for making sure this bill went just where it needed to….on the trash heap!
Ummm, do you have to be illiterate to be a Hill staffer? Or does it just help your application get through? Best and brightest my fanny! (see staffer, you can make a point without even using implied vulgarities.)
And to that long list of people to thank, I’ll add you, Michelle, and put your name on the top. No one shone a light on Shamnesty and the shenanigans of its perpetrators better than you.
Goose bumps. Still holding breath. Have sent so many e-mails and dialed so many calls I’m getting carpal in both hands. Proud of the fact that with MM’s hard work and guidance we knew where to make the most noise. Can’t wait for Geraldo’s tears tonight on Fox. Big congrats to everyone!
Fantastic job, Michelle – you kept us “in-the-know” and made it easy for us to get in touch with the right people.
Several people have said it – we’re still not out of this. The pressure needs to stay on our Senators to make sure that this doesn’t come back, YET AGAIN, to haunt the American people.
Someone hand Reid a hat so he can start eating.
Oooh that smell
can’t ya smell that smell
oooh that smell
the smell of death surrounds you
Shamnesty is DEAD!
I’m from NH, and I won’t forget how Gregg voted.
I cannot believe that Senators are now saying illegal immigration cannot be dealt with now until after the 2008 elections, in other words, 2009. Give me a freakin’ break. Why can they not go back to work, use committees, listen to the people and redo this hideous bill and come back with a good bill? Why do we have to wait 2 more years before anything gets done to stop illegal immigration? What about our borders? Does this mean they won’t fix them either for two years? This is insanity. If this is such an important issue and as critical as these Senators who wanted this bill said, why ignore it for 2 years?
So off they go in a snit to sulk and once again do nothing. And they wonder why Congress is held in such low esteem.
Wat do we do with this momentum? Let it die until the next amnesty attempt?
It is Bush’s job to enforce the law now and he and his minions have made it clear they will not do it. Our options at this point are:
1. Congressional investigation. This will not happen because Dems run the place and Republicans will not investigate their own party.
2. Impeachment. This is unlikely and present movements in this area are not for the right reasons. Our president is a traitor- to his base and to the country for continuing to allow this mess to happen.
Where’s the fence?
As I have said before. It is not good enough to merely defeat the liberal’s plans . Conservatives must now turn around and push hard to do it right. We need bills presented that fix security problems first. Republicans should now take the lead in proposing immigration reform the right way–in steps–steps that make sense.
If they boldly go forward they will win back control of congress in 2008. If they whine and make excuses then they won’t just loose like in 2006, they will have a revolt on there hands during the primaries.
And thank you very much Michelle. You have done an outstanding job in keeping us informed and motivated. I made more calls and sent more emails than I have ever done in the past. It shows that the people can make a difference.
Michelle, thank you very much for staying focused on this important issue. We own
a big thank you to senator Sessions for an outstanding job.
I am pissed at two senators in particular and they will continue to hear from me on their yes votes: senator Snowe from Maine and senator Gregg from NH. Snowe is a democrat in republican clothes, but Greqq really puzzles me on this issue. Unfortunately, he seems to be moving toward the Lott mold.
Standing ovation is in order for the lady of the house: Michelle Malkin. She has been fighting this nightmare for years. Check out her book, Invasion.
Thanks Ms. M. A lot.
katieanne, you heard the wondrously frantic words of the ever-sedate Lindsey Grahamnesty: THIS WAS THE BEST BILL WE COULD POSSIBLY — POSSIBLY GET WITH THIS CONGRESS AND THIS PRESIDENT !!!!!!
Yep, born in the dark dank mud of ignorance, nurtured in the fetid swamp of lawlessness, presented like a pile of steaming stinking manure to a Senate that couldnt even read what they were voting on… but THIS abomination was the best we could get, said Goober, under this President.
So I guess that means when the new Republican Prez takes office in Jan 2009, the Dems will know a piece of excrement like this gets an AUTOMATIC VETO and they dont even bother trying to sneak it by us all.
I am ECSTATIC. And thank you Michelle for ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK!!
Sweet Home Alabama
where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
no shamnesty for me and you!
Both of my senators here in Tennessee did the right thing. I am pretty sure they like their job. They are quite aware that when all the other states were installing democrats last fall, Tennessee told Harold Ford Jr. to take a powder. I love Tennessee and I love America. It’s good folks like you guys here and sites like MichelleMalkin.com that made this victory possible.
Email I sent Senator Sessions after the VICTORY in Congress:
Thank God for you Senator Sessions.
I feel strange saying that for the last week I’ve been attacking Senators with emails with not so complimentary words. Even getting angrier when I hear some idiots in the Senate blame talk radio or to hear Bush and others call us bigots. I bet you now the Congress will try to kill free speech with trying to enact the “Fairness Doctrine”.
Thomas Jefferson gave a quote about the fact that every once in awhile the people need a revolution. I believe we are near that point or perhaps even past it. But perhaps the failure of this Shamnesty bill will defer such action.
Perhaps your courage is that very courages act that stilted the need of the people to follow Jefferson’s advice a clean out our Congress with another revolution.
We still need to clean out Congress, but you still have my support. Although I am a lifelong Republican and an attorney, I have developed great disdain for the Republican Party. Unless the Republican Party is cleaned up, then many of us Americans and long-term Republicans will have to look elsewhere and/or form a new party that TRULY represents us for today’s Congress and in the last Congress it has not and does not. I hope the Republicans have learned a lesson from the last election.
Thank you for your stalwart courage.
NOW see that the fence is built. A fence for the complete border. See that our current law is inforced which sadly won’t take place until we get rid of Bush, a man I voted for twice with some regret in hindsight. Yet Kerry & Gore really would have been far worse, but at least with them you knew who the “enemy” was.
President Bush is an excellant “facilitator” in bringing people together for now both the Left and Right “hate” him!
I will be working with as many people as I can to get rid of people like Senator Lindsey Grahamn from S.C., Senator Bill Nelson in Florida, and Senator Mel Martinez in Florida as well when they come up for re-election.
DO NOT FORGOT THE TRAITORS WHO RESURRECTED THIS PIECE OF CRAP BILL when election time comes!!! There is still a price to pay for that!
Thanks to all who made calls and emails, etc.
Brownback changed from yea to nay during the vote. It is not uncommon to say such changes are a clerical error or some other misunderstanding, and not a “flip-flop.”
Let’s bring on a “Border Security Stage #2 Bill: Fund the Fence, issue Tamper-proof Green-Card, and biometric ID’s for immigrants (not for all citizens, as decided State by State).” Bill.
Next, let’s bring on a separate “Fix the enforcement againt illegal hiring practices” Bill.
Let’s get those passed and in place, then we can talk about a limited-leniency-partial-amnesty-for-otherwise-legal-hard-workers-willing-to-stand-in-line-once-we’re-sure-illegal-immigration-has-dramatically-dried-up Bill.
Thank you, Michelle! Yeoman’s work, and you stepped up proudly! I can’t wait to see your next debate with Geraldo on this issue. Tonight, maybe?
This is the most preposterous use of the Senate in my short time here on Earth. All of this time was wasted, while a committee could have formed to figure out the needs and alternatives, and given the American People the best solutions.
This war is not over. This is just one of many battles. We will have to continue to fight agaist those who would hire illegals. We have to continue to fight for enforcement. We must begin to fight against identity theft by illegals and businesses. And, we must improve our system so that those who follow the rules get timely and fair decisions.
I breath a sigh of relief, but we must steady our defenses for the next attack.
I have already emailed my Senator, the painfully ignorant Barbara Boxer, to voice my disgust with her “Yay” vote.
She’s been flippin and floppin all over this legislation. But I can’t say I’m surprised at her performance. This isn’t the first time she’s displayed a willful ignorance of our history.
We need another re-post of Bush’s “I’ll see you at the bill signing.”
Brace for the fairness doctrine fight.
Good-Bye “former” Senator Lindsey Graham-nesty. Oh, and Senator McCain, kiss your dreams of being President of the USA. I believe they will have an opening for President of Mexico in about five years or so if you are so inclined to run. Sorry, but I love to see egg on these arrogant guy’s faces.
WE THE PEOPLE!!!!! This is what it is all about!!!
Thanks Michelle for all the work you did to make this happen!
We still have work to do. Let’s thank those like Jim DeMint and remember those like Lott and Graham.
I sent if AFTER I corrected the spelling errors! LOL
God Bless America!!!
Here comes Maha Rushie with the Senate floor soundbites. His take should be interesting:)
Great.
Now, can we just get the Executive Branch to uphold the current laws on the books?
Thank you Michelle and all…
Thanks to Michelle and the Crew at HotAir (who seem to be having server issues or too much traffic). You guys kept people informed of what was going on, and kept numbers and names front and center.
The bill is dead for now, but it could be back, and we now have to work to demand enforcement first, enforcement only at this point, and then start working towards voting out the clowns who tried to pass this bill and working to keep a constant rotation of good conservatives waiting in the wings, ready to run, in order to keep sitting representatives and senators from getting too comfortable and corrupt, which has clearly happened.
Now we need to push for them to build the fence since the money has been set aside to do so. We need to turn up the heat on these do-nothing bureaucrats.
Victory!! Michelle’s army is unstoppable!
But the fight is not over. Now lets see if we can Secure the Border First. Build the Fence. Its pretty pathetic that we have to hound them to enforce the laws we already have.
We are the people.
The People Have Spoken.
Remember who voted for this. Contact your Senators and tell them you plan on voting them out for committing treason against the United States of America.
Rush says “How about a Fairness Doctrine on the Senate floor for crying out loud!!”
I concur, damn 10min. vs. hour, nobody even had the amendments till 3pm yesterday! 373 pages for one stinking amendment. What a disaster. MousyMan Reid makes the Leadership of Bill Frist look fantastic by comparison.
Does anyone know where I can get a “Yay-Nay” roll like the one M.M. posted above (at 11:57am) that is “time stamped” with an aggregate count so I can tell who withheld their vote until the count became obvious? I’d like to know the sequence (to identify WHEN mine voted). It would to know not only who are the traitors, but the cowards.
It’s not over yet, ya’ll. I guarantee that this will be brought up again after the 2008 Presidential elections. As to wether or not the bill is any good will depend on who’s running things and who’s in the Oval Office.
For now…good work!
POWER TO THE PEOPLE! There’s a new
sheriffmedia in town! Now to get busy making sure some bogus Republicans don’t get reelected.That’s why we need to elect a president that will veto this type of legislation.
Rush again:
“We did the job Lindsey Grahamnesty wouldn’t do. You and me, we did it.”
Yes my fiends, we did the job American Senators wouldn’t do themselves. Turns out Americans will do what’s needed if Washington would just hear it.
The President, the Senate and the House should all realize that they always did work for us.
Any personal agendas they might have are things they’ve done on our time.
I’m hoping that our electives see that Americans asserting themselves into the political process has nothing to do with hate and everything to do with representative government, it’s overdue.
Now it’s time to move ahead with will and determination to bring back the rule of law and to do away with the perversion of our legal system and our Constitution.
Thank God, it gives me renewed faith in our Democratic system.
There is nothing racist about wanting to protect your borders and uphold your laws and I for one intend to ignore this kind of meaningless attack in the future.
Thank you Michelle Malkin – - such a brave young woman for in this day of politically correct speech, what you are doing is pure courage. You are truly an inspiration.
Anyone know how Gregg – NH voted this time?
Gregg-NH voted yay, with MiniMouse Reid.
Senate switchboard apparently still down. Keep getting busy circuit message. Need to call and make them enforce the laws currently on the books.
Will Reid and Kennedy FINALLY move on to other issues–oh wait–their credibility has been shot to hell for a long time now.
Teddy Lott is hereby notified that his part in this will never be forgotten by us
proud Mississippians.
And speaking of Teddy.
He has murdered more people with one car than I with my 12 pistols, rifles, and shotguns.
Michelle,
While this is a nice victory, you know it will be somewhat hollow unless Allah gets his iPhone.
If you thought Harry Reid was a shrill sourpuss just wait. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Founding father Franklin’s wisdom comes to mind; it remains a republic, if we can keep it.
Thank you, Michelle, and all here, for your stallworth efforts.
Here’s the text of my faxes to the DC Amnesty bums:
“Abra Kadabra, suddenly 12 million criminals are legal citizens!”
—David Copperfield?
No, Senator (filled in their name)!
S. 1639 This immigration bill is a pathetic piece of legislation that slaps every individual in the face that followed the rules, stood in line and that patiently and LEGALLY went about becoming a contributing United States Citizen.
Fairness? You’re attempt to lower the bar makes this nation poorer, less secure and a giant welfare black hole.
Please bury this garbage RE: S 1639 because it sure does stink!
Has Reid burned all his political capital yet? /hopefully
VICTORY! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The thought of this bill passing had me so stressed out and worried.
Thank you, Michelle, for doing all you’ve done to keep this issue in the focus of the American People. Thank you for linking action sites, etc. Thanks for fighting the good fight!
I am truly proud of my fellow Americans today. We busted our butts and we accomplished something important for our country. We saved our country for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren, etc. I know this issue isn’t as dead as the bill is, but we have a start. We also have people’s attention.
I can only hope that Americans will continue to remain involved in their government. That is one of the biggest accomplishments of this entire debacle.
Big sigh of relief.
On June 28th, 2007 at 12:29 pm, amchristian said:
VICTORY!
I can only hope that Americans will continue to remain involved in their government. That is one of the biggest accomplishments of this entire debacle.
“Posterity — you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” —John Quincy Adams
Michelle …. Thank you for your incisive reporting and for giving us a place to help ourselves keep well-informed about this immigration bill EVERY STEP of the way.
Thanks, Michelle, for tirelessly and at great cost, beating the drum and getting conservatives united against this sham. They may try to get the Fairness Doctrine in full swing now, but I’d confident that this voice that roared will make sure that is defeated too.
Michelle, Voinovich was the last NO I think. Also late NO voters were: Inhof, Warner, McConnell, Brownback, Collins, Brown, Thune, and Coleman. I was trying to write them down as they voted
Kennedy talking about a “minority in the Senate” blocking progress.
What part of 53 out of 100 does he consider a ‘minority’?
Voinovich is so stupid he didn’t realize he flipped.
Okay, folks. We’ve beaten off the assault. We’re still holding the hill. Harry Reid’s stumbling away with a 7.62 round in his butt. Ted Kennedy is laying in a shell-hole panting and belching. Specter is looking around wondering what happened. Mitch McConnell snuck quietly out of his bunker and put his stripes back on.
The problem of course is that while something very bad has been stopped, we still haven’t fixed anything.
A few gems from the Sessions thread at Ace of Spades HQ:
That’s good stuff. I just love that guy!
He’s been great on Homeland Security and the War on Terror, now he’s the hero of the Battle against Shamnesty.
Now that we can make this into a movie, let’s start casting calls using characters from “Kill Bill”. I’ll start with the obvious:
Michelle – Beatrix “Black Mamba” Kiddo
President Bush – Bill the Snake Charmer
Ted Kennedy – Pai Mei
Harry Reid – Budd the Sidewinder
What a great job by Michelle … Senators Sessions and DeMint were outstanding – thank heaven truth and common sense have prevailed. I’ll never understand how Bush thought he could dump this on the taxpayers. Re Fairness Doctrine -some have said whoever brings it up is shooting their party in the foot and I agree.
ROFL! Those snippet made me laugh myself silly. Loved them. Thanks for posting them , they offered a great way to let go of all the stress I’d been holding throughout this process.
It’ll be nice to go after the Dims again.
I’ll only hold a grudge against the Pubs that made it a racial issue, or said I was too stupid to know what was in the bill – Bush, Graham, McCain, Chertoff, Chavez (total pack of a$$holes). They have my undying animosity.
Time to donate to my Senators who voted the right way. I know they had a lot of pressure from special interests, and may have lost contributions for voting the right way. We’ll have to try to make it up to them.
Yeah, I read those last night and was very entertained, although not all of them are exactly clean or even funny, so I thought I would edit a little:)
Glad you enjoyed that.
I think Senator Reid’s favorite rock band must have been The Who.
“Tommy can you hear me”?
I am FINALLY back online! gee, guess Michelle didn’t like me today!
I am now watching those that mourn.
A Sad Day…..for those up for re-election! HAHA~!
This whole debacle has been brought to you by employers who would bring back slavery if they could find a way to do it, and by the legislators they
bribedsupported.Maybe it’s time to organize a nonprofit lobby of citizens who pay dues to make our voices heard at least as well as employers. AARP did it, why can’t we?
Time to get serious about those employers too. If they can’t afford to hire citizens, they don’t need to be in business at all.
I’m thrilled, thrilled to see that the grassroots “sleeping giant” woke up with this Bill. Who knew he/she was in cyberspace!!!!