House guts border fence
Update 10:58pm Eastern: Yeah, I’m watching C-SPAN. The motion to concur in the House amendments to HR2764, the omnibus spending bill, just passed…76-17, with 1 present. More here.
Update 10:20pm Eastern. Sen. Jim DeMint is on the Senate floor right now blasting the omnibus bill for gutting the fence, removing the ban on sanctuary cities, and funding illegal alien lawyers. Hear, hear.
Update 1:20pm Eastern. Omnibusting links the section of the bill containing the border-gutting.
Update 10:20am Eastern. The fence gets robbed, but the spending bill gives $10 million in “emergency” funding for attorneys of illegal immigrants?!!?!
***
Fence? What fence?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I’ve warned several times that the border fence expansion was gesture politics. (See here, here, here, and here.) We’ve watched Democrats and Republicans undermine the Secure Fence Act repeatedly since it was passed. Open-borders zealots joined with Big Business types to stall and protest construction. It ain’t a fence. It’s a FINO: Fence in Name Only. Here’s more confirmation of the fence farce via the Washington Times:
Congress last night passed a giant new spending bill that undermines current plans for a U.S.-Mexico border fence, allowing the Homeland Security Department to build a single-tier barrier rather than the two-tier version that has worked in California…The 2006 Secure Fence Act specifically called for “two layers of reinforced fencing” and listed five specific sections of border where it should be installed. The new spending bill removes the two-tier requirement and the list of locations.
House Democrats said they were just adopting the Senate version, which was backed by a bipartisan group of border-state senators and passed the Senate several times this year.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Texas Republican who has led the charge to change the 2006 law, said she wants to give Homeland Security more flexibility and wants local officials and landowners to be consulted.
“Senator Hutchison believes that Customs and Border Protection can better decide how to utilize limited resources to secure the border than a congressman from Maine,” said Matt Mackowiak, Mrs. Hutchison’s spokesman. He said double-tier fencing has worked in San Diego, but it might not be the right solution for the entire fence.
But Rep. Peter T. King, who sponsored the Secure Fence Act, said if the goal was to give DHS flexibility, the senators have failed.
“This is either a blatant oversight or a deliberate attempt to disregard the border security of our country,” the New York Republican said. “As it’s currently written, the omnibus language guts the Secure Fence Act almost entirely. Quite simply, it is unacceptable.”
How much of the fence has been built?
Just five miles of double-layer fencing.
Here’s what I wrote in September 2006 when the Secure Fence Act was passed:
Yes, I know. The House voted to approve a 700-mile fence at the southern border…
…But forgive me if I don’t break out the pom-poms over this. There’s no funding for the fence, which will take years to build if it ever does get funded. There are so many other immediate reforms that could have been adopted this year that would have strengthened immigration enforcement, closed deportation loopholes immediately, and provided true relief at the border. (And don’t even get me started on this administration’s renewed laxity at the front door, which has been thrown open to tens of thousands of new Saudi student visa holders while enforcement against millions of current visa overstayers remain virtually non-existent.)
The 700-mile fence vote is an election season gesture, and grass-roots conservatives who have watched the GOP squander away this issue for six years are not going to be appeased by mid-September 2006 gesture politics.
Meanwhile, the Border Patrol is under siege.
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- Riehl World View
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- Open Borders Travesty « Tai-Chi Policy
- House to Gut Border Fence : The American Pundit
- Outrage: Democrats gut Border fence; give millions to lawyers for illegal immigrants | Infidels Are Cool
- Bluey Blog | RobertBluey.com » The Great Omnibusting Experiment
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- Michelle Malkin » Victory: Democrats roll over on Iraq/Afghanistan war funding
- Diggers Realm
- Dinocrat » Blog Archive » How would a veto play?
- Michelle Malkin » The Incredible Disappearing Border Fence
- Newly approved border fence provisions are a joke « Seeing Red AZ
- Michelle Malkin » Rep. Blunt mischaracterized illegal immigration lawyer funding
- Least Surprising News Of The Day! » Freedom Folks
- Killing the Border Fence at The American Patriot
- Grizzly Groundswell » Killing the Border Fence
- Killing the Border Fence « Brian Bonner
- Michelle Malkin » We interrupt the campaign season for a border reality check
- Michelle Malkin » Twice-deported illegal alien criminal is Arizona serial rapist suspect
- Jules Crittenden » Immigration Advocates Attacked
- The ICE man cometh « Seeing Red AZ
- Trumping The Race Card: Is Barack Obama White Male Enough? « Pronk Palisades
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Categories: Southern Border
Little Miss Attila
» Okay, Ladies.
Riehl World View
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» Well, You Know: G.W. Bush Didn't Vet His VP, Either.Redstate
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» Boys Will Be Boys?
Boomer,
You are not alone.
Well said, well done.
As I warned some of these morons (in DC) during the attacks on Rush Limbaugh and all their crap about the fairness doctrine, that if they attack the 1st Amendment, WE will defend it…
…with the 2nd.
I’d like to see him as head of DHS. And Bolton for SECSTATE.
The surge is working.
Well I signed the petition.
Now what?
They just keep going back over the same issues over and over.
Will it ever end?
I think we need to start protesting in our communities and demand that our constitution be fully enforced with NO exceptions.
If that doesn’t work, then we will buy a one way boat pass to some other country.
Agreed.
I would rather stay and help fight for the country that so many others before us have preserved for us. Their courage did not fail and that is why we are still here.
I owe that much to my daughter and her future.
Apathy/Cynicism ‘08 wins in a landslide.
Abortion
Energy
Drugs
Gangs
Clean environment
Health care
Taxes
Minimum wage
National debt
Deficit
Bureaucracy
Social Security
Medicare
Tack on illegal immigration to the list of problems, government (all levels) refuses to solve. Oh they have addressed them but that is as far as they will go.
So we go through this routine every election listening to candidates spout off what they would do to solve the problems. And we vote accordingly. We desperately want to believe that our team will follow through and deliver. Do they?
Sure there have been some problems that are no longer present. Congress has solved them as far as we know.
Welfare reform 1996
Uh… drawing a blank here. It must have not been memorable. I can’t think of anything else in recent memory.
For government to solve anything would be to vote itself less power.
Now that is something to vote for. Tancredo stil has the clearest vision, but hoping Thonpson/Hunter will not undermine Tom, I can live with this patriotic combo.
Bush family has done untild harm to USA and it’s future. Americans elected this corrupt family Americans should impeach Bush imnmediately.
Amazing! We seem to be the only country in the world with a wide open border. If I feel sorry for anyone it’s the Border Patrol. What a useless job. Drugs, criminals, terrorists come on in!! What’s the point of having laws that everyone ignores? Hmm…sounds like the Constitution. Anyway, even here in Virginia, we have businesses forming a group to fight the checking of illegal aliens in the workforce. Again, amazing! Look, Congress, just pass a law making the border wide open and use the money on Border Patrol to get them healthcare, college and jobs. At least, be honest…wrong, but honest. I am so sick of the games played. When my wife and I go to the bank, she waits in the car, doors locked, because of the so-called “day laborers” standing around. And, what can she do to expediate her legal status? Fill out a form one month, pay money the next month, fill out another form the next month with the same info, pay the next month, ad naseum. It’s been over a year and more forms…just to stay legal here. Should have sent her to Tijuana and have her cross the border! I am really sick of this and would have loved to color this all with some nice swear words too, but I have too much respect for Michelle. Governments are formed to protect its citizens. What happened, U.S. Government????
Thompson/Mike Steele
On what legal grounds, troll?????
TO ALL MM READERS
Kay B wants to be gov of Tx so she pays her dues to the special interests and guts the fence. Unfortunately she did this too early. Unlike Bush and Perry who lied until elected she had to let the cat out before election. I for one will do all I can to prevent her sellout of our country. As an aside this is why I reject all but Fred,Tanc, and Hunter. They have not sold their country to the devil.
On December 18th, 2007 at 4:38 pm, islandman78 said:
Government still isn’t the solution; it’s stillthe problem.
Britan signed away their ability to inforce immigration to the E.U. The United States just allows the fence to not be built, and does not stop illegal immigration.
It is to gain cheap labor, and to destroy the American culture. It is the Tower of Babel of the New World Order.
It is an end run around what the voters want, and sets North America with Mexico and their poor to be an economic block. Cheap labor, cheap movement of goods, and destruction of national culture.
Isn’t that right Condi, Chertoff, and Bush?
Besides Miss Kay, who can we call to spread a little holiday cheer to the Republican traitors?
I think this is going to end very badly. We have the liberals spinning our capitulation to illegal immigrants as a humanitarian issue. We have the RINOs making it about cheap labor or the excuse du jour . We’ve seen things like this before in history.
Eventually, if the gov’t continues to thwart the will of the people and ignore our petitions for grievances, continues to refuse to enforce and protect our borders and therefore our sovereignty, and if the gov’t continues to allow a foreign people to invade this nation (them coming across our border illegally and often violently is pretty damn much the definition of “invasion”), the people will solve it themselves. Or, if not actually solve it, they will precipitate events that leave the gov’t with no choice but committed military action. If the gov’t doesn’t stop the flow, it is going to eventually be bloody and all those humanitarian minded liberals will have a lot of blood on their hands for not only allowing, but encouraging, the conditions that leave us no choice.
There are numerous ways such scenarios could play out. However, regardless of the specifics, whether a war of citizen soldiers/militias or professional military, our neighbors to the south cannot beat us by force. They can wound us on many levels, but they can not prevail. They are counting on the wussification of America, the Oprahzation, the Cruise-closetation of America men. They are counting on fighting the Dr. Phil 333rd thumb-sucking brigade or the Harry Reid 105th Kool-Aid drinking brigade. We export a media image of fantasy and liberalism. I think that a lot of the world doesn’t understand that they mostly see and hear the bleating sheep in our movies, on TV, in U.S. news and entertainment interviews. I think they would/will be surprised to find out how many millions and millions of well-armed sheep dogs live in this nation.
I hope that our own elected leaders figure that out before we have to prove it to anyone.
Is that all the liberals can say? Impeach Bush? Seems to be the only thing you can come up with, these days, for your own failures.
Send a rotten head of lettuce to your rep.
Then vote for Hunter, Fred or Tanc.
I’ve written Kay Bailey so many times about this very issue, I’m thinking she may have told her staff to ignore any/all correspondence and calls from me. I’ve done the same to Cornyn. Neither cares, nor gives a twit about the people that elected them. I suppose it didn’t help by re-registering as an independent as my protest against the Shamnesty Bill. I’ve notified each of them to never, ever, contact me for contributions because the wallet is closed. It has finally sunk in my thick head that our little piddly contributions are not what gets them elected/re-elected. It is the huge contributions by corporations, unions, and such. The only thing left I have to hold onto is the premise of one person, one vote. Unless I missed the memo, that still holds true. We can kick around all day the strategy of what conservatives need to do. Until we convince those of the liberal persuasion to join us we’ll only change seats in either branch of congress. Until the Dem voters realize they have as much or more to lose by supporting their candidates/party, nothing is going to change. Instead of sending links to stories such as this to only your Repub friends, try sending a few to liberals. Open borders is hurting all of us. It’s an equal opportunity offense against it’s people.
Texas has been sold out three times:
1. Perry who is owned by Mexico.
2. Bush wsho is owned by Mexico.
3. Last by out Senatgor Huthenson weho wants to be govenor without my vote ever.
The only cure against this invasion and the collaborators is to arm the citizenry and repel them.
Gandolphxx
I refuse to believe there is not a single politician with the desire to be governor in your state who would not support the border control issue if they believed the voters would support them in a run for office.
Peaceful organization statewide to change the agenda by using the net and newletters or email lists and public access radio / tv can do the deed.
Individuals screaming and ranting only gives ulcers.
Popular concepts can carry the day, you just have to be willing to do the sweat equity to get it done and let the person running for governor know that the same people who put him there can also do a recall if allowed or vote them out next time if they switch on you.
It can be done, I have seen it happen on a local level.
In other news the Republican amendment for funding the troops passed to fund the troops in Iraq and all the various Dem amendments were defeated by large margins.
It now goes back to the House for approval.
Next up tonight is Senate consideration of the AMT relief bill.
Awwww, fences are sooo expensive. I would rather signs that say, ¡Advertencia! minas de la tierra.
jus sayin
Do you really, really think that our Bush the betrayor action figure Pres. was going to have this bill delivered to his desk any other way?
Mot to mention a 1340 page bill that only has these very egregious wrongs in it?
Yeeah, thats likely.
Mot=Not
I see from this thread that most of you, like Michelle, were not surprised at the outcome of this vote.
Recall our Homeland Security clown Chertoff saying that he would do exactly as he wished with the fence regardless of what the law said, that he may only build 50 miles of the double fence making the rest into a “virtual” fence - as in “virtually useless.”
All we can do is keep fighting, I guess. But it sure gets damn tiring trying to hold these politicians feet to the fire and get them to do what’s right.
well, half my post didn’t show up.
Kinky Friedman ran for governer in the last election, fierce defender of border control. But couldn’t defeat the Perry money machine and panderers of the TTC crowd.
And Senators Hutchison and Cornyn are no friends of Texans on the border issue.
Americans must band together and BOYCOTT paying taxes…Do what the illegals do and write down 20 dependants and refuse to file en masse…It is time for ACTION!!!
Maisy #130, I agree. Representation without taxation is what these illegals are getting. It’s time to go back to Taxation without Representation will not work. The Amercan Serfs will speak.
maisy and John Ansell
Glad to see we are all getting the same idea. If we do it en mass as you said, then we can shut them down. Remind those arrogant punks who runs this country.
I have argued for this a long time, but we need numbers to make it work.
Yeah Jiobaobubai, but they will still spend what they don’t have, so we’ll have to do it responsibly. Incumbents need not apply. (Demint seems safe so he’s welcome) Buh Bye Trent Not-A-Lott. Your support for the illegals earns the first boot. NEXT!!! Come here McCant, your boots ready. Julie Annie, you stand in line next. Your Boot is ready. Smell Martinez, you know the drill. Gramnesty, you go on and kick yourself with our boot. you are not worth us lifting a leg.
I am thinking a short term “tax action” so enough so they can see the revenue stream drop off and realize they work for us.
I am not opposed to the concept of taxes, we do need to pay for things, but the rates and their actions which are nearly all AGAINST the interests of this country and THEIR obligations under the Constitution have given us now choice.
Time for another tea party!!
Okay - Apparently my typing in that last post needs improvement - time for some Scotch!
One of many errors should have been “…have given us no choice.”
Agreed. I’m tipping a budlight in your honor.
Why a border fence would inhibit the wholesale effort to turn Mexico, the United States and Canada into a third world playground for the globalist swine. Why is everyone surprised?
Let’s not just post about taxes, let’s take action NOW before it’s too late.
Who is game?
I am.
I have seen the term “virtual fence” used in this thread. I think we all know that “virtual fence” is code for leaving the border open. Our leaders represent those who have deep pockets and the rest of us are getting screwed.
NumbersUSA has a fax to send this morning…Let’s get on it. THANKS Michelle…..
Senator DeMint (R) SC is our freshman senator. He is an example of an honest, truthful man. We need more like him.
The gave up on the Amnesty Bill, and as many predicted (including Michelle), and now they’re going to chip away at it until they get what they want. They don’t give a damn what “we the people” want.
This is the result of Liberals and RINOs in Congress. Even Kay Bailey Hutchinson waffled on the fence selling out her own state.
At least the good people of South Dakota had enough sense to throw out Tom Dashle when he was the majority leader in the Senate. Now those folks know how to throw out their garbage.
Sounds like you’re a fellow SC citizen. I’m hoping somebody will mount a strong challenge to Graham in the primary so we can make DeMint our senior senator.
Deepdiver #116 - just about sums it all up.
I agree that the invaders of this country along with Hezbollah in Venezuela (waiting for the call), and the sleeper cells here in the US honestly believe that the time is now - That the US is ripe for the picking.
They’ll be surprised albeit unpleasantly, to know that we are ready, willing and able to take the fight to them. President Bush said it best:
I miss that President…
I am changing my W4 this week and will be working on a Web site over the Christmas week to promote the idea. Once I have it running, I shall ask Michelle if I can promote it here. I will not do so without her permission.
Let’s do this!!
Bush lied, plain and simple.