Big tip of the hat to Michelle Malkin for following all of this as it happens so I don't have to. However, I'll highlight the important parts and you can go to her site for details if you haven't already. The past 3 days have been an incredible study in how we go about passing laws in our nation.
First of all, Harry "White Flag" Reid INSISTS that there will be a vote on cloture today, and we will get one. Cloture will be filed if there are 60 "yea" votes. However, only one of these amendments so far has received 60 or more votes either way...so I'm going to guess that there will be NO cloture filed today.
Harry Reid is pushing for cloture because the doesn't want to force the Senate to vote on various amendments, thereby showing the Democratic party's stance on the sub-issues surrounding this bill, for fear of backlash. He also doesn't want the GOP amendments to be heard.
Bryan Dorgan is against this bill, and believes that amnesty will hurt American workers. Good for him, I like a Democrat with sense and the ability to move outside of party lockstep. I don't know much else about him (other than the fact that he is from North Dakota), but I may donate to his re-election campaign if he continues to stand firm against this bill. His amendment to sunset the Temporary Worker program after 5 years passes.
Mitch McConnell is showing true leadership against Reid's demands for cloture.
Lindsey Graham, a buddy of John McCain and is also one of the major proponents of this bill, throws an incredibly childish tantrum last night, video courtesy of Hot Air.
President Bush, meanwhile, is rapidly losing conservatives over his insistence on this bill...Democrats may rejoice over this, but they should be warned that it's not a good thing for the liberal cause if conservatives abandon Bush because they're moving further towards the right.
Tom Coburn proposes an amendment, co-sponsored by Jim DeMint, to fully enforce all current immigration laws. Amendment fails 42-52. 7 Democrats vote for this amendment (good for them). However, 12 Republicans vote against it. That list includes Sam Brownback (there goes his already barely-existent chances at being in the White House) and John Warner (Virginia has had poor representation on this bill). I know Warner is fairly moderate, but come on! Get smart, John!
Reid states that if cloture vote fails now, he will push for it again at 5 pm. He has twice now referred to this as "the President's bill", as if that absolves him of any blame should this bill get pushed through. I usually don't curse on this blog, but Harry Reid is an ass...there's no two ways about this.
Motion to file cloture made at 11:41 am...CLOTURE VOTE FAILS 33-63, the game is still on.
1:15 pm UPDATE
Second cloture vote fails 34-61, Reid's attempt to file a "motion to reconsider" and change the vote around smacks him right in the face.
More proposing of amendments, blabbering by the Dems about how we're breaking up families (why not reunite them back in their own country, and they can come over together...legally)...I really think that there will eventually be a filibuster on this...which will hopefully kill this worthless bill.
Allahpundit over at Hot Air suggests that Reid will not put this bill on the shelf now, even though he can't get cloture, because if this bill gets shelved, the fault lies squarely with the Democrats. If the Republicans are forced to filibuster, then it's more of a shared blame.
2:17 pm UPDATE
John Ensign: "The more you talk about this bill, the more you realize that when you fix one problem, there's another one..."
Reid is now pushing for a unanimous consent agreement, 3 GOP amendments and 3 Democratic amendments. More compromise, more shortfalls. While Jeff Sessions is speaking against the bill in general, Arlen "RINO" Specter continuously interrupts Sessions...and Reid is heard whispering in Specter's ear to get Sessions to stop talking and sign a unanimous consent agreement, Sessions refuses.
Jim Webb is now on the floor discussing his amendment to narrow down the number of illegals granted this amnesty based on their "roots in the country".
3:06 pm UPDATE
Reid announces that there won't be any unanimous consent (a big thank you to the senators who wouldn't sign a unanimous consent agreement). Reid blames the Republicans, states that Bush needs to get involved, again states that "this is the president's bill", and then announces "Let the record reflect that this bill isn't going anyplace and it's not our fault." I would also like for the record to reflect that Harry Reid is still a white flag-waving, pompous jerk.
A Washington Times article points out that Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and John Kyl are practically taking orders from Ted "Oops, I Forgot the Girl" Kennedy on some of these votes. Now you know why I'm so against McCain in the GOP primary.
Harry Reid makes one of his most outrageous statements yet: "This is the president's bill...I want to help the president. I think I've done everything I can. Asking for consent to vote on some amendments and call on some amendments to be set aside."
Yeah, Harry...sure, you really want to help the president, don't you? Can we impeach a Senate majority leader for being a spineless, sniveling, conniving little P.O.S.?
Now Reid is stating that debate will only continue until 4:15 pm, and is pretty much cherry-picking which amendments will be brought up before then.
4:04 pm UPDATE
Nothing much going on at the moment except more banter and debate. However, it should be pointed out that the GOP base is mad as hell at some of it's leaders, and for good reason. Trent Lott supports this piece of junk legislation and has been telling anti-legislation Republicans that he won't tolerate a filibuster, and apparently has castigated GOP senators who've switched votes.
In response to all of this, Lott said: "We're going to do this damned thing, and if we don't, I think we should dissolve the Congress and just go home..."
See a few responses to Lott's comments from some Republican/conservative voters here.
6:26 pm UPDATE
Well, apparently, not much has happened in the past few hours. The floor has been fairly quiet, with the exception of Ted Kennedy letting loose more lies from the corpulent hollows of his never-shut mouth. Kennedy states that "America wants this" bill to be passed. Right, that's why only 26% of Americans support it...sure, Ted, whatever you say.
Reid is going to send some more amendments to the desk. He states "no tricks," I say "at least, not this time."
Unless something major happens...I'll refer you to my source on today's action, Michelle Malkin.
More to come...
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