I was reviewing the most recent debate last night, and Tom Tancredo made this statement.
"But let's be serious about this, you guys. We can talk about all the immigration reform we want and what it's got to get down to is this: Are we ready for a time-out? Are we actually ready to say, enough is enough, we have to stop all legal immigration except for people coming into this country as family members, immediate family members, and/or refugees."
Excuse me, Tom? I was a big fan of yours when you were talking about providing amnesty and/or pardoning Duane "Dog" Chapman. I applauded your stance on stopping illegal immigration. Now you want to slow the amount of legal immigration to a slight trickle, where those who are simply looking to take the right path for a better life in America are turned away at the door?
Sorry Tom, but I can't back you on that one. If your stance had been enacted into law prior to 1971, my mother and my grandparents would not have been able to come to this country, and I would not be alive today.
Legal immigration is a great thing, and we need to find ways to make it more streamlined and efficient, as well as cost-effective. I would think that updating and re-working the current methods of legal immigration is the goal that our politicians should be trying to obtain...instead of radical ideas from either side, whether it be amnesty or this proposal from Tancredo.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Arin Sime at Republitarian
The Podium-endorsed candidate for the 24th State Senate district, Arin Sime (L-Crozet), was the subject of a Q and A session at Republitarian last night. Sime gave direct, thoughtful, and solid answers.
In fact, if you have any questions for Arin Sime, head over to Republitarian and ask them, as I believe the forum is still open for more questions. I have a couple I would like to ask, but I am saving them for the live blogging session we're doing with Sime over at Daily Whackjob.
In fact, if you have any questions for Arin Sime, head over to Republitarian and ask them, as I believe the forum is still open for more questions. I have a couple I would like to ask, but I am saving them for the live blogging session we're doing with Sime over at Daily Whackjob.
Cloture Vote Fails 45-50, 12 Dems Stand Up For What's Right
Well, 11 Dems and Bernie Sanders (who might as well be a Democrat) stood up to Harry Reid and said "we will not support this".
I consider this to be a bipartisan vote, with all things considered. 38 Republicans, 11 Democrats, and 1 Democrat-caucusing Independent all voting against cloture. This wasn't a Republican-only vote, even though Republicans did make up the majority of those against cloture and against the bill in general.
Non-GOPers voting against cloture: Max Baucus, Jeff Bingaman, Barbara Boxer, Robert C. Byrd, Byron Dorgan, Mary Landrieu, Claire McCaskill, Mark Pryor, Jay Rockefeller, Bernie Sanders, Jon Tester, and Jim Webb.
Republicans voting against cloture: Lamar Alexander, Wayne Allard, Bob Bennett, Kit Bond, Jim Bunning, Richard Burr, Saxby Chambliss, Thad Cochran, Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, John Cornyn, Larry Craig, Mike Crapo, Jim DeMint, Elizabeth Dole, Pete Domenici, John Ensign, Chuck Grassley, Judd Gregg, Orrin Hatch, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Jim Inhofe, Johnny Iaskson, John Kyl, Trent Lott, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Ted Roberts, Jeff Sessions, Richard Shelby, Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe, Ted Stevens, John Sununu, John Thune, David Vitter, John Warner.
Thank these people for doing the right thing in the end, even though a few of them were pushing this bill (Chambliss, Kyl, Lott), but they did the right thing in the end by voting against cloture and putting this bill on the shelf.
Pro-immigration activists and Harry Reid are continuously blaming the right. Harry Reid, looking humbled and beaten after the cloture vote failed, pulled the bill from the floor and praised the "7 courageous Republicans" who voted with him, and admonished the rest of the Republicans who didn't vote for cloture.
There wasn't any admonishing of the 12 guys on Reid's side of the aisle that voted against cloture, but I'm sure that will take place behind closed doors.
However, for now, America is safe from this amnesty bill. Pour a glass of champagne, pop a cold one, or tip back a shot...and let's take a moment to celebrate.
I consider this to be a bipartisan vote, with all things considered. 38 Republicans, 11 Democrats, and 1 Democrat-caucusing Independent all voting against cloture. This wasn't a Republican-only vote, even though Republicans did make up the majority of those against cloture and against the bill in general.
Non-GOPers voting against cloture: Max Baucus, Jeff Bingaman, Barbara Boxer, Robert C. Byrd, Byron Dorgan, Mary Landrieu, Claire McCaskill, Mark Pryor, Jay Rockefeller, Bernie Sanders, Jon Tester, and Jim Webb.
Republicans voting against cloture: Lamar Alexander, Wayne Allard, Bob Bennett, Kit Bond, Jim Bunning, Richard Burr, Saxby Chambliss, Thad Cochran, Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, John Cornyn, Larry Craig, Mike Crapo, Jim DeMint, Elizabeth Dole, Pete Domenici, John Ensign, Chuck Grassley, Judd Gregg, Orrin Hatch, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Jim Inhofe, Johnny Iaskson, John Kyl, Trent Lott, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Ted Roberts, Jeff Sessions, Richard Shelby, Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe, Ted Stevens, John Sununu, John Thune, David Vitter, John Warner.
Thank these people for doing the right thing in the end, even though a few of them were pushing this bill (Chambliss, Kyl, Lott), but they did the right thing in the end by voting against cloture and putting this bill on the shelf.
Pro-immigration activists and Harry Reid are continuously blaming the right. Harry Reid, looking humbled and beaten after the cloture vote failed, pulled the bill from the floor and praised the "7 courageous Republicans" who voted with him, and admonished the rest of the Republicans who didn't vote for cloture.
There wasn't any admonishing of the 12 guys on Reid's side of the aisle that voted against cloture, but I'm sure that will take place behind closed doors.
However, for now, America is safe from this amnesty bill. Pour a glass of champagne, pop a cold one, or tip back a shot...and let's take a moment to celebrate.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
If You Ever Doubted Iran's Intentions...
...you should probably silence those doubts now.
Iran was caught shipping arms to the Taliban. Not just guns, either. We're talking heavy arms, more than 1,650 pounds of C4, advanced roadside bombs. Also seized were RPG rockets and mortar rounds. Kudos to NATO for catching this.
What's surprising is that Iran and the Taliban have never gotten along, especially since Iranian muslims are generally Shi'a, while the Taliban are Sunni muslims. However, given that Iran and the Taliban have a much bigger common cause (destroying America and the rest of western civilization)...I guess they've put their differences aside for the time being.
Iran was caught shipping arms to the Taliban. Not just guns, either. We're talking heavy arms, more than 1,650 pounds of C4, advanced roadside bombs. Also seized were RPG rockets and mortar rounds. Kudos to NATO for catching this.
What's surprising is that Iran and the Taliban have never gotten along, especially since Iranian muslims are generally Shi'a, while the Taliban are Sunni muslims. However, given that Iran and the Taliban have a much bigger common cause (destroying America and the rest of western civilization)...I guess they've put their differences aside for the time being.
Rudy Guiliani's Health Care Plan
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, the outline and objective of GOP presidential candidate and former NYC mayor Rudy Guiliani's health care plan for America. While Rudy's plan will not be formally introduced in detail until this summer, Rudy has some interesting plans.
- Moving individuals from employer-based coverage to direct-purchase coverage to give Americans more options in choosing their personal health care plans.
- Make health insurance more like car and homeowner's insurance. Even though routine check-ups would be paid out-of-pocket by the individual, Guiliani's plan is apparently including tax breaks for anybody who purchases coverage on the open market, since employer-based coverage is already provided tax-free to employees. Also, you have different plans at different costs, and if someone doesn't need certain types of coverage, they don't have to have it and they won't have to pay for it.
- This relieves some of the cost burdens of employers to cover their employees, as Guiliani believes that this plan would encourage, but not force, individuals to switch to direct-purchase plans.
- Guiliani would eliminate a lot of the state and federal mandates for minimum coverage, as some people may not want as much coverage as some states require insurance companies to provide.
I would like to see some of the details of this plan, but on the surface, it is a very interesting and appealing plan.
- Moving individuals from employer-based coverage to direct-purchase coverage to give Americans more options in choosing their personal health care plans.
- Make health insurance more like car and homeowner's insurance. Even though routine check-ups would be paid out-of-pocket by the individual, Guiliani's plan is apparently including tax breaks for anybody who purchases coverage on the open market, since employer-based coverage is already provided tax-free to employees. Also, you have different plans at different costs, and if someone doesn't need certain types of coverage, they don't have to have it and they won't have to pay for it.
- This relieves some of the cost burdens of employers to cover their employees, as Guiliani believes that this plan would encourage, but not force, individuals to switch to direct-purchase plans.
- Guiliani would eliminate a lot of the state and federal mandates for minimum coverage, as some people may not want as much coverage as some states require insurance companies to provide.
I would like to see some of the details of this plan, but on the surface, it is a very interesting and appealing plan.
Immigration Bill is the Topic of the Day (Updates as the day goes on)
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...
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...
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
What if D-Day had Occurred Today?
Very poignant and true of how our media reacts to these types of incidents.
Remember those who fought and died to keep the world safe from tyranny on June 6, 1944
Harry Reid = Moron Squared, and Immigration Bill Update
Yesterday, Sen. Harry "White Flag" Reid referred to illegal immigrants as "12 million undocumented Americans."
WHAT??? Come again? These people, who have no legal status in this country and shouldn't even be here, are to be considered Americans??? You've GOT to be kidding me.
As for yesterday's and today's floor debates and votes on the Immigration Bill...(both courtesy of Michelle Malkin)
Important Notes From Yesterday...
- Wayne Allard's amendment to ensure illegals don't get green-card preference over those who have been patiently waiting without illegally entering the country was voted down.
- "Dirty" Dick Durbin's amendment to eliminate Dept. of Labor provisions to waive requirements that employers in "labor shortage areas" offer jobs to U.S. workers before foreign workers passes.
- Harry "White Flag" Reid keeps pushing for cloture...Mitch McConnell and the GOP is NOT having this. McConnell states that Reid is avoiding having Dems vote on germane amendments, Reid insists "we're going to file cloture on this bill today." Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn both call out the Dems for stalling and attempting to squeeze out their proposed amendments via cloture.
- Ted Kennedy proclaims he is "ready to go." John Thune wants his amendment scheduled as "pending", Kennedy objects. As Malkin puts it..."So much for being ready to go."
Important Notes from Today...
- Kennedy and Cornyn both have proposed amendments about banning criminals from obtaining Z visas. Cornyn states that if we don't adopt his amendment, which bans all felons from obtaining Z visas, we should entitle this bill "No Felon Left Behind" (right on!).
- Kennedy states that "1986 was amnesty, this is not amnesty" (yet, he wrote both bills), and blames Reagan and Bush 41 for not enforcing the 1986 amnesty bill's provisions on enforcing border security...however, he completely ignores the fact that from 1993 to 2001, a certain Democrat with the last name of "Clinton" was the president, and he never enforced thsoe provisions, either. Kennedy's speech includes a lot of strange pauses and sentence fragments as it seems like he was about to have a heart attack from the text I read.
- Sheldon Whitehouse compares Cornyn's amendment to torture (umm, okay Sheldon). He goes on about the due process of illegal aliens, blubberblubberblubber. Then, Jeff Sessions steps up with this gem in defense of Cornyn's amendment...
"No one has a right to come to America. We get to decide...we allow on our terms and conditions... our immigration system is set up to serve the national interest...No one has a constitutional legal right to demand entry into America. It amazes me the lack of comprehension shown...We set the standards. Se have the most generous set of laws in the world. Se're not going to end immigration or act irrationally. To set reasonable standards, as Cornyn is attempting to do, only makes common sense."
- John Cornyn's amendment that bans felons and others convicted serious, but non-felonious, crimes from obtaining Z visas is knocked down.
- Ted Kennedy's amendment that bans a very narrow field of criminals (due to all of the exceptions he's listed) from obtaining Z visas passes.
- After expressing support for Kennedy's amendment, RINO Arlen Specter states that he will yank this bill if Harry Reid continues to push for cloture.
Both days, John Kyl (the lead Republican on this bill) has threatened to pull support on this bill if certain amendments are passed (such as the Bob Menendez and Hillary Clinton amendments). Also, Harry Reid is SCARED of exposed Democratic senators to voting against germane amendments proposed by the Republicans, for fear of backlash from the public for not supporting smart amendments.
WHAT??? Come again? These people, who have no legal status in this country and shouldn't even be here, are to be considered Americans??? You've GOT to be kidding me.
As for yesterday's and today's floor debates and votes on the Immigration Bill...(both courtesy of Michelle Malkin)
Important Notes From Yesterday...
- Wayne Allard's amendment to ensure illegals don't get green-card preference over those who have been patiently waiting without illegally entering the country was voted down.
- "Dirty" Dick Durbin's amendment to eliminate Dept. of Labor provisions to waive requirements that employers in "labor shortage areas" offer jobs to U.S. workers before foreign workers passes.
- Harry "White Flag" Reid keeps pushing for cloture...Mitch McConnell and the GOP is NOT having this. McConnell states that Reid is avoiding having Dems vote on germane amendments, Reid insists "we're going to file cloture on this bill today." Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn both call out the Dems for stalling and attempting to squeeze out their proposed amendments via cloture.
- Ted Kennedy proclaims he is "ready to go." John Thune wants his amendment scheduled as "pending", Kennedy objects. As Malkin puts it..."So much for being ready to go."
Important Notes from Today...
- Kennedy and Cornyn both have proposed amendments about banning criminals from obtaining Z visas. Cornyn states that if we don't adopt his amendment, which bans all felons from obtaining Z visas, we should entitle this bill "No Felon Left Behind" (right on!).
- Kennedy states that "1986 was amnesty, this is not amnesty" (yet, he wrote both bills), and blames Reagan and Bush 41 for not enforcing the 1986 amnesty bill's provisions on enforcing border security...however, he completely ignores the fact that from 1993 to 2001, a certain Democrat with the last name of "Clinton" was the president, and he never enforced thsoe provisions, either. Kennedy's speech includes a lot of strange pauses and sentence fragments as it seems like he was about to have a heart attack from the text I read.
- Sheldon Whitehouse compares Cornyn's amendment to torture (umm, okay Sheldon). He goes on about the due process of illegal aliens, blubberblubberblubber. Then, Jeff Sessions steps up with this gem in defense of Cornyn's amendment...
"No one has a right to come to America. We get to decide...we allow on our terms and conditions... our immigration system is set up to serve the national interest...No one has a constitutional legal right to demand entry into America. It amazes me the lack of comprehension shown...We set the standards. Se have the most generous set of laws in the world. Se're not going to end immigration or act irrationally. To set reasonable standards, as Cornyn is attempting to do, only makes common sense."
- John Cornyn's amendment that bans felons and others convicted serious, but non-felonious, crimes from obtaining Z visas is knocked down.
- Ted Kennedy's amendment that bans a very narrow field of criminals (due to all of the exceptions he's listed) from obtaining Z visas passes.
- After expressing support for Kennedy's amendment, RINO Arlen Specter states that he will yank this bill if Harry Reid continues to push for cloture.
Both days, John Kyl (the lead Republican on this bill) has threatened to pull support on this bill if certain amendments are passed (such as the Bob Menendez and Hillary Clinton amendments). Also, Harry Reid is SCARED of exposed Democratic senators to voting against germane amendments proposed by the Republicans, for fear of backlash from the public for not supporting smart amendments.
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