Free Republic

Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement after the Senate immigration bill was defeated on a cloture vote of 46-53. This motion to end debate required 60 votes for adoption. “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...

Vote not yet complete but NAYS are well over 40. A lot of unexpected NAYS including McConnell, Voinovich, Warner. More details soon.

The Senate yesterday turned back a series of amendments from both parties aimed at substantially altering controversial immigration legislation, but the bill shed supporters as it became mired in procedural hurdles that left backers concerned about its prospects. The legislation faces a make-or-break vote this morning when senators will decide whether to cut off debate and move to a final vote tomorrow. If it does not get the 60 votes necessary, Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has said he will pull the bill, all but dashing hopes for any meaningful legislation this year. Top legislative aides in both parties...

Proponents of the Senate immigration bill were unable to block an amendment Wednesday on identification requirements, casting doubt on whether the overall measure will clear a crucial test vote set for Thursday morning. The bill survived its first cloture motion Tuesday by a vote of 64 to 35. Only five senators would need to change their position for the bill to collapse Thursday. It just so happens that four senators who voted Tuesday to move the bill forward have since seen the Senate reject their amendments, potentially moving some of them into the “no” column. The list includes Sen. Kit...

The good news for John McCain’s presidential campaign is opposing campaign strategists do not think that this week’s expected Senate vote on a comprehensive immigration-reform bill will kill the Arizona senator’s chances at the White House. The bad news is these rival advisers believe McCain’s chances are already dead. “Even if you don’t accept the idea that McCain is doomed, and you don’t believe the reports that he’ll be out in September, by the time you get to the point where you want to put up negative ads — which won’t be until November, December — is McCain really still...

For weeks, Americans were told that there are only two options for dealing with the nation's illegal immigration problem: stay with the status quo or accept a "grand bargain"--a tenuous behind-closed-doors deal, first made public by The Heritage Foundation, which contained nearly 800 pages of flawed policies. In the face of overwhelming criticism from all sides, this legislation was withdrawn from the Senate. Now, an altogether new bill (S. 1639) has been introduced by Senators Ted Kennedy and Arlen Specter. It seems to incorporate the previous legislation, with some amendments. After it is read into the Senate calendar on Wednesday,...

Grassfire.org has developed a second "Where's the Fence" ad. It was just played on Hannity & Colmes and is hilarious. You can see it online at the link above. Click on the top video in the far right column.

U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Oviedo) today announced the final reason why every hardworking taxpayer should oppose this immigration amnesty sellout. "This irresponsible legislation represents the largest single increase in the government welfare state in our history," said Feeney. And it will take effect almost immediately -- as soon as the 12-20 million or more illegal immigrants are given amnesty, they will be entitled to get Social Security numbers, which will in turn permit them to use the full range of entitlement programs available to law-abiding Americans. "The bottom line is that illegal immigration expands our welfare programs that are already...

If the amnesty bill in the Senate passes, we're going after any Republican Senator up in 2008 who votes for it. Conservatives put these Senators into office and if they won't listen to us, then we will replace them in the primaries with Senators who will. Hopefully, the Republicans in the Senate will come to their senses and filibuster this bill. But, if they don't, we're going to teach the GOP to respect their base again -- the hard way. If you would like to help, email hawkins@paybackproject.com.

The undoing of the immigration bill in the Senate this week had many players, but none more effective than angry voters like Monique Thibodeaux, who joined a nationwide campaign to derail it. Mrs. Thibodeaux, an office manager at a towing company here in suburban Detroit, became politically active with a whole new energy. Guided by conservative Internet organizations, she made calls and sent e-mail messages to senators across the country and pushed her friends to do the same. “These people came in the wrong way, so they don’t belong here, period,” Mrs. Thibodeaux, a Republican, said of some 12 million...

Starring: Ted Kennedy, Jon Kyl, Arlen Spector, and Lindsey Graham I caught the last few minutes of the previous replay. Graham was truly insufferable.

Tonight's cloture motion has just gone down to defeat. No where near the 60 yea votes needed to cut off debate. Harry now pontificating on Senate floor.

Major Garrett has sources on both sides of the aisle telling him we can write the bill's obituary. Roll call going on now.

As of the second roll call, the vote was as follows: 1. All GOP senators voted NAY. 2. Of the independents, Bernie Sanders voted NAY, and Joe Lieberman voted YEA. 3. Fifteen Democrats voted NAY. They are: Baucus Boxer Bingaman Byrd Conrad Dorgan Landrieu Levin McCaskill Pryor Reid, Harry Stabenow Tester Webb and one that I missed (or CSPAN classified Lieberman as a Democrat even though he is an independent.)

Just announced the results of the roll call on cloture. Only 33 yeas. They are re-taking the vote now.

For weeks, the White House and proponents of the shamnesty bill have been lying to us about what the immigration bill actually says. We should add back taxes to the list of subjects about which our elected officials are lying to us. When it came out that the White House had asked that the provision mandating the payment of back taxes had been removed, the Senate's Most Annoying RINO assured us he would amend the bill to restore it. Last night I pulled up the McCain amendment, which the Senate adopted early in this process. It is below, in its...

Sen. John McCain defended his support of a controversial immigration reform bill from criticism by other Republican presidential hopefuls Tuesday night as the GOP contenders held their first debate in New Hampshire. "America is still the land of opportunity, and it is a beacon of hope and liberty and, as Ronald Reagan said, a shining city on the hill," McCain said. "And we're not going to erect barriers and fences."

The Kennedy-Bush-McCain immigration bill will worsen the ever-growing disrespect for our laws. Among those rooting the loudest for immigration amnesty is a select group of hundreds of thousands of scofflaws. This group didn’t “just” cross our borders illegally, nor simply overstay a visa. They went the extra mile to thumb their noses at America’s belief in law and order. Each of them was personally, individually, and specifically ordered by our courts to leave the country — but they fled the law instead. American taxpayers foot the bill for 53 immigration courts scattered around the nation. Their work is an expensive...

The traditional gracious Mexican host would welcome honored guests by telling them, "Mi casa es su casa" --- my house is your house. It was a warm offer of hospitality. But of course a grateful guest would never take advantage of the literal words. Everybody understood that "Mi casa es su casa" was a polite fiction. Mexico today has flipped that polite phrase by exporting tens of millions of its poor people to the United States, and insisting they be treated as honored guests --- in our house. Today, the slogan of Mexico is "Su casa es mi casa" ---...

WASHINGTON - At 23, Mariana should be carefree. She is finishing up her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been accepted to a master’s program at Harvard University’s education school. But life is not so simple for Mariana, who insisted that only her first name be published because she is illegally in the United States and worries she could be deported to Guatemala, where she was born. "I’m even afraid of eating an apple in the library because I’m afraid of getting caught," she said. Mariana also worries about how she will pay her tuition...

After a week at home with their constituents, the Senate architects of a delicate immigration compromise are increasingly convinced they will hold together this week to pass an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, with momentum building behind one unifying theme: Today's immigration system is too broken to go unaddressed. Congress's week-long Memorial Day recess was expected to leave the bill in tatters. But with a week of action set to begin today, the legislation's champions say they believe the voices of opposition, especially from conservatives, represent a small segment of public opinion. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who led negotiations...

In an article in The Washington Times, California Senator Dianne Feinstein said that her office has received nearly 8,000 calls from people upset about her stance for amnesty bill currently being discussed by our government. She apparently does not think this is significant and has said that it would take 30,000+ phone calls to her offices to mean that "something is really going on". If you are upset about her stance in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens please call Dianne Feinstein and let her know what you think about the issue. Please do not be hostile, do not make...

For the past 10 days, politicians—including the president—have harangued us with assurances that the shamnesty bill is not amnesty. "Amnesty is a pardon with no penalty," they say. Because the bill would impose a monetary penalty, they insist it is not amnesty. A careful reading of the bill shows that the dollar cost of the fine is far below the value of the benefits that illegals would enjoy after paying it. So one could say that it's not amnesty—it's an investment, and a very good one at that. Let's assume that the bill has passed in its current form. How...

Most of us are horrified at the provisions of the new immigration bill. However, there is one aspect of this bill that I have not seen discussed anywhere. It is the reality that whether lax or stringent, the requirements of any law can be rendered moot by the presence of seven words. Those words are, "The secretary, in his discretion, may waive ..." A law can require 15 years of hoop-jumping. There is no telling how many people will actually jump through those hoops if Congress gives the Secretary of the agency that administers the law the ability to exempt...

Fewer than 20 senators are publicly committed to supporting the immigration deal that hits the Senate floor today while nearly 40 are already opposed or have serious concerns, underscoring how difficult it will be for President Bush and his allies to craft a coalition that can pass the bill. A Washington Times survey of Senate offices and public comments after the deal was announced Thursday found an additional 32 senators who said they cannot even take a position yet -- a result of the fact that the deal was written in secret by a dozen senators and the Bush administration,...

The Wall Street Journal weighs in today on the immigration deal. And per usual, we get this kind of hyperbole: Restrictionists are calling this "amnesty," but they were going to slap that label on anything this side of mass deportation. The public is understandably upset about the presence of so many illegal aliens in the U.S. But there is no evidence that voters want millions of foreign families—many of whom have been here for decades and have American children—uprooted and forcibly removed from the country. The restrictionist wing of the GOP simply wants no new immigration, and "amnesty" is merely...

Vote Yes, No, or Hell No!

The Politics of the Drug Bill By John Bender The Bush/Kennedy socialized drug bill speeding through Congress should outrage every Republican. I'm not talking about this being a way for sleazy politicians to buy votes from selfish people who want to shift their personal responsibility to others. That fact is obvious. I'm talking about the future politics of this. This has the potential to ruin the Republican Party for decades. Nobody is talking about the fact that in both the House version of this abomination, and in the Senate version, the coverage doesn't take effect until 2006. This is an...