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I was really happy when I read in the Washington Post that soon-to-be demoted to Minority Leader of the House Nancy Pelosi has turned to director Steven Spielberg to "rebrand" the House Democrats. The story offered me a way out of my quandary -- what to title this column today. The Tea Party and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls, The Sugardaddy Express, Pelosi Park. Anyway, just as I selected the present title, the NY Daily News said the Spielberg story was false. I suppose after fawning all over Castro and making a video montage for Kerry, Spielberg's decided to...

Obama called the stories of undocumented minors “heartbreaking” and said that changing the immigration system and enhancing border security is “the right thing to do.”

There is a bit of confusion on the Internet that needs to be cleared up about the Democrats’ plans for the DREAM Act. A number of readers have pointed to a weekend post at FreeRepublic.com warning that the DREAM Act is “hidden” in another bill, H.R. 5281. Senate staff explained to me today that DREAM was passed as an amendment to HR 5281 in the House and it was sent over as a “message,” which gave it privileged status so the Senate didn’t have to vote on a motion to proceed (simply a cloture vote). My Senate staff source added...

least 20 police officers responded to a melee in Moorhead, Minn., early Sunday that involved up to a dozen young African immigrants fighting not only with hands and feet, but also with a taser, knives, a replica handgun and a shovel. More than 100 people looked on, many yelling, in the parking lot of a bowling alley on the city's north side, police said.

LOS ANGELES -- Emboldened by months of phone calls to lawmakers, hunger strikes and sit-ins, a group of college students and graduates in Los Angeles say they plan to take their fight for immigrant rights to the states and the 2012 election after Senate Republicans blocked a key piece of legislation..they also say Latino voters are getting fed up with lawmakers at a time when they are accruing greater political clout. "This is a movement," said Nancy Meza, a 23-year-old illegal immigrant and college graduate who wore a UCLA sweatshirt as she watched the televised vote. "We don't have lobbyists...

1) It was "closer than it looked"—not because Harry Reid had 59 votes secretly locked up if he could only have gotten one more (though that's possible) but because if one or two senators had ostentiously switched in the weeks leading up to the vote then "at least three other votes would have gone with them and we would have lost." ..... "Translation:The Tea Parties did it."

Joe Manchin, the newly elected Democratic senator from West Virginia, is taking heat from Republicans for skipping several crucial votes on Saturday to spend time with his family. Manchin missed votes to advance the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants under a certain age who meet certain requirements, and repeal the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

H.R.5281 Latest Title: Removal Clarification Act of 2010 Sponsor: Rep Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [GA-4] (introduced 5/12/2010) Cosponsors (3) Related Bills: H.RES.1756 Latest Major Action: 12/8/2010 Resolving differences -- House actions. Status: On motion to to agree to the Senate amendments numbered 1 and 2, and that the House agree to the Senate amendment numbered 3 with an amendment Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 216 - 198 (Roll no. 625). Latest Action: 12/16/2010 Motion by Senator Reid to refer to Senate Committee on the Judiciary the House message to accompany the bill (HR 5281) with instructions to...

Republicans block youth immigration bill AP WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans on Saturday doomed an effort that would have given hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants a path to legal status if they enrolled in college or joined the military. Sponsors of the Dream Act fell five votes short of the 60 they needed to break through largely GOP opposition and win its enactment before Republicans take over the House and narrow Democrats' majority in the Senate next month.

We can't take victory for granted, as previously reported, the Professional Left is pulling out all the stops to help Harry Reid and Barack Obama ram Amnesty for millions of illegal aliens down our throats before the Christmas holiday. Pro-Amnesty organizations like the National Council of LaRaza are pouring massive amounts of money and resources into last-ditch operations with only one goal in mind... to overturn the will of the American people and force Harry Reid's so-called DREAM Act into law.

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment No. 3 to H.R. 5281 ) Vote Number: 278 Vote Date: December 18, 2010, 11:09 AM Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture Motion Rejected Measure Number: H.R. 5281 (Removal Clarification Act of 2010 ) Measure Title: A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify and improve certain provisions relating to the removal of litigation against Federal officers or agencies to Federal courts, and for other purposes. Vote Counts: YEAs 55 NAYs 41

Senate Republicans blocked a measure Saturday that would have offered provisional legal status to some adults who came to America illegally as children. Democratic backers of the legislation fell short of the 60 votes to move the DREAM Act legislation forward. Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jon Tester of Montana, Max Baucus of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska voted against bringing the bill to the floor; Republican Sens. Richard Lugar, Lisa Murkowski, and Robert Bennett voted for it. The vote was 55-41.

55-41 Cloture vote fails. Several candidates, up for election in 2012, put their necks on the line by voting yes.

The Senate will act on two important pieces of President Obama's progressive legislative agenda today: the DREAM Act and the repeal of the military's ban on openly gay servicemembers. By the end of the day, the path to final passage is expected to be set for DADT repeal, while DREAM is expected to languish for another Congress to pass. Starting at around 10:30 this morning, the Senate will take up a cloture vote on DREAM. Cloture -- voted in by a 60-senator super majority -- is required to cut off debate and move a bill to final passage in the...

Leadership: Any time you kill a bloated, $1.27 trillion spending bill that includes more than 6,000 earmarks worth $8 billion, it's a good day's work. But as far as this lame-duck Congress is concerned, the work isn't done. As we said in this space Friday, it would be best for Congress to extend the Bush tax cuts and then bring this lame-duck session to a quick end. We still feel that way now that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, facing a revolt even within his own party, has dropped the Democrats' big-spending omnibus budget bill. Despite that defeat, as well...

I called it correct yesterday that the dems were dropping Omnibus spending bill only to put forth Dream Act and Don't Ask Repeal. And thats what they did today. The clock is running out and time did not permit and ugly fight over the spending bill so they changed course. Now watch for the republicans to float letting the Start Treaty pass if the dems drop Don't Ask. Tomorrow the dems will drop Don't Ask and make the deal. That leaves one last chip on the table , the Dream act. Obama wants the start treaty as part of his...

Sen. Reid's change of plans was announced suddenly Thursday evening. Does that mean he thinks he has the 60 votes to pass this amnesty? Not necessarily. Our NumbersUSA whip count says he doesn't have the votes. But votes could change over the next 24 hours under the barrage of last-minute personal appeals from poster-child illegal-alien students and groups of local clergy all saying the amnesty is a moral requirement. Pres. Obama put out an appeal for clergy to help him round up the last votes needed. So, the moment of truth is upon every one of us. Will we rise...

ALIPAC is rallying talk radio show listeners and American citizens to call the US Senate to oppose the Dream Act Amnesty today. The bill contains a waiver that would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security and [Alleged] President Obama to grant Amnesty to most illegal immigrants in America. "The Dream Act Amnesty is a Nightmare already and would displace several million innocent American students, workers, and voters," said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC. "But now we find a waiver on page 5, line 21 of HR 5281 that allows Obama to grant Amnesty for most of the 12-20 million illegal...

After abandoning on Thursday night a $1.3 trillion omnibus Senate spending bill, Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid filed cloture for the DREAM Act and a stand-alone repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - both of which are now expected to reach the Senate for final votes as early as this weekend. Reid, faced with receding Republican support for the spending bill (not to mention threats to read it aloud in its 1,924-page entirety), turned his attention instead to two bills that liberal Democrats hope to push through in the final days of the lame duck congressional session. The Senate is...

... the White House is again pushing for final passage of the Dream Act, hosting a conference call with religious leaders who are hoping to drive the deal home before everyone on Capitol Hill heads home for the holidays...According to Fox News producers on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., does intend to bring up the DREAM Act during this lame duck session. So, while lawmakers on the Hill scramble to get everything done, the White House put together another in a series of conference calls on the DREAM Act. Rabbi Jack Moline, from Congregation Agudas Achim in...