Brain Droppings

The real vote on this amnesty bill is taking place in less than an hour. It is the cloture vote. The vote that will end debate. Well not really, there is another cloture vote in two days and then the final vote probably on Friday. Cloture requires 60 votes blah, blah, blah. The point is that a lot of senators are going to vote for cloture and then vote against the bill and claim they did not support the bill. It is a very cynical act which assumes that the voters can be fooled. These guys have to be punished.

It won't do a lot of good but here is the Secure Borders Now petition.

Help us House Republicans, your our only hope.

Update: Cloture passed 64-35. Only thing left to do is count those that think they can fool the public by voting for cloture but voting against the bill. Barring a massive change of heart its on to the House.

Diego: This will be a test of blog power. Clearly the Senators who voted for cloture think that they can defy the will of the people and get away with it by washing themselves of their actions through time and technicalities (Y on cloture, N on amnesty). Best case scenario here is if the House rejects the bill and all those who ignored their constituents get voted out next election. The Internet does not forget and thus the voters should be aware of what is really going on here. Those who play this game must be taught a lesson. It is possible we will have better representation in the future because of this. Then again it is possible that it will be business as usual but I hope not.

Bill C: (Via Hot Air)

Here’s the roll of shame. The cloture vote on June 7th went 45-50; Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, actually switched from yes on that vote to no today. Which means the amnesty wing picked up a cool 20 yeses in the interim: Bennett, Bingaman, Bond, Boxer, Brownback, Burr, Coleman, Collins, Domenici, Ensign, Gregg, Kyl, Lott, McConnell, Murkowski, Pryor, Snowe, Stevens, Warner, Webb.

The boldface indicates Republicans, my friends. Sixteen of them — 15 no/yes switches plus Brownback, who didn’t vote on June 7th.

It's going to be hard to support Al Franken over Norm Coleman but I guess that is what needs to be done. Bond has said he will not vote for the second cloture vote on Thursday if he does not get his sure to fail amendment passed. Brownback is running for president but says he will quit the senate when his term is up in 2010. Aaron Richard Burr is from conservative N.C. but won't be up for reelection until 2010. McConnell is from Kentucky and is up for reelection in 2008. Lott in 2012. Ted Stevens and Warner are both up in 2008. The rest are from sufficiently liberal states or are not up for reelection.

So four senators are vulnerable in the next cycle, if you think that being conservative from conservative states and up for reelection in 2008 makes them vulnerable. There is a reason that senators exist. They have a long enough term that there is a chance that voters will forget the bad that they have done and be forced to support them. It is up to us to not forget. The truth is that although vengeance will be satisfying it still won't stop this bill. What it might do is make future senators consider the will of the people.

Bill C: I got a call from my mother after she had read this post and she was incredulous that Ensign and Kyl were supporting this bill. She is from Neveda and had contributed to the NRSC in the past. She just couldn't believe a good conservative like Kyl could support amnesty.

Via Hot Air, the perfect metaphor for the Republican party right now.

Labels: Illegal Immigration