Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member Populist's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    8,085

    Passage of Senate bill "inevitable"?? FIGHT, FIGHT

    From the Roll Call, WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO, LET THIS ARTICLE MOTIVATE YOU TO KEEP ON CALLING, FAXING ETC. !

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    Conservatives Get Ultimatum;
    GOP Pushed on Immigration


    By: John Stanton, ROLL CALL STAFF
    June 13, 2007

    Senate conservatives have been warned by Republican leaders that they must either accept a series of largely symbolic floor votes on a handful of amendments to the immigration reform legislation or see themselves shut out of the process altogether when the chamber resumes work on the bill later this year, GOP lawmakers and aides said Tuesday.

    The warning came as President Bush met privately with Senate Republicans in an effort to restart immigration talks that stalled last week after a failed effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to end debate on the controversial measure.

    Although Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and other leaders voted against several cloture motions late last week, they are pressing their Members to accept a deal under which Republicans could offer about a dozen amendments with a set time for debate.

    But leadership also has made it clear that if conservatives do not agree to the deal, they run the risk of losing their seat at the negotiating table.

    A senior GOP leadership aide confirmed that conservatives have been given the take-it-or-leave-it deal, saying lawmakers have been told they "need to get on board if they want to remain relevant."

    Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said conservatives are receiving "significant encouragement to get down to a list of 10 or 15 amendments on the Republican side."


    An aide to another conservative lawmaker complained the deal that GOP leadership is forcing on Republicans is unfair. "The implicit threat is that if you don't go along with this, you won't get a vote," the aide said.

    But even that offers little comfort to conservatives, since the votes' outcomes are essentially a foregone conclusion.

    Because the bipartisan group of Senators who have agreed to the "Grand Bargain" is expected to continue to vote as a bloc against any amendments that might derail the overall bill, the additional amendments that would be granted floor time are unlikely to pass.

    Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), an opponent of the legislation, said that while having the ability to offer amendments would ease some of his unhappiness with the process, the predetermined fate of the amendments made it a hollow deal at best.

    While "a couple of amendments have snuck through ... [it has been] a pretty orchestrated process," Thune said, adding that "when you've got a small group screening the amendments, that's a process that's a little bit rigged from the start."

    Nevertheless, McConnell is under increasing pressure from many of his members and President Bush to break the deadlock so a bill can be moved out of the Senate.

    Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) said he already has told Senate GOP leaders he will not support the immigration filibuster any longer. "They've had ample opportunity," Craig said of the Republican dissenters who successfully rallied a majority of their Conference to block the bill last week. Craig added that he supports McConnell's efforts to goad the conservatives into capitulating, saying that over the years "when I was in a minority position I was given fair fun, but I was never given carte blanche to kill something."

    Craig said the president seemed receptive to the notion that an emergency supplemental spending bill should be used to fund the border enforcement provisions of the bill.

    "Getting it right, in part, is funding what we've done," said Craig, who said Americans are understandably nervous about whether the government actually will enforce immigration laws. "Our great challenge is to prove our credibility," he said.

    Though Craig said it was unlikely Bush's appeal to Republicans today changed the minds of stalwart opponents, such as Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.), he said, "the president certainly did not hurt the situation today."

    Democratic aides said on Tuesday that it is unclear when immigration could return to the floor, though one leadership aide said it would not be before the end of the energy debate, which is expected to last two weeks.

    Additionally, while conservatives said they believe passage of the bill is now inevitable, it also is unclear whether Reid and McConnell ultimately will be able to come to an agreement on floor time for the measure.


    Cornyn noted that Reid already rejected a similar offer of 10 amendments on Thursday before he forced a second vote on bringing debate on the bill to a close.

    "So I'm not sure how sincere [Reid's] statement is that, if he gets that list, he'll be willing to give those amendments votes and an adequate time to debate them," Cornyn said.

    Emily Pierce contributed to this report.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  2. #2
    Senior Member sippy's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Posts
    3,798
    While "a couple of amendments have snuck through ... [it has been] a pretty orchestrated process," Thune said, adding that "when you've got a small group screening the amendments, that's a process that's a little bit rigged from the start."
    A little bit rigged? I'd say it was totally rigged from the start!
    "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results is the definition of insanity. " Albert Einstein.

  3. #3
    Senior Member curiouspat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle, WA. area!
    Posts
    3,341
    dirty sneaky lawyer tricks.
    TIME'S UP!
    **********
    Why should <u>only</u> AMERICAN CITIZENS and LEGAL immigrants, have to obey the law?!

  4. #4
    Senior Member Beckyal's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    1,900
    We need to take our government back. Send no-confidence votes to our Senate and President. Our government does not represent Americans.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    1,897
    I always knew that politics was a dirty business but I must confess, I had no idea how really dirty it is.
    After all this is over, I am going to take a long hot shower in disinfectant!

  6. #6
    Senior Member Populist's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    8,085
    Remember this battle is far from over, even Kennedy admits it's an uphill battle, so KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    California
    Posts
    551
    While it doesn't sound good...we do have a little time to come up with a strategy to "debunk" this and persuade our Senators to change their minds to not support the President's bill!

    We need to come up with additional ways to quickly get this issue out to the people and make them angry enough about it to act on it!
    "You tell 'em I'm coming...and hell's coming with me, you hear!?"

  8. #8
    Senior Member Populist's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    8,085
    And Sen. Jeff Sessions is a true hero, here's an excerpt from today's Washington Times report wherein Bush is peddling $4.4 billion for the border to try to trick us into thinking he will secure the border to get us to swallow amnesty. SO DON'T GIVE UP, KEEP FIGHTING!! We can't let up..

    "The new spending is a good start, said Sen. Jeff Sessions, but won't convince him to support the bill.

    "What we need to do is to do those kinds of things and move step by step on enforcement," said the Alabama Republican, who has become one of the leading conservative opponents of the bill. He said it's right to put the money up front, but said it's not right to use it as a "gimmick" to try to get support for the bill, and said Congress should instead focus on those things such as border security that can get majority support.

    Mr. Sessions also said he will use whatever procedural tools he can to block the bill from being revived -- a powerful threat in the Senate, where a single member can delay or block action.

    "There are a number of senators who will utilize the powers of the Senate to avoid going back to the failed bill," he said.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    639
    This is motivation to WORK EVEN HARDER!

    THEY WILL LISTEN TO US!

    Get on the phones!

    Time to go to work!

  10. #10
    Senior Member curiouspat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle, WA. area!
    Posts
    3,341
    See my post for the link to the 'Sneaky Lawyer Tricks' speech.

    Wait...here....

    http://sessions.senate.gov/pressapp/rec ... ?id=256024

    you may have to copy/paste it to your browser.
    TIME'S UP!
    **********
    Why should <u>only</u> AMERICAN CITIZENS and LEGAL immigrants, have to obey the law?!

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •