NumbersUSA Alert--Stop Harry Reid
From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Thursday 15APR10 11:30 p.m. EDT
YOUR PHONING IS CAUSING SOME DEMOCRATIC SENATORS TO MAKE A LIAR OF REID
Be sure to scroll down for the lists of Senators who most need to hear from you to keep Sen. Reid from bringing his amnesty to a vote.
YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB THIS WEEK -- KEEP IT UP FRIDAY!
Oh, my, are there a lot of Senators who are ticked off at Senate Majority Leader Reid for mouthing off last Saturday that he had 56 Democrats ready to vote for a comprehensive amnesty, just 4 short of enough to pass it.
(That meant only 3 of the 59 Senators in the Democratic Caucus are resisting the amnesty.)
You responded to my colleague Jim Robb's action request earlier this week with a torrent of phone calls and faxes to the 14 Democrats who voted NO on the Bush/McCain/Kennedy amnesty in June of 2007. After all, Reid's claim basically meant that 11 of the 14 have switched to PRO-amnesty positions.
The staffers of these 14 were mostly pretty hostile to your phone calls. Several offices just turned their phones off and switched them to recordings that said they were NOT taking messages.
Many of these Democratic staffers demanded to know of NumbersUSA activists who was spreading these rumors that their bosses had become pro-amnesty.
"Why, that would be your Majority Leader, Senator Reid," you told the staffers.
I'm pretty sure that a number of these 14 Democratic Senators let Sen. Reid know that they weren't one bit happy with him for putting them on the spot like that.
REID BACKS OFF HIS TIMETABLE
By today, Reid has backed off considerably from his promises on Saturday to a few thousand illegal aliens and their supporters in Nevada that the Senate would come back from Easter recess to immediately start work on passing a comprehensive amnesty.
After being hammered when he got back to Washington, Reid now says he meant he planned to pass the amnesty after the NEXT recess -- over Memorial Day.
I have to believe that the outrage from all of you all week helped push his deadline back at least a month.
Nonetheless, Reid is still sticking with his 56 Democrats-in-the-amnesty-bag claim.
DEMOCRATS STAYING 'NO' ON AMNESTY?
The pro-amnesty websites are saying they believe the 3 Democrats who aren't being counted by Reid as pro-amnesty are:
Byrd of West Virginia
Nelson of Nebraska
Dorgan of North Dakota
I would tend to agree that those are the three who have shown the strongest opposition in the past to rewarding millions of illegal aliens with permanent work permits while forcing millions of American workers to remain unemployed.
DEMOCRATS WHO REID SAYS SWITCHED TO 'YES' ON AMNESTY?
So, for Sen. Reid to be telling the truth about 56 Democrats backing his amnesty, the following 11 Democrats would have to have changed from NO on amnesty in 2007 to YES on amnesty in 2010 -- during 10% unemployment:
Arkansas -- Sen. Pryor
Indiana -- Sen. Bayh
Louisiana -- Sen. Landrieu
Michigan -- Sen. Stabenow
Missouri -- Sen. McCaskill
Montana -- Sen. Baucus
Montana -- Sen. Tester
New Mexico -- Sen. Bingaman
Ohio -- Sen. Sherrod Brown
Vermont -- Sen. Sanders (Independent)
West Virginia -- Sen. Rockefeller
Here's the deal, folks. Either Sen. Reid was just making things up when he claimed he had commitments from 56 Democrats, or a lot of these offices are lying to their constituents.
At this point, your reports back to us provide what seem to be unequivocal opposition to an amnesty from staffers of Sen. Baucus and Sen. Brown. Do you in Montana and Ohio trust that?
ACTION: Now is not the time to let up on the pressure on the 11 Senators listed above. Phone them until you get flat promises that they will not vote for "comprehensive immigration reform" that legalizes illegal aliens this year.
202-224-3121 is the switchboard number. Or check your Action Board for phone notes and a place to send us notes from your phone call. You can also find there notes from people who have already called these Senators.
All of these 11 Senators believed in 2007 either that an amnesty was bad policy or that they needed to bend to the will of their constituents who opposed amnesty.
Sen. Reid is indicating that every one of these has changed his/her mind and turned against you and the majority of voters in their states.
Before Reid gets the nerve to bring this amnesty to a vote, make these 11 Senators account for themselves before the voters of your state. Exactly what have they promised Reid?
REID SAYS ALL THESE NEW DEMOCRATIC SENATORS ARE SUPPORTING AN AMNESTY?
Reid's claim of 56 Democratic votes for an amnesty means that every single new Democrat added to the Senate after 2007 is pledged to an amnesty.
That would be:
Alaska -- Mark Begich
Colorado -- Michael Bennet
Colorado -- Mark Udall
Delaware -- Ted Kaufman
Illinois -- Roland Burris
New Hampshire -- Jeanne Shaheen
New Mexico -- Tom Udall
New York -- Kirsten Gillibrand
Jeff Merkley (Oregon)
Virginia -- Mark Warner
Is the image that these freshmen want to portray to their voters one of putting illegal aliens at the front of the jobs line and unemployed U.S. citizens at the back of the line?
ACTION: Force these Senators to declare who they are backing: Illegal aliens or unemployed Americans. Phone them.
Let's put an end to this constant talk of passing an amnesty. Let's find at least 6, and maybe 10, Democrats who say they don't plan to vote for an amnesty this year. Since Reid says he can't find a second Republican (after Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina) to join in the amnesty push, he may just have to give up on the amnesty if several more Democrats say they won't go along with him.
Make it immediately clear that you are calling because Sen. Reid has indicated that Sen. XMXMXM has committed to vote YES on the comprehensive amnesty.
