Sponsored Content
« Boston Globe Hype: MIT "Discovers" Nikola Tesla's 1889 Wireless-Electricity Gimmick | Main | The Red-Green Coalition: Lefty Time Out London Writer Pines For London's Islamic Future »
June 07, 2007

Reid Again Says Cloture Tonight Or Bill Is Withdrawn; Yet Bill's Republican Negoiator (Ahem) Jon Kyl Says "We Need More Time;" Plus-- Blame Game For Bill's Defeat Begins!

The Democrats cry for GOP help:

[The amnesty bill] won a brief reprieve when Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would give it more time before yanking the bill and moving on to other matters.

His decision set the stage for yet another procedural vote later Thursday that will measure lawmakers' appetite for a so-called "grand bargain" between liberals and conservatives on immigration.

If that fails, Reid threatened, "The bill's over with."

In the meantime, though, Reid said the president must lean on Republicans to back a deal that Bush spearheaded and most Democrats are eager to support.

"We are trying to get the bill passed. All we ask is that the White House weigh in and try to get some Republicans to vote with us," Reid said.

...

Republicans were seeking assurances they would get chances to add several conservative-backed changes that would toughen the measure.

Democrats are "simply not going to get anywhere trying to stuff the minority," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the GOP leader.

Republicans who cut the immigration deal and are working to fight off challenges to it from within their own ranks, nonetheless voted in solidarity with the rest of their party.

"Clearly, we need more time," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a framer of the agreement.

But even some Republicans said they were getting impatient with members of their own party who were balking at finishing the bill.

"I'm telling them, too, I've about had it. Enough is enough here now. We're going to get some more amendments," said Sen. Trent Lott, R- Miss. "We're going to do this damn thing."

Heh. Trent Lott. I find it somewhat comforting that this useless waste of space is on the other side. He also had this to say:

Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said he has told the most virulent Republican opponents that he will not tolerate a raft of amendment votes designed simply to filibuster the measure, and he castigated his own party's senators for their vote switches.

"We're going to do this damned thing, and if we don't, I think we should dissolve the Congress and just go home," Lott fumed.

I hope he didn't mess up his pretty hairdome.

The Blame Game starts -- hopeful sign?

Reid appealed to Bush to twist the arms of 47 Republicans who voted against limiting debate, saying the legislation's demise would produce headlines that ``the president fails again.''

``It's his bill, it's not our bill,'' Reid told reporters after the vote in Washington. ``It can't pass unless we get significant Republican support.''

...

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, accused Republican opponents of offering amendments simply ``to embarrass those who support'' the legislation.

``If Senator McConnell wants to pass President Bush's immigration bill -- crafted by his Cabinet officers'' then the Republican leader ``needs to help us,'' Durbin said.

...

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Obama's amendment [to go back to a family reunification system permitting "chain migrations" not based on ecominic needs of American employers] would split the delicate bipartisan alliance that supports the immigration measure.

``So when you're out on the campaign trail, my friend, tell them about why can't we come together. This is why,'' Graham said.

McConnell's spokesman, Don Stewart, said Republicans weren't to blame. ``Democratic presidential candidates offered poison pills and voted for poison pills,'' Stewart said, referring to proposals by Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton that failed to be adopted.

More at Hot Air, including a very public resignation by a McCain party chairman, citing McCain's inability to "read the pulse of the American public."


digg this
posted by Ace at 04:46 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Drewbicle : "Always a tough day here with the, “alternati ..."

Indignacio Vindacatorem: "Overturning Roe was a Deus Vult moment. It was the ..."

The Unmasked and Unvaxxed Ranger: "This is true for most women and gays. It's why the ..."

lorien1973: "Posted by: The Unmasked and Unvaxxed Ranger at May ..."

Brave Sir Robin: "It’s Pennsylvania, land of retards, pedophil ..."

...: " I think nobody currently is happy with the govern ..."

Divide by Zero [/i]: " [i]GOP evaporated on this issue after the ruling ..."

CppThis: "Wasn't Lumpy's opponent pro abortion? ..."

Mr Gaga: "As re gun rights and SCOTUS, we've won nuttin'. ..."

Every child has a normal childhood, we're watching it be used as an attack: "McCarthy was right. Never forget that, because ..."

The Unmasked and Unvaxxed Ranger: "Lake? Who told people in AZ not to vote for her. W ..."

Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons: "They are very good at selling emotional arguments. ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64