Clueless Obama to Push for 'Immigration Reform'

Now that his extended post-bin Laden victory lap has concluded, the president today returns to campaign mode by traveling to Texas to push for his latest bid at amnesty for illegal aliens.

President Obama plans to unveil a “blueprint” on Tuesday of what he wants Congress to include in a comprehensive immigration reform bill, according to senior administration officials.

Obama is scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as part of the White House’s increased efforts to return immigration reform to the national spotlight.

A senior administration official told reporters in a conference call Monday evening that Obama’s renewed push for an immigration bill was not merely a political move attempting to paint Congress as the inhibitor and the White House as the doer in the eyes of Latino voters ahead of the 2012 elections.

“While it may be true that there are significant obstacles in Congress, we believe the American people expect the policymakers to do their job,” said an official. “So we do not accept the argument that because there are some in Congress who are unwilling to act that we ought to just wash our hands of trying to get this done.”

Unless they have a suicide pact, the GOP would be nuts to go along with this nonsense. Of course they'll be called racist, but what else is new?

Americans are hurting economically and there's absolutely no desire for amnesty. Then again, the public's opposition to anything never deterred the left from trying to shove it down our throats. Obama realizes independents have largely abandoned him and is desperate to add new voters to his party. It's all quite obvious.

Wonderful: Senate Announces 'Bi-Partisan' Shamnesty Plan

Spearheaded by Lindsay Grahamnesty and the odious Chuckie Schumer, meaning, of course, that nothing good can possibly come from this. So I guess now we'll not only see our healthcare system destroyed but we'll also have millions of criminal aliens legalized. Nice to see Grahamnesty willing to throw away sure blowout victories for Republicans this fall down the drain.

We are so doomed.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) have laid out the framework for a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform bill that would include tougher border enforcement, creation of biometric Social Security cards and a path to legalization for the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.

The announcement of the plan, which brought immediate praise from President Obama, comes days before a pro-immigration march scheduled for the nation’s capital on Sunday.

”It thoughtfully addresses the need to shore up our borders, and demands accountability from both workers who are here illegally and employers who game the system,” Obama said in a prepared statement.

“A critical next step will be to translate their framework into a legislative proposal, and for Congress to act at the earliest possible opportunity.”

I guess Obama can now bank on millions of fresh voters come 2012.

Lovely.

Good News: Shamnesty to Soon Be Revived

Once you're done digesting your ObamaCare Christmas present, get ready for some dessert.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano expressed confidence Friday that Congress would introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill in early 2010 and that debate and passage of the legislation could occur before the mid-term elections later that year.

They must really be determined to lose Congress next year.

Napolitano defined the terms of immigration reform as more than simply offering a path to legalization for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States. She called reform a three-legged stool consisting of more enforcement authority, improvements in travel for families and workers, and a "firm but fair" means of dealing with the illegal immigrants presently in the United States.

The Democrats want to put you in prison if you don't sign up for ObamaCare, but illegal aliens get to stay here on you dime.

Wonderful.

Thanks to Ed Morrissey for the link.

A Day of Sanity in America

It's beginning to look like a banner day for sanity in America. First, Shamnesty goes down to defeat, then the Supreme Court blocks race-based preferences in school, and now it appears Indiana's Mike Pence has successfully introduced an amendment to help scuttle the possibility of the absurd Fairness Doctrine returning (keep your fingers crossed).

Michelle Malkin has the latest Fairness Doctrine details.

Of course, nothing that has happened today will prevent the left and some willing RINO's from coming back to try again.

We must forever be vigilant against our domestic enemies.

UPDATE: The Pence amendment passes 309-115. There were 115 Democrats in favor of censorship, zero Republicans. Sanity prevails.

Shamnesty Losing Support (Update): DEFEATED

A stunningly silent Chuckie Schumer and soon-to-be former U.S. Senator Lindsey Grahamnesty discuss wrecking America through importing an illegal horde in this AP photo.

May this nonsense die a quick death today, never to be heard from again.

Senate immigration bill lost supporters yesterday and hangs on by a thread heading into this morning's showdown vote, after lawmakers voted down amendments making illegal aliens show roots to get legal status and cutting off their path to citizenship.

This morning's vote is on a parliamentary question about limiting debate, but it boils down to a vote to block the bill.

Just two days ago, 64 senators voted to revive the bill, with many saying they wanted to give the Senate a chance to improve the bill through amendments. But after a messy day in the chamber yesterday, with dozens of objections, arguments on the floor and five amendments defeated, at least a half-dozen senators said publicly or privately that their patience has run out.

"The way this has been handled, I'm not going to take a leap of faith," said Sen. Richard M. Burr, North Carolina Republican, who voted to advance the bill on Tuesday but said the way Democratic leaders ran the floor yesterday left no room to "take a bad bill and make it better."

Sen. Ben Nelson, Nebraska Democrat, said he has voted to keep the bill moving a half-dozen times already on "cloture" votes, but yesterday's debate showed him the bill is probably unsalvageable.

"I've given them six or seven cloture votes," he said. "I think this clay pigeon is becoming a dead duck."

Nothing more underscored the utter cluelessness of the Senate than this Sean Hannity interview with Ohio's Sen. Voinovich, who should be drummed out of office for sheer stupidity.

UPDATE: Kaboom. A crushing defeat for The Swimmer, Dingy Harry, and the rest of the morons who voted for this.
Senate Hands Down a Major Defeat on Immigration Bill

The most dramatic overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in a generation was trounced this morning by a bipartisan filibuster, with the political right and left overwhelming a coalition of Republicans and Democrats who had been seeking compromise on one of the most difficult social and economic issues facing the country.

The 46-53 tally fell dramatically short of the 60 votes needed to overcome opponents' dilatory tactics and parliamentary maneuvers that have dogged the bill for weeks.

Of course, the WaPo (naturally) spins it as a major defeat for President Bush, but did he write the legislation? Did he fail as Senate Majority Leader to get his own party in line?

Major props go out to Michelle Malkin, who, among many others, deserves major credit for helping kill this travesty.

Rough Road for Shamnesty

One would think in the face of overwhelming displeasure with this bill, the proponents would just pack it in.

I guess not.

The White House says it has the votes to resurrect the immigration bill on the Senate floor today, though enough senators said they may change their minds in other votes later this week to leave the bill's ultimate fate in doubt.

To pass the Senate, the bill must earn 60 votes today, survive a series of amendments, earn 60 votes in a follow-up vote likely to come Thursday, and then pass with majority support — all difficult tests on an issue that deeply divides both parties, and American voters.

"Our intelligence suggests that there will be the votes there to move on to the bill and to begin considering amendments," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joel Kaplan told reporters yesterday as President Bush and his administration make a final push for the bill's passage.

Time to euthanize this mess.

Michelle Malkin has much more.

House GOP Alternative to Shamnesty

It's times like these when I tip to my hat to Long Island's Peter King, a man who never is afraid to be called names and generally does the right thing, most notably recently in the Flying Imams/John Doe legislation in the House (which the Democrats are trying to bottle up).

Now King and Lamar Smith of Texas have introduced a bill focused on improving security and urging President Bush to enforce the laws already on the books, Steven Dinan reports today.

Goodness, they must be taking their marching orders from talk radio. Or, more likely, they realize the overwhelming majority of Americans are opposed to Shamnesty.

Key House Republicans yesterday said they would stick with current immigration laws rather than adopt the Senate's reform bill, taking a poke at the key selling point of President Bush and Senate Republicans to try to earn conservatives' support.

"Ideally, you would have the current law plus the legislation we are proposing today, but what we want to do is stop the Senate amnesty bill in its tracks right now," said Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.

He and fellow Republicans -- including Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee -- introduced a bill enhancing existing security and a resolution calling on Mr. Bush to enforce a dozen laws already on the books.

Mr. Bush and some Senate Republicans have argued that the current situation is de facto amnesty for illegal aliens because the laws are too difficult to enforce. They say the Senate bill -- which gives legalized status to most illegal aliens, creates a new worker program and requires stricter employer checks ? is needed to gain control.

Meanwhile, Dinan also notes the focuse of Georgia's two GOP senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, who are under tremendous pressure on both sides.

The battle for each senator's vote on immigration is at the hand-to-hand combat level now, with business groups that want the bill and grass-roots activists who oppose it fighting it out through phone calls, radio ads and personal visits at offices back home.

Georgia is the newest fight, with the state's U.S. senators considered premier prizes: Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, both Republicans who appeared to back the Senate's immigration bill before distancing themselves in the face of voter opposition. But even as they try to increase the gap, the Bush administration and Georgia businesses are trying to rope them back in, telling them the state's economy needs the workers.

Michelle Malkin, as usual, is leading the charge, today highlighting an ad from 9/11 Families for a Secure America. It is the notion of us allowing undocumented terrorists into this country which is in great part driving the opposition to this legislation.

You can make all the arguments you want that we cannot deport the millions of illegals here. Fine. Still, what Americans want is our borders secure and the flow of mysterious people coming in halted. It's as if we have sat by for 40 years and watched an invasion without putting up any resistance. Nobody is implying poor Mexicans who want to come here have nefarious motives, but it isn't a stretch of the imagingation to see Al Qaeda being able to recruit Mexican gang members to work with them, is it?

Finally, if we need to reinforce to logical choice of deporting criminal illegals, Patterico, the newest addition to Hot Air, has yet another example of a criminal illegal -- who never should have been in the country -- taking lives while driving drunk.

Ironic that a drunk driver who snuffed out a life -- hello, Ted Kennedy!, is the driving force behind allowing a swarm of illegals to overrun this country.

Others weighing in include 7.62mm Justice.

Steyn on Shamnesty

A must read today from Mark Steyn.

I don't know whether this sham of a bill is dead or just resting ''in the shadows'' like a fine upstanding member of the Vampiric-American community. But, if it rises on the third night to stalk the land once more, I would advise its supporters to go about their work more honestly. First of all, the only guys ''living in the shadows'' are the aides of American senators beavering away out of the public eye to cook up this legislation and then present it as a fait accomplis to the citizenry (if you'll forgive the expression). That is an affront to small-r republican government, and, if intemperate hectoring mediocrities like Trent Lott and Lindsay Graham don't understand that, then their electors should give them a well-deserved lesson.

Second, the bill's supporters should stop assuming the bad faith of their opponents. On Fox News the other night, I was told by NPR's Juan Williams, ''You're anti-immigrant!'' Er, actually, I am an immigrant -- one of the members of the very very teensy-weensy barely statistically detectable category of ''legal immigrant.'' But perhaps that doesn't count anymore. Perhaps, like Colin Powell's blackness, it's insufficiently ''authentic.'' By filing the relevant paperwork with the United States government, I'm not ''keepin' it real.''

You are hereby orderd to read the whole thing. If this doesn't piss you off enough, then go read Michelle Malkin's column in the New York Post.

AS you follow the debate over the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill, keep this cardinal rule in mind: 99.99 percent of the lawmakers who promise you that they'll ensure the deportation of anyone who doesn't follow their new "guest-worker" regulations are either A) lying or B) completely clueless.

Rule No. 2: Anyone who plays the Enforcement equals Kicking-Down-Doors-And-Depriving-Babies-of-Mother's-Milk card (yes, that's you, Geraldo Rivera) is either A) lying or B) completely clueless.

It is also required reading.

Gingrich: FedEx the Illegals

Newt Gingrich thinking outside the box, as always. No doubt some won't get the joke.

Gingrich railed against the senators who gave renewed life to the floundering measure Thursday, and told a questioner he had no idea why President Bush was encouraging the issue.

“They had every opportunity to let this die. It’s clear a huge majority of the country doesn’t like it,” he said. “Why it’s come back, I have no concept.”

Gingrich otherwise avoided mentioning the Bush administration, even though he has described it in recent interviews as dysfunctional and said the president has driven the party into collapse.

Gingrich also joked that national couriers can send and track thousands of moving packages simultaneously, while the government can’t find millions of illegal immigrants who are sitting still.

“We should spend a couple hundred million dollars to send a package to every illegal immigrant,” he said to laughter. “FedEx and UPS will find them and we’ll have them right there on the computer screen. Done.”

Bush to Hispanics: Habla Up, Y'all!

The dreaded conservatives are being trashed every which way to Sunday, Trent Lott urges that something must be done about those rebel yahoos on talk radio, and now the president is now urging Hispanics to join the fray in trying to pressure senators to vote for shamnesty.

No word on what language they'll speak up in. The Senate will probably set up Spanish-speaking phone lines.

President Bush yesterday told Hispanics to step into the middle of the immigration debate and make sure senators who have been bombarded with calls from opponents also hear from those who support the bill.

"There's a lot of emotion on this issue, and it makes sense to have people from around the country come and sit down with members of Congress to talk rationally about the issue," he told those attending the Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington yesterday.

He was speaking a day after the bill, which collapsed last week, was revived by the top Democrat and Republican in the Senate.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, agreed to put the bill back on the Senate's schedule next week, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, agreed to limit the number of amendments Republicans would offer.

But roadblocks are already popping up.

Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, said he will block any attempt to send the bill to an eventual House-Senate conference, complicating the usual path a bill takes to reach the president's desk.

"Ted Kennedy has sold us another bill of goods and I don't trust him to make even more changes to it behind closed doors in a conference with the House," Mr. DeMint said, referring to the Massachusetts Democrat who has spearheaded the bill along with Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican.

Read the rest.

Good for Sen. DeMint. South Carolina has at least one sane GOP senator.

Meanwhile, some rather stunning news in the House last night, via Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE: You've got to be kidding me. They can't be this stupid. Can they?

Resuscitating Shamnesty

Obviously the solons in Washington haven't gotten the message, but the American people want no part of shamnesty. Still, they're determined to go over the cliff, taking us with them whether we want this mess or not.

Immigration bill gets 2nd chance

The top Democrat and top Republican in the Senate last night said the immigration bill, which stalled last week, will be revived and back on the Senate's agenda next week.

The announcement capped a weeklong effort by a small group of senators that drafted and has defended the bill from critics on the right and the left, and sets the stage for another bruising round of tough votes on border security, family reunification and legalization of illegal aliens.

If they think those opposed to the bill are going away, they're sadly mistaken.

Further alienating the GOP base, it seems Mississippi Senator Trent Lott has his hairpiece screwed on too tight.

Comments by Republican senators on Thursday suggested that they were feeling the heat from conservative critics of the bill, who object to provisions offering legal status. The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the bill, said: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”

Oh really, Senator, what does that mean? If they think they've been feeling heat, now they're going to have blowtorches on their backsides.

Memo to Senator Lott:

Elsewhere, Michelle Malkin points out how inept Lott is, while Allahpundit hammers away.

(Image via Agent Bedhead)