Jun 26 2007
Live Blogging The Immigration Vote – It Passes!
Updates Below (roll call)
Right now the Senate is voting on a bill covering some kind of legislation on unions. Following this vote will be the vote on Immigration. America is at a cross roads, as is the GOP. The far right has put a lot of emotion and anger into this issue. It has permanently divided the GOP into two camps which may not reconcile after this vote. The language has been toxic and exaggerated and left too many marks to be put aside easily. So here we sit on one of those historic moments. Let’s see how it goes.
Update: They are starting the role call vote. 60 votes are required in the affirmative to let the Bill move on to the votes on the 24 amendments being proposed.
Update: It will be easier to simply list the “nayes” as they come up and update the post, so keep checking as names are added (there will be typos as the vote goes on, will try and clean them up later).
OK, they did the “ayes” first (and reading fast!) and here is what I heard:
The Ayes:
McConnell, Graham, Lott, Kyl, Martinez, Brownback, McCain, Snowe, Warner, Webb, Allard, Reid, Murray, Cantwell, Whitehouse, Specter, McCulsky. Ensign, Hagel
The Nayes:
Chambliss, Isaackson, Demint, Byrd, McCaskill, Bunning, Shelby, Sessions, Dole, Dorgan, Stabenow, Cornyn, Rockefeller
Folks, they are reading to fast so these are just key names I am pulling out to indicate where they are coming down. Not a comprehensive list yet. But it is clear there are dems and reps in both camps. The amensty hypochondriac wing is not as big is some think it is.
Update: Final tally: Ayes 64 Nayes 35! It passes!
Clearly the amnesty hypochondriac wing of the GOP is not that big. Even with a lot of liberals and democrats voting ‘naye’ the bill still passed the 60 threshold – by a much larger margin than I predicted.
Now we go to the sausage making stage and see if the poison pills can be kept out while strengthening the bill. Good start though. And I expect all the hypochondriac to applaud this wonderful demonstration of the American democratic system and El Presidente Jorge’s efforts to take the tough stances and get us at least to the point there is a chance for progress on this festering issue. I cannot wait to see the accolades from the GOP on how “American” this result is.
Update: I will have the final vote tally up when it comes out in about 30 minutes or so – so check back!
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bunning (R-KY)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Enzi (R-WY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Landrieu (D-LA)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Sununu (R-NH)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Only 24 Republicans out of 49. Interesting.
One more interesting item from Ed Goes and Immigration support. Turns out the more Americans hear about what is in the bill the more they LIKE IT:
When the details are fully explained, an overwhelming majority of Americans favor the immigration bill being debated in the Senate, Ed Goeas, president and CEO of The Tarrance Group, tells me.
The Tarrance Group is a Republican polling and strategy firm that works for Rudy Giuliani, 47 congressmen, 10 senators, and five governors.
Without referring to the Senate bill itself or using terms like “amnesty” that are open to interpretation, the firm polled Americans on whether they would favor its components.
“When we walked through the series of measures that are being proposed, we got 77 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Democrats, and 70 percent of independents supporting it,” says Goeas (pronounced GO-as). “There’s not a piece of research I’ve seen that, if you explain each one of those pieces, you don’t get a majority saying they approve it.” Several issues are at play, Goeas says.
Hat tip to Harold Hutchison posting over at Mac Ranger’s.
Update: NRO is wondering why this debate feels bad? Maybe because they poisoned the GOP well so badly???
AJ: it is not a simple majority for the next vote! You are misinforming the readers once again!
The next vote up, on Thursday, needs 60 votes to proceed; and even IF the bill gets past that, it needs to pass a simple majority then; and if the Reps, and conservative Dems are NOT satisfied then with the way the Amendments fell out, then it won\’t get that.
But, let\’s play Devil\’s Advocate on this, and it does pass the Senate, eventually.
EVERYONE acknowledges that it will NEVER pass the House.
And now, AJ, you\’ve done it it finally; you spin so much on this topic, you pass so much disinformation on this topic; that I have decided that as of today, I\’m against this bill, for one reason, and one reason only, because you support it!
Sorry, it has to be done!
\”Tuesday\’s outcome was far from conclusive, however. The measure still must overcome another make-or-break vote as early as Thursday that will also require the backing of 60 senators, and there is no guarantee that it will ultimately attract even the simple majority it needs to pass. \”
AJ, if you support this Bill, against the wishes of the majority of Americans, as it clearly demonstrated, and if you support this bill, which is clearly against the best interests of the Country, as it clearly is, in it\’s current form, and by the fact that Teddy Kennedy supports it; then I can be against it solely for the fact that it is the wrong bill, at the wrong time, and in the wrong place!
Jacqui,
The house members more than anyone need Bush’s veto pen in their corner. You watch. If the bill get’s through the Senate then it could pass. Don’t ever underestimate George Bush. He knows how to play politics.
Sue, yes you are correct, there is another cloture vote scheduled. I would suspect their could be more. But I think the opposition just hit its high water mark.
drop bold
Bikerken:
writing a bill in secret, then limiting debate to keep as much of it from the American people as possible,
And to add insult, don’t read the bill and espouse it’s greatness.
Dale, good reasoning. Teddy should’ve had one of those DWI illegal aliens at Chappaquidic, maybe he could’ve missed that river.
“Less than one day of “debateâ€. On a bill that has over 300 pages to it and 24 amendments that are being “allowed†to be voted on. Yes. This has been a good day for someone, just not the American citizen.”
Didnt we have a good bit of deabte already. I mean what is the use of debate when it is not done in good faith. Debate is used to put in more posion pills and to kill it all cost. The real debate is in the House in which for some reason the anti bill forces do not wish us to have
test
Lou Dobbs at National Press Club:
announced vote in senate, asked for big round of applause.
Dobbs gave one clap,
no one else gave any.
he said:
“obviously there are people in this town who are in considerable denial as well as disconnect from the constituents they were elected to represent. There is not so much distance between them and the primary corporate interests, socio-ethnic centrist interests and special interests who convened, gathered and coalesced around this legislation that I described as rather routinely disasterous for the common good of the people. “
He said a lot more.
FE,
Lou Dobbs is a fat Pat Buchannan. The guy is an emotional basket case. When you authority comes from a CNN anchor you know you have flown over the cukoo’s nest.
Somehow I am beginning to think it is a good thing I am in the summer of my life. I fear the winter years will be long and hard. Our nation is changing. Yesterday I heard a La Raza member say that if the Republican Party wants to continue to remain relevant, it must move more toward the left or Hispanic voters will be such a large bloc they will move the nation farther left without the Republicans.
I cannot understand how anyone can fail to see what is going on. Illegal immigration is not about any one race, ethnic heritage, or origin of birth. It is about being illegal in a nation of laws. But the Hispanic movement has made it a racial issue so that they can use our politically correct attitude against us. The LaRaza spokesman was very clear; “we will move the nation left by sheer numbers”.
I have spoken of Pan-Am political attitudes on this blog before. Those attitudes are socialist (or semi-socialist) in nature. I have said that legalizing 12-20 million people, who are by a majority, of those political leanings, will not change their attitudes toward government and the responsibility of government to provide for them once we have made them legal.
We have seen the independent nature that allowed pioneers to cross the Rockies in the dead of winter erode to the point that thousands of American citizens did not have the personal responsibility to get out of the way of an oncoming hurricane even though there were 250 thousand cars available that were left to sit under water. Why? Because they have told for the last 40 years that that the government is responisible for them and every aspect of their lives. We have seen the reponsibility of fathers replace with a welfare check. We have seen people rather live off a monthy check cut in Washington, D.C. that to take a entry level job. We have seen the independent nature of Americans legislated right out of us.
America is going to continue to move farther and farther to the left. With Hillary’s plan to confiscate oil profits to pump up the alternative fuel industry, to socialized medicine paid for on the backs of hard working Americans, to the total redistribution of wealth with no responsibility for the recipient for the money they are given.
But someone gets it:
http://www.rightwingnuthouse.com
So AJ is quoting the same poll Harold did.
Gee one poll basically 70% support the bill and about 12 to 15 polls show 70% oppose the bill.
I guess we should accept that since they are within a margin of error of each other.
Yeah sure right, I got that.
I am glad this got this far. Now I expect people on the right to over react and get stupid about it. They always do.
The amazing thing is that if they get their way, nothing changes. Just look at who voted against it, the radical right and the left.
La Raza, the AFL CIO, the UCLA and the hardliners all on the same side.
“La Raza, the AFL CIO, the UCLA and the hardliners all on the same side. ”
Oh Terrye dont mention that. That is not important. We should only focus on Kennedy lol according to the popular wisdom. Do not look at who the opposition is behind the Curtain. LEt us return to “Oh my GOd Kennedy” soundbites
Terrye
I expected the bill to be revived, many still want a bill passed, but it has to be revived to fix it if you can.
Dale
You have the right bill number, they totally retitled the thing so immigration reform would miss it in the search engine.
That bill text is available online now in the Thomas data base as S1639 plus a slew of amendments that refer you to the congressional record.
Merlin, you are wasting your time. The AJ Groupie Club has no interest in reading the bill. They have their talking points all set up and they cannot be bothered with realities.
R05,
Thanks again for showing how insulting those who disagree with you is the mark of people losing a debate. I cannot wait to hear the Hitler analogies soon to follow.
Actually I was expecting to vote to revive the bill to have somewhere north of the mid 70’s to put it on the agenda for consideration so they could work on it.
Since it only passed in the mid 60’s that would tend to show now earthshaking support that guarantees cloture on Thursday.
Merlin,
There is going to be very little change in alignment unless a poison pill amendment gets through. The GOP is split 50-50 and there are always opportunities for Dems to move as well.
Don’t count on the cloture vote or the House. I am not sure which way it will go, but there is no given either way.
AJ
To barely get the bill back on the table just to consider it shows weakness or support.
I am still hunting down the amendments to see which ones are in the package of 24.
If this vote had failed today, the bill would be totally dead.
I would have expected more to have wanted to bring it to the table to work on.
I still have to look at the full roll call, but I note some opponents of the bill voted to revive it.
I don’t think their is a direct correlation between revival and cloture being assured.
But time will tell.
I have nothing to add. Just wanted to repeat those words. And wonder at the irony knowing who the author is.