Grrrrr

GRRRRR

The immigration bill in the senate fell apart again last night, but this from yesterday sent me into a very dark mood.  Yes, unusual, indeed.  Here's some salient lines from "Immigration Deal Survives GOP Threat." First, what was the threatening legislation? “ A bipartisan immigration bill narrowly survived a potentially fatal challenge on Wednesday when the Senate turned back a Republican bid to limit the illegal immigrants who could gain lawful status. The close vote on a proposal by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar felons—including those court-ordered to be deported—from legalization reflected the delicate position of the contentious immigration bill, which remains under threat from the right and the left. ” That's the state of our government today, and I include President  Bush.  An amendment to bar felons that have been court-ordered to be deported was an unacceptable threat.  These Republicans voted against the amendment: (110th Congress / Senate / 1st session / Vote 187) Larry Craig, Pete Domenici, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Hagel, Jon Kyl, Richard Lugar, Mel Martinez, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Larry Craig of course dropped dead almost immediately after his vote, the others did not. (And Larry Craig is about the only one in this group I normally liked).  I don't care what their reasons were.  Any senator who would vote FOR an immigration bill that gives known felons the right to United States citizenship deserves immediate removal from that body.  We can't hope for a higher power to do all the dirty work either. The following Democrats voted for excluding felons, and given their history we must assume they were holding out for a bill that granted felons immediate citizenship, and pre-paid social security and Medicare entitlements. (Max Baucus, Robert Byrd, Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, Mary Landrieu, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Jay Rockefeller, Jon Tester)