Morning Briefing
For June 24, 2013
1. Latest “Deal” from the Senate: Pass Amnesty First, Read the Bill Later
On Monday at 5:30pm, the United States Senate will vote on the most sweeping immigration reform proposal it has considered in almost 3 decades – and it will do so having only seen the nearly 1200 pages of text for approximately 72 hours. Americans – including myself, my fellow senators and our staffs – are still trying to figure out exactly what is in the new Schumer-Corker-Hoeven “deal.”
Sound familiar? Pass it to find out what’s in it? Reminiscent of Obamacare, the lengthy amendment to replace the Gang of 8’s original bill was crafted behind closed doors and introduced late on Friday, after many members had left town. In the 2007 immigration debate, close to 50 amendments were considered. But this year, we have only debated 9 – with some of us being completely shut out.
Given only a weekend to review the language, we will now vote on whether to end a debate that never really began. To be clear – this is not a difficult vote. On process alone, we should all vote “no.“ This was by design – the President, Harry Reid and the Gang of 8 preferred all along to ram through a “deal,” and not have a real debate – just like Obamacare. Worse, just like Obamacare, the “deal” involved lots of horse-trading and buying off of votes at the last minute – a display of everything that is wrong with Washington, and one of the things I specifically campaigned against.
But, on substance – the vote is even easier. There are too many troubling provisions of the bill to list, such as de facto affirmative action hiring for current illegal immigrants due to Obamacare and huge amounts of discretion for the DHS Secretary to waive deportation and inadmissibility. And for all the talk, the new Schumer-Corker-Hoeven “deal” is nothing new at all. It’s the same amnesty-before-false-promise-of-security of the Gang of 8 and the bills of debates past.
That is why we started this petition, so that Americans can speak out and let Senators know that they oppose the legalization-first bill offered by the Gang of 8 and Schumer-Corker-Hoeven.
Here’s what we know that the bill does . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2. Here’s the Whip List for Immigration
I’m being a bit more cautious and including a few who, like the co-sponsors of the Corker plan, will probably vote for the immigration bill, but should be called anyway. Call them and tell them to oppose the Corker amendment (yes, tell Bob Corker) and to oppose the immigration legislation.
SENATOR
|
STATE
|
NUMBER
|
Murkowski
|
AK
|
202-224-6665
|
Pryor
|
AR
|
202-224-2353
|
Chambliss
|
GA
|
202-224-3521
|
Isakson
|
GA
|
202-224-3643
|
Kirk
|
IL
|
202-224-2854
|
Donnelly
|
IN
|
202-224-4814
|
Moran
|
KS
|
202-224-6521
|
McConnell
|
KY
|
202-224-2541
|
Landrieu
|
LA
|
202-224-5824
|
Collins
|
ME
|
202-224-2523
|
Baucus
|
MT
|
202-224-2651
|
Tester
|
MT
|
202-224-2644
|
Hagan
|
NC
|
202-224-6342
|
Burr
|
NC
|
202-224-3154
|
Heitkamp
|
ND
|
202-224-2043
|
Johanns
|
NE
|
202-224-4224
|
Hoeven
|
NE
|
202-224-2551
|
Chiesa
|
NJ
|
202-224-3224
|
Heller
|
NV
|
202-224-6244
|
Portman
|
OH
|
202-224-3353
|
Coburn
|
OK
|
202-224-5754
|
Alexander
|
TN
|
202-224-4944
|
Corker
|
TN
|
202-224-3344
|
Hatch
|
UT
|
202-224-5251
|
Sanders
|
VT
|
202-224-5141
|
Johnson (Ron)
|
WI
|
202-224-5323
|
Manchin
|
WV
|
202-224-3954
|
3. Wedge Issues and the Rape Exception
Winning political parties don’t change their core principles or flip-flop on the major issues that animate major elements of their coalition. But they do pick their battles with care to maximize the number of wedge issues that favor them. Understanding this is key to understanding why the House GOP is right to push a late-term abortion bill that contains a rape exception. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4. Ed Snowden flees Hong Kong, goes to… Russia.
This isn’t civil disobedience, by the way: civil disobedience is when you tell the cops to go ahead and arrest you, the legal system to go ahead and convict you, and the government to go ahead and actually put you in jail. Civil disobedience is about doing what you think is right and accepting the consequences. Otherwise, it’s presumption, arrogance, and the arrogant presumption of privilege (literally: “private law”). Which is an excellent way to describe Ed Snowden, frankly. And Wikileaks, come to think of it. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
5. Mayors Against Illegal Guns Uses New York City Resources
The official website of gun control advocacy group Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) is hosted by the City of New York, according to publicly available web hosting records. This revelation, first reported by conservative blogger John Ekdahl on June 20, is the latest evidence of coordination between government officials and MAIG using public resources.
Founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, MAIG is registered under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code as a social welfare organization granted a tax exempt status.
Domain records at WhoIs.net also state that the registrant of MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns.org, MAIG’s primary website, is the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (NYCDoITT). . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
6. The Mission Fields
My wife and I spent the better part of last Friday afternoon and evening in the emergency room at a local hospital. Long story, but all is well. While there, only a curtain separated our section of a room from another. Several patients rotated through on the other side of the curtain.
The first was a young man with terrible ear pain. A nurse came to ask questions of the young man. He had no job. He smoked eight joints a day and two to three cigarettes. He only drank on the weekend, but all weekend. He would only laugh when asked about other drugs he might use.
The older man would scold him, but there was no punishment, just acceptance.
The next patient was a child who had been playing football, tripped, and possibly had broken his wrist. Neither adult with the child worked. The child was scared and in pain. The adults with the child kept berating the child for making them get out of bed. It was after 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
A child in need of comfort received criticism and anger — anger over the adult having to get out of bed, anger over the male adult missing a wrestling program, anger about a waste of time, etc.
This is a regular occurrence in hospitals. It is tragic. Our society is collapsing around us. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
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