Key cloture vote on Senate immigration bill
has failed. Only 46 senators voted to continue with debate on the legislation, short of the 60 needed.
UPDATE: Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA): “It is now clear that we are not going to complete our work on immigration reform. That is enormously disappointing for Congress and for the country.”
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67 Responses to “Key cloture vote on Senate immigration bill”
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“cloture” is a retarded word… it’s one letter away from “closure,” and it means the same thing, so why not make the leap?
June 28th, 2007 at 11:35 amGood! The whole guest worker thing was total BS! I am for immigration but not when they can legally be indentured servants!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:35 amAh, that low rating of Congress will now go lower due to the inability of the Republican party to come together on this one issue. This issue is tearing the GOP up right now.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:36 amWell, Neocons want the illegal immigrant tide to increase, and this will guarantee it, IF it makes it through the House…
June 28th, 2007 at 11:36 amWhy are all the ICE raids so far after the workers and NONE of the companies have been fined?
Swift got away scott free but hundreds of workers were rounded up and were immediately proven to be undocumented, which Swift didn’t seem to catch.
Now in FL, the police are wandering onto job sites and waiting for the workers to run off and then arrest them, but again, nothing for the hiring companies but a few lost hours and then won’t have to pay for the time worked by the arrested workers from their last pay period either.
This is why Dubya is supporting this bill, it has minimal punishment for the companies AND he knows it won’t be enforced anyway. Meanwhile his Corporate contributors and the Chamber of Commerce get what they want… even MORE cheap labor from other countries with more technical skills which will hit the middle class now.
Is this a great Corporately-owned GOP country or what!!!!!!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:47 amGood. The Amnesty Bill is dead.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:47 amC’mon reupukes I know you want to make a racist issue out of the illegal immigration bill. GO FOR IT!!! Tell the people that hte big bad mexicans are comming to kill you and rape your women. But keep in mind you repukes, BIG BUSINESS, your real lord and master wants illegals here so they can help kill the american dream for millions of middle class americans. You remember the mythical little man don’t you?? the one who votes you in and out of office??? The one who’s lives and futures you repukes are pissing on??
June 28th, 2007 at 11:49 amNow the Congress should move immediately to take that 4.4 billion they were going to waste on the new Democrat Party Voters Act and build a fence, improve the technology and hire more border guards and begin the prosecution of those who hire these slaves from Mexico.
And our highways just got a whole lot safer.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:50 amThank the lord the Think Progress/Bush Amnesty bill got killed!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:52 am“Why are all the ICE raids so far after the workers and NONE of the companies have been fined?
Swift got away scott free but hundreds of workers were rounded up and were immediately proven to be undocumented, which Swift didn’t seem to catch.
Comment by Upside00 — June 28, 2007 @ 11:47 am”
EXACTLY…..
Just enforce the damn laws on the books already, and we will see this mess clean its self up.
If the Companies, and managers are fined and/or jailed then this issue will be moot real quick.
I can hear the right now…. “So now you want the companies to be the police?”
NO. I want them to enforce the damn laws… It is A CRIME to hire illegals, so they should do EVERYTHING in their powers to ensure these people are here legally.
That argument is like saying: “So you want them to verrify that the formula for this very secret product is in fact stolen, just because it was a gift for a small price?”
I am all for someone coming here and making a living and trying to become a citizen, but LEGALLY!!!!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:53 amThe Millionaires’ Club that is the Senate looooooooves cheap labor. They couldn’t get cloture on the minimum wage, and they can’t get cloture on cheap labor.
Same people, same problem.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:56 am.
It is official Bush just became the Aflac duck;
QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK
So impotent
June 28th, 2007 at 11:56 amSo irrelevent
Good, that immigration bill is 100% sludge. It would have been a huge victory for Bush and corporate elite if it had passed.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:56 amErrmm… Isn’t a cloture vote a vote to END debate? Hasn’t the failure to invoke cloture actually resulted in time to debate the bill continuing?
Ah, yes, but Sen. Reid has now pulled the bill.
Still, the headline for this entry is exactly opposite of what a cloture vote actually is.
Later,
June 28th, 2007 at 11:59 amDon’t you realize that that bill gave criminals 2 out of 5 years taxes off for a whopping $2K. How many citizens can decide to pay only 3 out of 5 years in takes for a $2K VIG… REAL ID Act would require biometric ID CARDS. Arlen Spector was busy jumping up and down about a “fool proof system” and that system is BIOMETRIC ID CARDS.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:02 pmNow republican party will grow strong and win every election for next 20-30 years by alienating biggest minority and pissing off every Hispanic in our country but at least they have a support of Minuteman, Dobbs and white supremacist groups.
Great job GOP!!!
Also for all those Dems who voted with Republics, a simple message for yo all ” acting like a lite GOP won’t make you win more votes in GOP areas, some nutty right wing nut will always find some issues to unseat you any way but by standing with your true democratic credentials will help you with libs and undecideds.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:03 pmCloture does mean stopping debate on a bill so it can be voted on. The Bill died because debate would never end.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:03 pm“Errmm… Isn’t a cloture vote a vote to END debate? Hasn’t the failure to invoke cloture actually resulted in time to debate the bill continuing?
Ah, yes, but Sen. Reid has now pulled the bill.
Still, the headline for this entry is exactly opposite of what a cloture vote actually is.
Later,
Comment by Cicero — June 28, 2007 @ 11:59 am”
Actually, cloture is a means by which a vote is taken to determine if debate should continue, meaning the bill should be allowed to move forward.
If someone envokes “cloture” then depending on if the votes are met by the requirement, then the bill may proceed for a vote.
That is how many of the bills have been killed by the Repubs in the Senate so far. If the Dems can’t get the 60 votes, they MUST pull the bill according to the Senate rules.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:05 pmNever have so many citizens of all political persuasions been so unanaimous — and never has the arrogance of power been on such display. Here we have our legislature patting itself on the back for such bipartisan work — the only problem is that it’s bopartisan work that their consituents almost universally oppose.
Such arrogance can be attributed to one thing and one thing only: these sonsofbitches work for the people who have the money and benefit from this slave labor driving down wages and benefits for citizens who are increasingly finding no alternative way of earning a living. They are in bipartisan fashion systematically dismantling the American dream, one piece at a time.
May they all rot in hell.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:05 pmBush lost, America wins!
June 28th, 2007 at 12:05 pmYes, the text appears wrong in this story. A cloture vote generally requires 3/5 to pass, and it ends debate. So the 46 number is not the important. The important number is the 54 (if all voted) that voted to end debate… short of the 60 necessary…
June 28th, 2007 at 12:07 pmhttp://www.yuricareport.com/ Law%20&%20Legal/ Senate%20Rules%20on%20Filibuster.html
“The Filibuster and the Cloture Vote: Some Background
The filibuster is a U. S. Senate practice whereby a single Senator, or his minority party, can block full Senate consideration of a bill or nomination by extending debate on the proposal indefinitely. The resulting “filibuster” can ordinarily be stopped only by a “cloture” vote, which requires 60 of the 100 Senators (a supermajority) to vote to end debate, and bring the bill or nomination to a final vote.
The filibuster, obviously, plays a crucial role whenever only 50 to 59 Senators support a given bill or nomination. It can ensure that the proposal is not approved, despite the fact that a majority of the Senate (or half the Senate, plus the Vice President, who breaks ties) would approve the measure if a vote were taken.
This right to endless debate evolved in the Senate over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is now embodied in the Senate’s own formal rules - particularly Rule XXII, which guarantees unlimited discussion absent cloture.
Filibusters of old required the filibustering party to actually stand and hold the Senate floor by speaking continuously, in order to delay a final vote, as depicted in Frank Capra’s famous movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” which featured Jimmy Stewart as a young and idealistic Senate newcomer. Today, by contrast, a minority party can indefinitely put off a vote on a bill or nomination by simply indicating to Senate leaders that this indefinite delay is desired - unless there are 60 Senators in favor of cloture.”
June 28th, 2007 at 12:09 pmWhy are all the ICE raids so far after the workers and NONE of the companies have been fined?
Comment by Upside00
Good question, Upside00. Indeed, why not go after the enablers too? Oh, wait, they’re probably politically connected…
June 28th, 2007 at 12:09 pmBut the Dems did vote themselves a pay raise so this may not hurt so bad.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pmI am still shocked that Think Progress joined up with Bush to push this bill. Makes me wonder if Clinton’s boys running Think Progress were on vacation or something. Isn’t Think Progress just supposed to be a large Vote Hillary Microphone?
June 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pm“…and begin the prosecution of those who hire these slaves from Mexico…”
Comment by Unvarnished Truth
Gangway!!! More Repubs heading to prison…
June 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pmTo ammend my comment #21, only 46 senators voted to end debate… so the story should read:
“Only 46 senators voted to end debate on the legislation, short of the 60 needed.”
June 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pmYou need 60 votes to end debate, not to continue it.
More importantly, 53 Senators voted against sending this bill forward, showing it didn’t have the support for passage, anyway. Cloture is mainly important when a minority is preventing a vote on a bill that would otherwise become law.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:13 pmThat was millions of votes lost….which was the ONLY reason the Dems were supporting it.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:13 pmMUST WATCH:
http://www.dailykos.com/ storyonly/ 2007/ 6/ 18/ 22435/ 0365
THIS IS THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM!
If you’ll note, these methods are LEGAL!
June 28th, 2007 at 12:17 pmGood.
Now time for an enforcement-only bill, which is a bill that doesn’t cater to the democratic voting bloc, and a bill that doesn’t create an additional underclass of workers.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:18 pm#22
Thanks for the reminder on how cloture works, RemoveBush.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:19 pm“You need 60 votes to end debate, not to continue it.
Comment by Jinchi — June 28, 2007 @ 12:13 pm”
That’s correct….. Sorry, I typed it in wrong….
I just have 2 words to justify this error……
NEWBORN TWINS!
The lack of sleep is killing me…
June 28th, 2007 at 12:20 pmHarry Reid: Miserable failure.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:24 pmTo all:
Thanks for the responses regarding the rules around cloture.
Later,
June 28th, 2007 at 12:26 pmThere are so many Unconstitutional areas of this legislation that it is plane to see that the mail, faxes, calls and shouting yesterday made many of the Senators reconsider their positions for fear of losing votes! REAL ID is expensive and would be universally required for all existing citizens to become the default identification system.
Potential citizens must be indoctrinated into the society since many come from other systems of government that are not based on representative democracy. The major issue from my viewpoint is that employers are not punished for employing aliens. Some are in fact not able to rid themselves of illegals since those aliens may be able to file civil suits for discrimination!
The idea that the objection to illegal aliens in the USA is racially motivated has been implanted here as a tool of alien revolutionary groups. If you are loyal to a dictator or communistic government you could be a threat to democracy and sneaking around and committing fraud could be and is subversive.
The King wants to unify Mexico, Canada and the USA as one nation and it appears that some of our Congresspersons on both sides support that. Yet even with the cloture vote behind us I’m watching a Republican state that biometric ID is essential.
The other day my call for a national day of stay at home protest was labeled as my call for “insurgency.†12-30 million criminals is an insurgency!
June 28th, 2007 at 12:32 pmIllegal Immigrants should be left alone. Period. It costs too much money chasing them down, holding them, caring for them and deporting them. OTH, large and STRICTLY ENFORCED fines for each illegal hired by a company generates income and ensures that illegals will return to their homes since there will be no work here for them. However, neither the Democrats OR the Republcans have the balls to do that since each is dependent on that corporate income for their elections. And you won’t find the rightwing wackos supporting that either - for whatever reason, they prefer to lick the corporate boots also.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:34 pm#23 Good question, Upside00. Indeed, why not go after the enablers too? Oh, wait, they’re probably politically connected…
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity
And we also know who they gave most of their contributions too, as well.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:38 pmNEWBORN TWINS!
The lack of sleep is killing me…
Comment by RemoveBush — June 28, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
Congratulations, RemoveBush!!
Boys? Girls? One of each?
You’ll sleep well again in approximately 18 years — there is hope!
June 28th, 2007 at 12:47 pmRoger_Roger is happy the bill failed, because he is a racist. I am glad it failed, because it would have harmed American workers and left the border wide-open.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:48 pm“Comment by Zooey — June 28, 2007 @ 12:47 pm”
Boys….. Identical….
They wake at the same time, poop at the same time and thank god….. sleep at the same time.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:49 pmIllegal Immigrants should be left alone. Period. It costs too much money chasing them down, holding them, caring for them and deporting them. OTH, large and STRICTLY ENFORCED fines for each illegal hired by a company generates income and ensures that illegals will return to their homes since there will be no work here for them. However, neither the Democrats OR the Republcans have the balls to do that since each is dependent on that corporate income for their elections. And you won’t find the rightwing wackos supporting that either - for whatever reason, they prefer to lick the corporate boots also.
Comment by Oldfart — June 28, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
I agree with your post except for the first part. “Illegal anything should be left alone†is hypocrisy on your part. If you break a law should you be left alone? If you steal should you be left alone, PERIOD? The whole thing was done on purpose to support the Plutocratic interests. Both sides have wanted the same thing for ages since they are plutocrats. These are corporations, businesses and representatives of those interests disguised as our representatives, leaders and judges.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:50 pm“cloture†is a retarded word… it’s one letter away from “closure,†and it means the same thing, so why not make the leap?
Comment by Pete Bogs — June 28, 2007 @ 11:35 am
Oh you did NOT just go there.
You do NOT mess with Robert’s Rules of Order.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:54 pmAs an American who has a job that Americans so don’t want I applaud the failue of the Immigration Reform crap. For once the Republicans have actually helped the working man. If only they would now enforce the earlier laws and go after employers who hire illegals with the same zero tolerence approach used in the War on Drugs, the tactic should work this time.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:04 pmTed Kennedy is upset the bill failed, but he needs to be honest and tell Americans that he has ties to Mexico’s elite.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:17 pmWhen Ted Kennedy loses, America wins!
I just wish Bush was not such a big liberal. He should side with the republicans instead of the Democrats all the time.
ROTFL
June 28th, 2007 at 1:19 pmWhy are all the ICE raids so far after the workers and NONE of the companies have been fined? -Comment by Upside00
Good question, Upside00. Indeed, why not go after the enablers too? Oh, wait, they’re probably politically connected…
-Comment by The Republic of Stupidity
Good insight. Here in MN we’ve seen a lot of ICE activity; Swift, dairy farms, etc. They take the workers to deport, and DO NOTHING to the corporate entity knowlingly using illegal workers.
You’re both right; if the Feds went after the employers, (just following the law) the problem would solve itself, to a degree.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:21 pmgo after employers? Like Tyson chicken who take busses to the boarder in Texas and pick up loads of illegals and then take them back to the factory and lock them in the factory?
June 28th, 2007 at 1:28 pmIt was a stupid bill….let it go.
Enforce the laws we already have in place, and let’s move on to getting out of Iraq and impeaching this sorry-assed administration.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:28 pmYes Zooey,
but how could a good wedge issue be driven in just prior to an election if the sane path were followed?
June 28th, 2007 at 1:31 pm“For once the republicans have actually helped the working man.” -James Reed. I know most of you here would rather work for the goverment than a private corporation where you would be and are held accountable,unlike let’s say,the DMV or Airport Screeners,who do a real fine job right? Again the goverment is failing the will of the people concerning immigration. Close the damn borders.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:45 pm#25
The Democrats are trying to have both ways. They are trying to back the President and push the immigration bill with their left hand, and point at the President and call his bill a poor one with their right.
Hmmmm.
June 28th, 2007 at 2:50 pmNever have so many citizens of all political persuasions been so unanaimous — and never has the arrogance of power been on such display.
That is pretty much the oddity of the situation. It’s rare that the far left and the far right agree, but when they do, it’s probably for a reason…
June 28th, 2007 at 2:52 pmYes Zooey,
but how could a good wedge issue be driven in just prior to an election if the sane path were followed?
Comment by James Reed
Yes, that would be problematic.
June 28th, 2007 at 2:55 pmThe Republican and Democratic bases need to align together and oppose their elitist masters. Only when a fraternity of middle-class Americans, Left and Right, strive together against the corporatists can the REAL America, the world’s great dream, be again realized.
Down with the Elite! Up with the People!
Take back our Nation by force, if necessary.
It’s time for the Second American Revolution, because, as Jefferson said, the Tree of Liberty must at times be watered by the blood of Patriots.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:25 pmIt was a stupid bill….let it go.
Enforce the laws we already have in place, and let’s move on to getting out of Iraq and impeaching this sorry-assed administration.
Comment by Zooey — June 28, 2007 @ 1:28 pm
So we can’t talk about illegal aliens anymore? All you people do is talk about wedge issues but the moment something doesn’t go your way you move to quash all debate. It looks like the thread is about the immigration bill and it needs to be stated that it will eventually be back! People can’t even agree to hold a day of protest and then there are all of the idiots claiming that taking a day off is sedition LOL. We need to talk about why these wedge issues have us reduced to protesting from free speech zones. Yesterday it seemed to me that this was going to go all the way. Now that it failed there is at least some breathing room! Some of the republicans and democrats were listening to their constituency. Thank GOD!
June 28th, 2007 at 3:36 pmgetaclue fr
June 28th, 2007 at 3:37 pmi do not run
June 28th, 2007 at 3:38 pmwe just agree on this issue some what
June 28th, 2007 at 3:40 pmComment by Chadwick — June 28, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
Be cautious brother, there are creatures here that will claim that holding a national strike/day off/home protest would be viewed by the government as an act of insurgency against the Government even though we are the government Ahahahahahaha. BARTELBEE may lecture you with his minions in an attempt to shut down public discourse, commentary, debate, action, civil protest and ending the war and restoring the Constitution and impeachment!
June 28th, 2007 at 3:41 pmIt is time for a second revolution, just not one with guns. Each and every congressman and senator up for re-election needs to go. Start up a writ in campaign in your state file the appropriate petitions and filing fees with the appropriate Sec. of State and elect someone that is not a democrat or a republican but is instead a non affiliated regular citizen (nurse, electrician, bus driver) who understand the trials of life no millionare can. See the pendulum swing then.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:01 pmanyone serious, come on lets go
June 28th, 2007 at 4:12 pmall the new senators from 2006 voted against it, when will the rest realize, that there are more important things happening that are affecting AMERICAN CITIZENS!
June 28th, 2007 at 4:20 pmand the band played on
June 28th, 2007 at 4:24 pmand the band played on
Comment by James Reed — June 28, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
I advanced the possibility of agreeing on a date and spreading the word for a national stay at home protest or strike at home and because I have different views about global warming, immigration, guns and other wedge issues i was personally rejected along with a possible safe, easy and cost effective method of protest. All anyone need agree on if that the majority of the population wants the Bushco out and the war ended and Constitutional restoration. Why don’t you help organize a national day of protest at home where no work is done and no money trades hands!
June 28th, 2007 at 4:53 pmSeal up the borders first, Ted. Tight as a drum.
Then we can talk.
June 28th, 2007 at 5:10 pmGood. I agree that immigration reform is needed but this bill was POS.
More proof that our democratic system still has SOME functionality.
June 28th, 2007 at 6:34 pm