Amnesty bill dies in Senate — A victory for the American people
With most Democrats supporting amnesty for illegal aliens, be careful who you vote for in 2008 or you might be welcoming 12 million new U.S. citizens overnight. And it's still possible the amnesty bill can be brought back in the Senate.
Chalk one up for the American people.
The "immigration reform" bill pushed by a motley crew that includes President Bush, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy is dead. Good riddance!
The people have spoken. Their elected representatives listened for once. The American people said "No" to amnesty for illegal aliens. No to open borders. No to threatening our national sovereignty.
The Senate voted 46 to 53 Thursday against cloture (end debate) on the immigration bill. Cloture would have moved the amnesty bill along the Senate for a final vote. The pro-amnesty lobby needed 60 votes. It got only 46.
The amnesty bill is dead until after the 2008 presidential elections thanks to hundreds of thousands of phone calls, letters and e-mails to Congress by the American people.
Sen. Jim DeMint, a Republican from South Carolina, described the fight over the immigration bill as "a war between the American people and their government," adding that the vote on cloture was "about whether or not we're going to listen to the American people."
In the end, 53 Senators -- mostly Republicans -- sided with the American people instead of the special interest groups and pro-amnesty crowd.
Take note that two leading Democratic contenders for president, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, both voted in favor of the amnesty bill.
With most Democrats supporting amnesty for illegal aliens, be careful who you vote for in 2008 or you might be welcoming 12 million new U.S. citizens overnight. It's still possible the amnesty bill can be brought back in the Senate. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised: "It will come back — it's only a question of when."
That's why it's important to send a simple message to your senators: "If you vote in favor of any amnesty bill, you will never get my vote again."
That's the message Pennsylvania residents need to send to Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, both of whom supported the amnesty bill despite overwhelming opposition from Pennsylvania residents.
Who are Specter and Casey representing?
Below is a roll call of how all Senators voted Thursday. Find out how your Senators voted and remind them that their jobs are on the line if they defy the will of the American people again.
A "NAY" vote was a vote to kill the Senate amnesty bill.
Reid, pandering to the Democrats' liberal base, criticized the growing opposition, saying calls and letters have been "filled with prejudice and hatred and venom." It's called Democracy, senator. Your side didn't win. Don't insult the American people any more than you do by just being in the Senate.
Another liberal stalwart, Sen. Diane Feinstein of California, said the American people are too stupid to understand that opening the nation's borders to anyone who wants to come in is good for them.
Feinstein said amnesty opponents "don't understand the bill."
Feinstein asked her colleagues to vote for cloture because "if we miss this opportunity, there is not likely to be another opportunity in the next few years to fix this."
Fix this? The same way Congress "fixed" the problem in 1986 with a comprehensive immigration reform bill that failed to prevent millions of illegal aliens from entering the United States.
There is a simple fix. 1) Secure the U.S.-Mexico border. 2) Punish employers who hire illegal workers. 3) Document the illegal aliens already here. 4) Deport the criminals among the illegals. 5) Make the 12 million already here get in line with all those waiting legally to become U.S. citizens.
Tony Phyrillas is a leading conservative political columnist and blogger based in Pennsylvania. He is a veteran journalist with 25 years experience as a reporter, editor and columnist for several newspapers. Phyrillas received recognition for column writing in 2010 from the Associated Press Managing Editors, in 2007 from Suburban Newspapers of America and in 2006 from the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Chapter. A graduate of Penn State University, Phyrillas is the city editor and political columnist for The Mercury, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper in Pottstown, Pa. In addition to The Mercury website (www.pottsmerc.com), his columns are featured on more than a dozen political websites and blogs. Phyrillas is a frequent guest (and occasional host) on talk radio and has been a panelist on the "Journalists Roundtable" public affairs TV program on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). Phyrillas was named one of the '10 Leading Greek-American Bloggers in the World' in 2007 by Odyssey: The World of Greece magazine. BlogNetNews.com ranked Phyrillas the Most Influential Political Blogger in Pennsylvania for three consecutive years (2007-2010). You can follow Phyrillas on Twitter @TonyPhyrillas
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