Immigration

Posted  by AzBlueMeanie:

The TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, the "Worst. Speaker. Ever.," is signaling to the Tea Party terrorists holding him hostage that he will not allow the immigration reform bill to come to a vote in the House unless "a majority of the majority," i.e., the infamous Hastert Rule, is met.

Why do Tea-Publicans hate democracy? The Hastert Rule is a GOP Caucus rule that operates much like the hated cloture rule (filibuster) in the Senate, which allows a tyranny of a minority to thwart the will of the majority in that chamber. It is undemocratic and an abuse of process. Boehner: No immigration bill without most of GOP support:

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) privately reiterated to
colleagues Tuesday that the House will not vote on an immigration reform
package that doesn’t have the support of a majority of Republicans.

The comments came as some of the most conservative GOP lawmakers and well-financed outside conservative groups are seeking to change internal House GOP rules that would block legislation from the House floor that does not have “majority-of-the-majority” support.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The "Gang of Eight" comprehensivie immigration reform bill is finally being debated in the U.S. Senate today. I love the caption Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal Blog gave his post on the subject, Slouching Towards Bethlehem (a reference to W. B. Yeats' poem Second Coming: "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"):

Mitch McConnell signaled early on
that there would be no leadership-backed filibuster against initial
consideration of the bill, in part because quite a few GOP senators who
will likely vote against the final product also want to claim they
support immigration reform generally, and/or hold out hope the bill will
be amended (i.e., gutted) to incorporate their views.

In fact, the "Gang of Eight" comprehensive immigration reform bill passed its first cloture vote tests today: the motion to proceed to a vote on whether to proceed to a floor debate passed 82-15, and the subsequent motion to proceed to a floor debate passed 84-15. (This is the Senate people). Now the real debate begins.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Nuns On The Bus Tour for comprehensive immigration reform is coming to Arizona. Go to Nuns on the Bus – Network for more tour information and to RSVP. Date Type of Visit Place Jun 11, 2013 (10:00 AM) Voices from Annunciation House Casa Vides325 Leon St, El Paso, TX 79901 RSVP Jun … Read more