Senate’s Border Bill Fails (Video)

Our government has become completely dysfunctional. Nothing useful, positive or productive can happen as long as Reid is Senate Majority Leader and Barack Obama is POTUS. The next two years are really about mitigating the damage the community organizer incurs and running out the clock until 2016. That’s really about all this weak kneed GOP can handle.

Via the Blaze:

The Senate on Thursday night failed to advance a $2.7 billion bill to address the southern border crisis, just hours after the House Republicans had to pull their own bill from consideration due to a lack of support.

Together, the two votes show just how difficult it will be for Congress to agree not only on how much to spend to resolve the border crisis, but how to spend it.

In the Senate, Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) led the Republican effort on Thursday to include language that would defund any new Obama effort to expand DACA. These two senators said that overhanging threat from Obama would outweigh any attempt to stop the flow of immigrants.

But like so many other bills in the Senate over the last few years, Democrats didn’t give senators a chance to amend the bill. That prohibition led an outraged Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to storm onto the Senate floor and demand that Democrats start allowing real debate and real consideration of amendments on bills.

“Is that a hell of a lot to ask here?” McCain said. “I don’t think so.”

Sessions made an attempt to force Democrats to allow a vote on tougher language, but because Republicans are the minority party, it failed in a 43-52 vote. Sessions warned that failing to add language blocking further amnesty programs from Obama would be a “hammer blow” to millions of unemployed Americans.

“We have the power to block this action,” he said of Obama’s expected policy change. “We have a duty to block that action.  We can do that today by supporting my motion here today.”

“The vote we are about to have will be a vote on whether to support the president’s illegal executive amnesty, or to stop it,” he added.

Sen. Sessions said that by shooting down his motion to vote on Sen. Ted Cruz’s bill,  Senate Dems essentially voted to enable Obama’s unlawful executive order that would provide amnesty and work permits to 5-6 million illegal immigrants.

The President’s planned action would be in contravention of plain law, and at the expense of unemployed Americans.  Senate Democrats voted in lockstep to block Sessions’ motion and to thereby back the President’s executive amnesty—only Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) dissented.  Senate Democrats, who had previously intimated public concern over the illegal actions, sided with Majority Leader Harry Reid and voted to enable and encourage the President’s planned unilateral amnesty and work permits.

UPDATE:

This is scary:

Via Weasel Zippers: Border Bill Back On Deck, Members Plan To Take Action Before Recess:

Via Townhall

Update (Amanda): House leadership announced that members will stay until a vote on border legislation takes place. Currently, there is no set schedule for the vote. It could take place late Thursday or Friday.

#BREAKING House GOP plans to hold another conference in morning on border Source says “almost every mbr said stay..it was pretty hot.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 31, 2014

#BREAKING Sr Hse GOPer after border mtg: I know 1 thing, we’re not leaving here until we get the votes.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 31, 2014

Has anyone in Congress figured this out, yet:

Via Ann Coulter: THE LOOPHOLE IS OBAMA:

The law is not — as George Will suggested on “Fox News Sunday” — a general humanitarian mandate allowing all 2 billion poor children of the world to show up at our border and be told, “Welcome to America!” It’s a law to combat sex trafficking.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Vice President Joe Biden wrote the law — and Feinstein isn’t stupid. She’s well aware of illegal immigration. That’s why the law specifically excludes two huge categories of illegal aliens from getting hearings: (1) Mexicans; and (2) children who have relatives in the U.S.

Those cases look more like illegal immigration than sex trafficking. (Didn’t anyone wonder why Mexican kids are excluded?)

Mexicans make up the lion’s share of illegal immigrants in the U.S., and children with relatives already living in the U.S. are probably just trying to rejoin family — not trying to escape a fiendish kidnapper about to sell them into sex slavery.

According to last Friday’s New York Times, almost 90 percent of the 53,000 illegal alien kids given refugee status since October have already been transferred to parents or relatives living in the U.S. By the law’s clear terms, those 47,000 kids should have been summarily turned away at the border — just as Mexican children are.

(Democrats wailing about a “humanitarian” crisis — after calculating the precise number of voters they need — evidently don’t care about the Mexican kids.)

No law needs to be fixed. The only thing that needs to be fixed is the president.

Cruz weighs in: Democrats are Perpetuating the Border Crisis:

1. Reid’s do-nothing Senate has abdicated all responsibility

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today released the following statement regarding the Senate vote this evening on border funding legislation:

“Today Harry Reid blocked all consideration of legislation to stop President Obama’s amnesty. By refusing any debate or even a vote on legislation to stop Obama’s amnesty, Senate Democrats are cynically choosing to perpetuate the crisis.  Every Senate Democrat but two voted against taking up legislation to stop President Obama’s amnesty.  They now own this crisis; each bears responsibility for enabling the President to march forward with plans to give amnesty to millions more who arrived in our country illegally.

“The evidence shows that the crisis at the border is a direct consequence of President Obama’s lawlessness, and the surge of unaccompanied children trafficked to the United States by drug cartels and transnational gangs will not ebb until Congress restrains the President from taking any further executive action.

“The House of Representatives is working hard to solve this crisis, but Harry Reid’s do-nothing Senate has abdicated all responsibility.

“Last week, I introduced the Protect Children and Families Through Rule of Law Act that would stop President Obama’s amnesty. Faced by an extreme president who refuses to follow the law, Republicans should unite to stop the amnesty that is causing tens of thousands of children to be victimized by violent coyotes and drug cartels. The responsibility for the pain and suffering experienced by those children who are exploited by dangerous criminals and the associated burdens imposed on our border towns and cities now lies directly on Senate Democrats who would rather put hundreds of thousands more children and countless Americans at risk than stand up to the out-of-control and lawless president.”

Linked by Doug Ross, thanks.

Advertisement

Cruz: Keep the Internet Tax Free (Video)

Today, Senator Ted Cruz requested unanimous consent to pass H.R. 3086, a bill that would stop Internet bills from increasing by making permanent the current ban on Internet access taxes, which is set to expire in November.

“If the Senate refuses to take action, the Internet will be taxed this November,” Sen. Cruz said. “For a decade and a half, Americans have been able to use the Internet all across the country free of taxes, and Republicans and Democrats have agreed on this basic principle… I would note that anyone objecting to this right now is setting the stage for a massive internet tax.”

He went on, “We ought to come together on what should be a noncontroversial bill, a bill that has passed three times before, a bill that was signed by President Bill Clinton, a bill that in this body is introduced by a senior Democrat, we ought to come together in a bipartisan way to say, we stand in unison protecting Internet tax freedom.”

 

Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act. The Senate version, S. 1431 that is sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, has 52 Senate cosponsors, including Sen. Cruz and 18 Senate Democrats.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota, objected to the legislation.

Sen. Cruz was joined on the floor by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R.-New Hampshire, supporting legislation to keep the Internet tax-free. Sen. Mike Lee, R.-Utah, later spoke on the Senate floor in favor of the legislation as well.

Grubergate: The Lies and Deceit of Jonathan Gruber (and Friends)

This video from American Commitment completely brutalizes the pathetic fraud that is “ObamaCare Architect” Jonathan Gruber.

At least seven times Gruber indicated on tape that states had to set up exchanges or subsidies would stop flowing. and refusal of states to play along would  threaten the law’s effective existence.

The following video highlights the duplicity of a man ridiculing the idea that anyone ever believed that which he was caught on tape saying.

John Sexton reports at the Conversation that Gruber was not the only Obamacare wonk to have a “speak-o” about the issue of subsidies and state exchanges.

Back in 2010, after the Senate bill was passed but before it became law, health care wonk Jonathan Cohn gave an interview with NPR‘s Fresh Air in which he suggested there might be an opt-out for states (hat tip to American Commitment for the clip):

Via Ace of Spades HQ: Leftwing “Wonks” Shocked Again to Learn Basic Things:

I would propose a simple definition of “expert:” One who is not surprised or even stunned to learn the basics of his claimed field of expertise.

By this definition, the left has a serious lack of experts.

I might add to the definition of “expert:” One who is interested in a subject matter and motivated to learn as much about it as possible, even if such fresh learning might cut against his base partisan impulses.

 

I approached @ezraklein to discuss the merits of #Halbig years ago. He wasn’t interested. Still isn’t.

— Michael F. Cannon (@mfcannon) July 23, 2014

House Votes To Sue Obama (Video)

Last month, on the same day the Supreme Court invalidated Obama’s recess appointments, Obama defiantly taunted Republicans: “So sue me,” he told reporters when asked about Speaker Boehner’s lawsuit.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) said in a conference call with conservative media, this afternoon, that Republicans are taking him up on that; “okay we will,” he said.

Confident that they will have standing in court, the House GOP voted Wednesday to authorize Speaker Boehner to file suit against the president on their complaint that he has failed to faithfully execute laws and overstepped his legal authority.

Via the WSJ:

In a 225-201 vote, the House told Mr. Boehner (R., Ohio) to move ahead with the suit. House GOP leaders have said they would focus the suit on the White House’s decision last year to give employers a one-year reprieve on enforcing a requirement under the Affordable Care Act that they offer health coverage or pay a penalty. The requirement was delayed until 2015, and the White House then revised the health law further by saying employers with between 50 and 99 full-time workers wouldn’t have to comply or pay a fee until 2016.

Five Republicans joined Democrats in voting against pursuing the lawsuit. No Democrats voted to move forward with the suit.

Fox News reported that the five Repubs who voted with Dems may have been protesting that the lawsuit doesn’t go far enough.

Mr. Boehner, speaking just before the vote, said Congress needed to assert its authority under the Constitution to combat executive overreach. “This isn’t about Republicans and Democrats. It’s about defending the Constitution we swore an oath to uphold,” he said.

Mr. Obama, speaking to a friendly crowd in Kansas City ahead of the vote, said that suing him wasn’t a productive thing to do.

“Everybody recognizes this is a political stunt,” he said of the lawsuit. “But it’s worse than that, because every vote they’re taking like that means a vote they’re not taking to actually help you.”

Which was a pretty remarkable thing for Mr. Obama to say – given the fact that not everybody thinks the lawsuit is a political stunt. No one would accuse Professor Jonathan Turley of being a political hack, for instance – he voted for Obama in 2008. But last month on MSNBC, he confounded the liberal panel he was on, saying he thinks the lawsuit has a chance.

…after being asked by MSNBC host Steve Kornacki whether Boehner had “any kind of a case” with the lawsuit, Turley remained consistent.

“I think there is a case against the president for exceeding his authority,” he declared. “I happen to agree with the president on many of his priorities and policies, but as I testified in Congress I think he has crossed the constitutional line.”

“So where has he crossed it?” Kornacki pressed. “Like, what specific issue has he crossed it on?”

“Well, when the president went to Congress and said that he was going to go it alone, it obviously raises a concern,” Turley noted. “Because there’s no license for going it alone in our system.”

The law professor noted the unprecedented changes made to the Affordable Care Act — including the shift of nearly half a billion dollars to a purpose unspecified by Congress — as well as his deliberate disregard of existing law on immigration and the effective rewriting of other laws.

“While I happen to agree with him — I voted for him — I think this is a problem,” Turley asserted.

Intellectually honest libs understand that this has been a problem for some time.

Greta Van Susteren covered the House vote shortly after it occurred.

She split a gasket when the House Rules Chairman Pete Sessions gave her the price tag on the expected legal fees, which he estimated would be around $2 million dollars.

“I can find someone to do it for you for $30,000!” she exclaimed in protest.

Incidentally – the word of the day is “injunction” – which could become relevant in the not too distant future if Obama decides to act unilaterally on immigration.

Update:

Charles Krauthammer offered his take on the lawsuit on Special Report:

Via NRO:

Watcher’s Council Nominations – Faith Edition

IDF soldiers sing before entering Gaza; “The whole world is a narrow bridge and you must not be afraid. Serve G-d with joy and come before Him with song. We have no one to rely upon except our Father in heaven.”

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:

Ah, the big news today is that it’s party time..

Our own Courtney, GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD adds another year to the ledger. The actual date was Monday, but we’ll celebrate it today…especially since she managed to get through her birthday weekend in one piece and without any serious encounters with the authorities.

First, some flowers, just because..

Now this is a decadent rum cake..the alcohol’s cooked off, but that wonderful flavor of Mount Gay Bajan rum remains. And I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to mar that wonderful chocolate top with candle holes, but I’ll let the birthday girl decide that one..and how many candles.

And some chilled Veuve Cliquot on the side to wash it down..

Another year Courts, and you still crack me up with the joyful mayhem you perform on the defenseless English language in your articles and of course in our asides! Even better is the real substance in what you write that’s behind it.It’s a great pleasure to have you in the group, and especially to have you as my friend..many, many more and keep treading the Narrow Way.

The Council In Action!!

My latest over at The Times Of Israel is up.When it comes to Hamas and Gaza, ‘demilitarization’ is the new buzzword, and it gets mentioned frequently as a solution. In What ‘Demilitarization’ Really Means’ I revisit what happened the last time this carrot was held out to push a ceasefire with the full force of the ‘international community’ behind it.

This week, The MidKnight Review, Blazing Cat Fur and Gates Of Vienna earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor  by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out Wednesday morning

Simple, no?

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have for you this week….

Council Submissions

• The Independent Sentinel – Armed BLM Gestapo Threatening Rural Citizens
• The Noisy Room – The End Of Immigration Enforcement In America
• Simply Jews – Lisa Goldman and the art of clipped narrative
• Joshuapundit–Obama Betrays Israel In A Last Ditch Effort To Save Hamas
• Bookworm Room – For John Kerry, when it comes to an American ally and a deadly enemy, it’s 1971 all over again
• The Razor – American Jews Need to Wake Up
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Strip Grind
• Ask Marion – SESSIONS: All Americans Must Help Stop Obama’s Dictatorial Threats to Expand Amnesty to Millions
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Absolutely Beyond Parody
• Nice Deb – Cruz: “Did President Obama Just Launch an Economic Boycott of Israel?” – Updated
• Rhymes With Right – FEC Asserts Authority Over Publishers
• The Right Planet – Blogging Pitfalls and the Dangers of New Media
• The Glittering Eye –Let the Courts Decide
• VA Right! – The Absence of Obamacare Credits in Federal Exchanges WAS INTENTIONAL – Designed to Force Compliance

Honorable Mentions

• MidKnight Review – Is Obama about to go so far beyond Constitutional limitations as to force a Constitutional crisis (impeachment)? And, what if he wins that battle?
• Blazing Cat Fur – IDF: Palestinian casualties at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Shati Camp from terrorists’ rockets falling short
• Gates Of Vienna – A Blow to the Muslim Brotherhood

Non-Council Submissions

• Sultan Knish – Friday Afternoon Roundup submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Mark Steyn –Holiday Memories You’ll Cherish Forever submitted by The Noisy Room
• Fred Maroun – What Do Israel’s Critics Really Want? submitted by Simply Jews
• Matthew Continetti/ Free Beacon – Israel Can Win – If Obama Doesn’t Save Hamas submitted by Joshuapundit
• Sam Harris–Why Don’t I Criticize Israel? submitted by Bookworm Room
• Adam Garfinkle, American Interest –Malice or Incompetence? submitted by The Razor
• Thomas Sowell/NRO – Cease The Ceasefires submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Isabel Matos/A Time For Choosing –Governor Sarah Palin Launches SarahPalinChannel.com submitted by Ask Marion
• Douglas Ernst – Jesse Jackson Sr. to go after Silicon Valley: Shakedown Rainbows never end submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Matthew Vadum, FrontPage Mag –Bracing For Amnesty submitted by Nice Deb
• David Bernstein/Volokh Conspiracy – Some Israel-Gaza Notes submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Liberty Counsel – One Jew’s Open Letter to the World submitted by The Right Planet
• Michael Cannon/Politico – The Flip-Flopping Architect of the ACA submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Ace of Spades HQ – WaPo’s Greg Sargent Devastates Halbig Case Against Obamacare Federal Subsidies With Bombshell Reporting (JeffB.) submitted by VA Right!
• PowerLine – Hamas’s big plan disrupted submitted by The Watcher
• Kevin D. Williamson/NRO – Downscale; Big government is bad for the little guy submitted by Watcher

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

Audio: Knesset Member Describes Obama and Netanyahu’s Unpleasant Phone Conversation

Danny Danon, member of Knesset for the Likud party in Israel, was on the Steve Malzberg Show, Tuesday to talk about the Israel/Hamas war and the Obama Regime’s epic PR meltdown in trying to negotiate a ceasefire agreement. Danan said that the call between  Netanyahu and Obama Sunday night was a subject of much conversation in Israel, and claimed that O had yelled at Bibi, telling him “what to do and what not to do.”

“I want to sound polite, but it is an insult the way President Obama is treating Israel and Secretary Kerry is treating Israel,” Danon began.  “It is an insult for us – the demand to have a ceasefire and putting Israel on the same level as Hamas – it is unacceptable.”

“It was not a pleasant conversation,”  Danon said of the phone call. “It was yelling and telling Prime Minister Netanyahu what he should do and what he should not do. And I tell you frankly, we have a very close relationship with the US –  the strongest ally of Israel – but this is not the way to talk to the leader of an allied country.”  He brought his point home by suggesting that Obama was treating Netanyahu no differently than he would treat the leader of the Taliban.

” He’s not talking to the leader of the Taliban,” Danon said.

Via the Right Scoop:

Here is the transcript of the Sunday evening conversation that was leaked to the Times of Israel – which the White House and Prime Minister denies is accurate.

Barack Obama: I demand that Israel agrees to an immediate, unilateral ceasefire and halt all offensive activities, in particular airstrikes.Benjamin Netanyahu: And what will Israel receive in exchange for a ceasefire?

BO: I believe that Hamas will cease its rocket fire — silence will be met with silence.

BN: Hamas broke all five previous ceasefires. It’s a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

BO: I repeat and expect Israel to stop all its military activities unilaterally. The pictures of destruction in Gaza distance the world from Israel’s position.

BN: Kerry’s proposal was completely unrealistic and gives Hamas military and diplomatic advantages.

BO: Within a week of the end of Israel’s military activities, Qatar and Turkey will begin negotiations with Hamas based on the 2012 understandings, including Israel’s commitment to removing the siege and restrictions on Gaza.

BN: Qatar and Turkey are the biggest supporters of Hamas. It’s impossible to rely on them to be fair mediators.

BO: I trust Qatar and Turkey. Israel is not in the position that it can choose its mediators.

BN: I protest because Hamas can continue to launch rockets and use tunnels for terror attacks —

BO: (interrupting Netanyahu) The ball’s in Israel’s court, and it must end all its military activities.

Although both  Obama and Netanyahu say that the transcript of their telephone call is fake, there is reason to believe that they both doth protest too much.

Joel Pollak at the Conversation notes that the transcript “strongly resembles the White House’s readout of the call, in which he called for an “immediate, unconditional” ceasefire.”

There is nothing new in the supposed transcript except the tone of the exchange, in which Obama is depicted as rather rude and condescending.

***

The denials are standard for both. More than that, Israel seems eager to prove its friendship by helping the Obama administration save face: Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer recently defended Secretary of State John Kerry, for example. And the Obama administration wants to play up the sense that it is the victim of a propaganda campaign by its critics–not a victim of its own misguided policies and incompetent execution.

In that regard, it is possible that both Israel and the U.S. are taking advantage of the fact that the transcript is inexact–that it is just an excerpt, as conceded by the Israeli journalist who reported it (and who is sticking to the story), or that it leaves out some of the back-and-forth of the actual conversation. In the cloak-and-dagger of international diplomacy, we may not know the truth for a while–but the “fake” charge is yet unproven.

Meanwhile, a State Dept. flack reportedly said that if the conversation had indeed been leaked, it was ” a severe violation of a private discussion.”

According to BBC reporter Paul Danahar, the State Department says that if President Barack Obama’s conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indeed leaked to Israel’s Channel 1, it would constitute a “severe violation of a private discussion.”

Hmmm.