Sen. Cruz’s Vote to Defund Obama’s Executive Amnesty Fails (Video)

Saturday night, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas raised a constitutional point of order against to defund Emperor Obama’s illegal executive amnesty. Via The Hill, his effort failed with 22 senators (less than half of the Senate’s 45 Republicans) voting with Cruz and 74 voting against his point of order.

Cruz explained the reason for his point of order in a statement, Saturday night.

“Forcing a vote on the constitutionality of Obama’s amnesty is important for two reasons. First, since President Obama enacted his unilateral amnesty after the elections, Democrats have never been made to answer for it. Tonight, they will and they will show America whether they stand with a lawless President, who is defying the will of the voters or the millions of Americans who want a safe and legal immigration system.

“Second, it allows Republicans to also show they are committed to ending Obama’s amnesty once and for all in the next Congress. If we agree it is indeed unconstitutional, we have no business funding it when the GOP controls Congress next  year.

“The Constitution matters, and we must defend it. That is why we have fought so hard to ensure this vote.”

Via The Blaze:

The only Republicans voting with Cruz were Sens. Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Hoeven (N.D.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Mike Lee (Utah), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Rob Portman (Ohio), James Risch (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Jon Thune (S.D.) and David Vitter (La.).

That leaves the usual suspects voting against – Thad Cochran, Orrin Hatch, McCain, Gramnesty, Corker, Ayotte, Collins — who am I missing?

Of course – Murkowsi, Flake, Kirk, Coats, McConnell!, Wicker, Heller, Toomey, Cornyn, Alexander, Ron Johnson, Enzi, Barrasso.

Coburn, Chambliss and  Inhofe didn’t vote.

The rollcall:

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Alexander (R-TN), Nay Ayotte (R-NH), Nay Baldwin (D-WI), Nay Barrasso (R-WY), Nay Begich (D-AK), Nay Bennet (D-CO), Nay Blumenthal (D-CT), Nay Blunt (R-MO), Yea Booker (D-NJ), Nay Boozman (R-AR), Yea Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brown (D-OH), Nay Burr (R-NC), Yea Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Cardin (D-MD), Nay Carper (D-DE), Nay Casey (D-PA), Nay Chambliss (R-GA), Not Voting Coats (R-IN), Nay Coburn (R-OK), Not Voting Cochran (R-MS), Nay Collins (R-ME), Nay Coons (D-DE), Nay Corker (R-TN), Nay Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Crapo (R-ID), Yea Cruz (R-TX), Yea Donnelly (D-IN), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay Enzi (R-WY), Nay Feinstein (D-CA), Not Voting Fischer (R-NE), Yea Flake (R-AZ), Nay Franken (D-MN), Nay

Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay Graham (R-SC), Nay Grassley (R-IA), Yea Hagan (D-NC), Nay Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Nay Heinrich (D-NM), Nay Heitkamp (D-ND), Nay Heller (R-NV), Nay Hirono (D-HI), Nay Hoeven (R-ND), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Not Voting Isakson (R-GA), Yea Johanns (R-NE), Yea Johnson (D-SD), Nay Johnson (R-WI), Nay Kaine (D-VA), Nay King (I-ME), Nay Kirk (R-IL), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Leahy (D-VT), Nay Lee (R-UT), Yea Levin (D-MI), Nay Manchin (D-WV), Nay Markey (D-MA), Nay McCain (R-AZ), Nay McCaskill (D-MO), Nay McConnell (R-KY), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Nay Merkley (D-OR), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), Nay Moran (R-KS), Yea Murkowski (R-AK), Nay

Murphy (D-CT), Nay Murray (D-WA), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Nay Paul (R-KY), Yea Portman (R-OH), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Nay Reed (D-RI), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay Risch (R-ID), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay Rubio (R-FL), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schatz (D-HI), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Nay Scott (R-SC), Yea Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shaheen (D-NH), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Tester (D-MT), Nay Thune (R-SD), Yea Toomey (R-PA), Nay Udall (D-CO), Nay Udall (D-NM), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Yea Walsh (D-MT), Nay Warner (D-VA), Nay Warren (D-MA), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay Wicker (R-MS), Nay Wyden (D-OR), Nay

UPDATE:

SMH

Only 18 Republicans voted against CRomnibus.

18 Republicans voted NO on the #CRomnibus:http://t.co/06TDo2St0s pic.twitter.com/t7fFeeTGQt

— Roll Call (@rollcall) December 14, 2014

UPDATE II:

Matthew Boyle, Breitbart reports that Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) was whipping votes, according to a congressional GOP aide,   against Cruz’s measure.

Toomey’s office hasn’t responded to a request for comment as to why he was whipping votes against Cruz’s measure, and in favor of Obama’s amnesty.

So bizarre.

UPDATE III:

The Hill: Rand Paul introduces bill to undo Obama’s immigration order

 Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has filed a bill seeking to repeal President Obama’s executive order that delays deportation of five million immigrants, the Courier Journal reported Saturday.

Paul’s bill, “Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act,” is companion legislation to a House bill passed last week from Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.)

The Kentucky Republican’s proposal, posted on his website Friday, prohibits the president from using discretion when determining who to deport.

Video: Lee and Cruz Floor Speeches On CRomnibus: ‘The People Have Spoken’

The overriding theme: The people sent a message a month ago. What the hell are we doing?

Senator Mike Lee of Utah said sadly, “we don’t have the luxury of blaming this latest failure on the outgoing Senate majority. No. This one’s on us. Americans just last month thought they went to the polls and voted for change to stop this kind of thing. Unread, 1000+ page bills filled written in secret, filled with hidden favors for special interests, while funding the lawlessness of an out-of-control president. Americans looking for that change won’t find it in this bill. Rather, they’ll find what the discarded revolutionaries of Animal Farm found at the end of George Orwell’s classic. The creatures outside looked from pig to man and from man to pig and from pig to man again, but already it was too hard to tell which was which.”

Cruz: “the dispute over executive amnesty is not between the President Obama and Republicans in Congress. It is a dispute between President Obama and the American people. In this last election, President Obama said something that was absolutely correct. He said he policies were on the ballot all across this country. The president was right. This election was a referendum on amnesty. The people have spoken loudly.”

MORE via RollCall:

 Things publicly fell apart after, in the intertwined debate on the $1.1 trillion spending bill and other end-of-session business, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sought to raise a constitutional point of order to knock down the language providing stopgap funding for the Homeland Security Department. That was the one of the 12 annual spending bills left by the wayside in the “cromnibus” package.

The procedural situation wasn’t right for offering such a motion, and Cruz told CQ Roll Call he would try again on Sunday, using a method that’s designed to have a simple majority vote threshold that Cruz says could succeed if Democrats “vote their conscience.”

Unless senators agree to allow a short-term spending bill to pass by unanimous consent, the government would shutdown after midnight Saturday night.

Cruz was joined by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who blocked a request by Reid to vote Monday at 5 p.m. on the cromnibus funding the government, after Reid refused to allow a vote on an amendment defunding Obama’s temporary executive amnesty. After commotion on the floor, Reid announced that the Senate will convene at noon Saturday, with votes throughout the day and maybe into Sunday morning.

“It’s inconvenient for a lot of people, but I’m sorry, that’s … we’re the Senate and we have to rearrange our schedules for the weekend,” Reid said.

In a floor speech, Cruz said conservatives should “trust but verify” their own leaders when it comes to responding to Obama on immigration.

In a speech that had something for every variety of critic of the more than $1 trillion fiscal 2015 spending package, Cruz criticized a variety of provisions, including one favorable to Blue Cross Blue Shield. He made use of the metaphor of the “Peanuts” character Lucy in pulling the football away from poor Charlie Brown. In this case, he was criticizing Republican leadership for promises delayed.

“I take them at their word,” the conservative firebrand said in his floor speech. “But I would note that a whole lot of citizens across this country feel a little bit like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football, when fight after fight, leadership in Congress says we’ll fight next time. Not this time … the wise thing to do is to fight in a month, fight in two months, fight in three months. Not now.”

“There comes a point where Charlie Brown has kicked the football and fallen on his rear end one two many times,” Cruz said. “So, when our leaders in both chambers say as a commitment we will fight and we will stop President Obama’s illegal amnesty, I take them at their word. But, I am confident the American people will hold them to their word.”

Via The Right Scoop: 

Ted Cruz took to Facebook to explain his actions:

While the Senate considers the CRomnibus spending bill, all we’ve done was simply request to hold a vote on a measure to stop President Obama’s amnesty. Instead, Majority Leader Harry Reid is holding a series of votes today for the sheer purpose of blocking that vote on Obama’s amnesty.

Harry Reid’s last act as Majority Leader is to, once again, act as an enabler for President Obama, by blocking this vote on the President’s amnesty. He is going to an embarrassing length to tie up the floor to obstruct debate and a vote on this issue because he knows amnesty is unpopular with the American people, and he doesn’t want the Democrats on the record as supporting it.

No one wants a government shutdown. We are only seeking a vote. As soon as the Majority Leader allows a vote on a measure to stop President Obama’s amnesty, we can and should move forward on this bill to fund the government. If he does not, then we will continue to insist upon regular order and use every tool at our disposal to ensure there is a vote.

 

Saturday Movie Matinee: The New Barbarism

TruthRevoltOriginals: Bill Whittle: Lena Dunham, Al Sharpton, Eric Holder and the New Barbarism:

Gas station surveillance video captures Jessica Chambers’ last hours:

This may or may not have been related to the ongoing racial strife.

SEE ALSO:

The Conservative Treehouse: Day #5 – Mississippi Burning – The Murder of Jessica Lane Chambers – Investigation Continues, Reward Offered

“She Couldn’t Breathe” – The Brutal Murder of 19 Year Old Jessica Lane Chambers…. (With Video) *updated*

A prison psychologist tells the truth about black on white crime:

Murdered Bosnian man laid to rest:

Black on white crime continues: Videos expose the big lie:

Lena Dunham’s “Rape By Republican” story falls apart (Limbaugh):

Convicted Domestic Terrorist Cleared To Teach At U.S. College:

Ex-CIA Head Jose Rodriguez on Report Fallout: Obama Admin Prefers to Kill From Afar:

Media Treatment Of Elizabeth Warren vs. Ted Cruz:

WFB: Krauthammer: Warren’s Rebellion ‘A Festival of Hypocrisy’:

MRC TV: Sheriffs: Obama’s Amnesty Creates ‘Insurgence of Heroin,’ ‘Saloon-Door’ Border Mentality:

Sheriff Paul Babeu (Pinal County, Arizona; President, Arizona Sheriff’s Association) said it’s time to put the rights and needs of Americans ahead of those of illegal aliens for once:

“For you and I as American citizens, when it comes to law enforcement, the law applies to you and I, yet when it comes to immigration, there is no law, because there are no consequences. It’s something that we in law enforcement have to deal with, have to fight. And we want this Congress to stand up with Sen. Sessions and Sen. Vitter and other leaders in the House and Senate, and as a lawmaking body—stand up and stop the President from [carrying out] this executive amnesty that he’s taken. We want the focus to be, instead of putting illegals first and their rights, what about putting Americans and our rights and our security, [for] once, first? Put our security first. And that should be driving this debate that nobody should disagree with.”

Gateway Pundit: Obama: ‘I Spend Most of My Time Watching ESPN in the Morning’:

This is astounding. I had heard the rumors but Obama just admitted the appalling truth without reservation.

“Listen I spend most of my time watching ESPN in the morning. I get so much politics – I don’t want to be inundated with a bunch of chatter about politics during the day. (aka WORKING HOURS.)

OMG

This shocking habit was first referenced in the Ulsterman/White House Insider series 3 1/2 years ago [WHI always reeked of hoax, but ended up being way ahead of the curve on a number of stories (including Valerie Jarrett delaying and almost stopping the bin Laden operation.)

From August of 2011:

Insider: I’m at my desk here right? We’re sitting here having this conversation. How about we take a look at what the president would look like in the same situation? Walk into that room – that office of his on the 2nd floor. He spends less and less time downstairs – that’s Daley’s world now. The president doesn’t like the Oval Office much – he’s made that point repeatedly to more than a few at the White House. He prefers to be upstairs, no suit. No shoes. No joke —

Ulsterman: (Interrupts) —Shoes?

Insider: Yeah – shoes. President Obama, when he is in his de facto office upstairs – the one that is closer to Jarrett’s own office, and a short hop over to the residence, he spends his time there often in shorts, or sweats, a t-shirt, and those sandal things…flip-flops. There is a large screen television in there and that’s where hours of his time are spent when he is actually at the White House. Day in and day out. The First Lady rules the residence, and the president heads over to his 2nd floor West Wing study. Starting around last spring, he started to take regular briefings in there. And the instructions that went out on those briefings to the president were that they were to be most importantly – brief. Anything more than about 15 minutes is unacceptable to Obama. So let’s look through the eyes of someone heading into Barack Obama’s upstairs office at the White House to give him a briefing. Maybe it’s on national security. Maybe the economy. Energy policy. Whatever – doesn’t matter. The scenario being played out these days is pretty much the same regardless of the particulars. You knock on the door – it’s always closed. Always. Often you have to knock for some time before being given approval from inside to enter. The big screen will be on – the volume loud. You can easily hear it from outside the door. The sports channels are the ones most commonly playing, though sometimes the channel will be set to music, or Fox News. Sometimes Valerie Jarrett might be there, but most often it is just the president and his personal aide. A large leather chair will be facing the television – it’s well worn. Not part of the White House furnishings but something the president must have brought in from back home. That’s where you’ll most often find the President of the United States – the most powerful man in the free fucking world. He often sits with one leg draped over one of the chair’s arms and the other leg stuck straight onto the floor. Shorts, sweats, a t-shirt, and like I said, no shoes or just those sandal things that so many of the younger people like to wear these days. And that leg that’s draped over an arm of the chair will be bopping up and down, like…like someone with a lot of nervous energy. Like a kid does. And there’s the smell of smoke hanging on the president. The guy never quite smoking – that was all bullshit. I told you that already. In fact, there’s one of those smokeless ash trays on the desk in there. And that desk, it’s a mess. Magazines spread out all over it. Stupid shit too. Real low brow reading material the president is into. People. Rolling Stone. Lots of those tabloid things. The most common thread with this shit is it’s about the president. If it’s about him, he’s gonna read it. Good or bad – doesn’t matter. If somebody is talking about him, he’s reading it. He’s watching it. Whatever. The guy’s self-obsession is off the fucking charts. […]

PFA Amnesty Event with Wild Bill and Kris Kobach:

PFA Amnesty Event with Wild Bill and Kris Kobach
Hutchinson, KS 12-2-2014

The Lost Pleasure of Junk Food:

Owner Reclaims Lost ‘Christmas Sweater Sheep’:

A sheep wearing a festive red-and-green sweater who was found wandering around Omaha has been reunited with his owner.