Burr, Tillis join Senate cave on amnesty
Remember the CRomnibus fight on Capitol Hill? Republicans said they would not hold up that spending bill and cause the dreaded government shutdown. We were told that the Department of Homeland Security would be funded through THIS month, and THEN the GOP would get tough on Obama’s amnesty decree. 
Surprisingly, the House has walked the walk and talked the talk. The Senate, however, voted 98-2 yesterday to allow a vote on fully-funding DHS — including money for amnesty implementation. (Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma were THE ONLY TWO to say no.) :
The Senate vote to advance the spending bill was 98-2 and came after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., promised Democrats he will allow amendments to the legislation that would strip out language to curb President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
The Senate deal includes a separate vote on a measure to block the president’s immigration directives, but it is likely to be blocked by Democrats.
Once lawmakers pass the bill in the Senate, it heads to the House, where conservative opposition has been unfaltering.
Far-right lawmakers have said they will oppose the deal because it uncouples the spending bill from language blocking the president’s executive action, which they say is unconstitutional. “That is the one tool we have to work with, which is funding and defunding,” Rep. John Fleming, R-La., told the Washington Examiner. “And that is the one we are going to use.”
With so many Republicans opposing it, the bill can only pass with Democratic support in the House. The dynamic puts intense pressure on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who would have to decide whether to abandon his conservative base by putting the bill on the floor for a vote, or risk shouldering the blame for failing to pass legislation in time to stop Homeland Security funding from running out.
[…]
Republican leadership has signaled many times they will not let funding for Homeland Security run out. The option of letting funding lapse appears increasingly unlikely following recent terrorist threats in the United States, including one involving the Mall of America in Minnesota.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said he is prepared with legislation to fund Homeland Security beyond Friday, in either a short-term or a long-term measure.
But conservatives, including Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, say they are not concerned with a funding lapse, noting that most of the department are deemed essential employees who would report to work. They’ll vote against any “clean” funding bill, they said, and are eager for Boehner to face off with Obama over his executive actions.
“Just bring it,” King said. “Let’s see who cracks first.”
Time for a testosterone check in the Carolinas House delegation. (That hormone is apparently severely lacking on the Senate side.)
Does Burr really believe conservatives will vote for him in 2016 after he betrays us on amnesty? Maybe he is smoking something other than a tobacco product.
Here is a good account of the lame behavior of Benedict Arnold McConnell on this critical issue:
http://www.redstate.com/2015/02/25/tell-opponent-youre-bluffing-hell-probably-believe/
“Does Burr really believe conservatives will vote for him in 2016 after he betrays us on amnesty?”
I’d say “yeah”, he probably does, and so would Tillis.
As “Nancy in Craven” commented and I agree with… NC voters just got finished confirming that theory a few months ago, and I just dont see them changing it up yet. If they keep holding their noses and voting for a candidate in some sort of strategic calculus to block a Democrat…well, that’s pretty much all these guys need. Why would they care if the vote comes grudgingly, as long as it comes and lands in their column ?
All they have to do is get through the primary process and then they’ll own a lot of people’s vote by default, no matter what they do or say (beyond the whole dead girl/live boy scenarios) 🙂 And we’ve seen a glimpse of the shenanigans possible in primary situations… entrenched interests are “entrenched”.
It’s really devious, this whole DHS thing as a vehicle for them to hide behind. It gives them a plausible excuse to say “We fought like we promised, but c;mon, “terrorism!” and then they can go back to doing what they wanted, which is amnesty. It’ll fool a lot of people probably, even though it seems like a lot of work for them to go through for “image”… politics is weird a lot of the time.
Considering this whole thing was devised and put in motion by them only a couple months ago, I can’t imagine they’re actually that moronically stupid to think it would go any other way – that’s pretty out there. I’m pretty sure there’s video evidence out there of Boehner walking AND chewing gum.
“If they keep holding their noses and voting for a candidate . . . that’s pretty much all these guys need.”
_____________________
Do these same people hold their noses and eat rotten food, when it’s served to them?
From now on, if there’s no acceptable conservative on the ballot, I will write in Senator Jeff Sessions’ name — for three reasons.
First, Senator Sessions takes a stand and fights on those crucial hills.
Second, it irks many Board of Elections members to have to process write-in votes.
Third, no clothespin needed.
Where did clothespin voting get us? If the Democrats held majorities in the U.S. House and Congress, right now, how would it be worse?
The feeble, cowardly RINOs and the RNC can roast in Hades. Not another volunteer hour, vote, or nickel will I give them.
At least the Democrats fight, claw and fang, for their voters.
I think that it was during the massive government expansion during WWII that we became stupidly charitable toward incompetent government officials. Its time to stop this suicidal practice. Everyone in government who matters is competent. They know the score. Wake IP America. They are stealing our birthright of freedom and self-governance.
Raphael, the sad answer is that conservatives do end up voting for the person with the R behind their name. Their excuse is always the same: they’re better than the Democrat. Is it any surprise that we keep having this happen?
The reality is Washington is lost to We the People. They are owned lock, stock, and barrel by big money.
I am disgusted.
If you look at the polling for the 2014 races, the GOP vote a lot of places, including North Carolina, came home very late in the game. That signals a growing wariness by the GOP voter base, and a sellout on amnesty is likely to trigger that even farther, given that polls showed that the flood of illegal aliens was the number one issue of GOP voters in 2014. There are also the calculations of Jay Cost, co-author of the Almanac of American Politics, based on actual turnout data, exit polls, and other polling, that 3 million Republicans who had come out to vote for McCain, stayed home for Romney. There is a malaise among the GOP voter base caused by elected Republicans acting more like Democrats. A sellout on amnesty is not likely to end well for the GOP in 2016.
If a decent Democrat were to run against Burr and oppose Obama’s illegal immigration order, Burr would be history. He has really disappointed the Republican base and conservative voters. In fact, any decent Democrat opponent is likely to defeat Burr anyhow. I just don’t see the GOP getting excited in 2016 after this week’s Republican sell-out disaster in Washington on immigration and Loretta Lynch.
Not enough people vote in the primaries, not just in NC but across the country. There were several good conservatives running who couldn’t turn out voters in the primary which would have made the difference. In NC and other states, i.e. SC, there were too many conservatives running who split the vote and allow moderates like Tillis win the primary.
There’s another reason why moderates like Tillis win Primaries and that reason is by malicious design…it’s not just Republicans who vote in Republican Primaries. It was a stupid idea to open the Primary when Martin was governor and it’s still stupid for conservative to let it remain so. Close the North Carolina Republican Primary!
I just talked to three liberal Democrats who admitted that they switched their party affiliation in 2006 so they could vote for Tillis over John Rhodes in that GOP primary. I’m not saying that’s why Tillis won his seat that year, but it shows how games are played in primaries to defeat conservatives.
The Tillis backed challengers to conservatives Larry Pittman and Robert Brawley last year were both actively encouraging Democrats to switch temporarily to Unaffiliated to vote for them in the primary. This seems to be a common liberal Republican trick.
There was an attempt a few years ago to get the State GOP Executive Committee to close the GOP primary (which under court rulings they have the power to do – they are the ones who opened it in the first place) and closing it had lots of grassroots support. Skip Stam and Thom Tillis ran a massive campaign that halted that effort. Part of what they relied on is that every GOP legislator becomes a voting member of the state executive committee, which is something else that needs to be changed.
The grassroots needs to go after this again, and close our primary. Without the non-Republicans voting, I suspect Tillis would have had a runoff, and never been the nominee.
There does still seem to be one way forward to stop Obama, if dyed in the wool surrender monkeys McConnell and Boehner would just grab it. Sadly, given their nature, they probably will not. They may have even committed to the corrupt crony capitalists of the US Chamber of Commerce to make sure Obama’s plan was saved.
The solution is rather simple. Instead of voting on the Senate sell out in the House, the House takes their bill, as it is, to a conference committee with the Senate to hammer out a compromise. With the right sort of negotiators appointed, the result should be throwing a few bones to the Senate but crafting a compromise that is most of the House bill. That compromise then goes up for vote in both chambers, but most importantly without the ability to fillibuster it in the Senate.
Here is a more complete discussion:
http://www.redstate.com/diary/WOSG/2015/02/25/rescue-stopping-obamas-amnesty-mcconnells-cave/
The real question here is whether McConnell and Boehner are in such a sellout mode that they will not grasp this opportunity. If that is the case, Republicans have a huge need to destroy both McConnell and Boehner before that pair destroys the Republican Party.
You get what you voted for, NC TEA Party. This is what you worked to elect.
#?SaveAmericaVoteRepublican? ?#?DontbeaLemming?
Both need to be primaried and sent home.
btw, What happened to the campaign finance investigation into Tillis’s bff Fletcher Hartsell? Has it been two years since that started?
I like Se. Cruz”s speech yesterday on conservatives at CPAC yesterday and I have never seen,read or heard Burr ever publicly say is 100 % supportive of vigorous enforcement of ALL immigration laws on the books And Tillis while in the NC House had a spine like an over cooked stand of pasta as he allowed as house speaker the gutting of the E-Verify bill that is why i have and place no faith or political trust in either of them
Tillis also pushed NC drivers licenses for illegal aliens when he was in the NC House, and he told the NC Farm Bureau that he supported a ”pathway to citizenship” for illegal aliens.
I also have no trust in Tillis on this, and many other issues.
Well, it looks like with Burr and Tillis, they voted for it, then voted against it. On the final vote on the substance of this bill, both voted against it. They are trying to have it both ways by splitting the baby so they can tell their corrupt crony capitalist buddies at the US Chamber of Commerce that they supported it (on one vote) while they tell their constituents they opposed it (on another vote). This is sleazy politics at its worst. Burr has developed a habit of this, voting for a bill before he votes against it, and now it looks like Tillis is following suit.
On this same bill in the House, Virginia Foxx did the same thing on the two votes on the bill funding Obama’s unilateral amnesty decree, voting for it before she voted against it.
On the House side three NC Republicans consistently supported Obama on his amnesty decree, voting for it both times – Reps. Ellmers, Pittenger, and McHenry. These three should be top primary targets in 2016, followed by Foxx. These Obama Republicans need to get the sack.
Republican heroes who consistently opposed funding the Obama amnesty decree were Reps. Jones, Meadows, Walker, Holding, Rouzer, and Hudson.
If you think we care about the future of the country, WE don’t, couldn’t care less. We care about OUR future, period. Which doesn’t include you people. Mis amigos are the ones wit the most pesos and votes! Remember the most important thing is ME getting elected again. EL GOP the neuvo freight train to citizenship! Arrriva Arrriva! Let the word spread across the good ole’ Estados Unidos!