Jun

30

Giving Credit Where it is Due!

Filed Under National Politics

Senators Hutchison and CornynIn a vote of 53 to 49, the Senate rejected an attempt to find resolution to the immigration debacle facing them One can argue that this as a victory for the conservatives. However, a cursory look reveals that this is neither a Republican verses Democratic vote nor a conservative versus liberal vote. Rather, this vote appears to have something else behind it.

A majority of the newly elected (and self-proclaimed conservative) Democrats joined the aged long time liberal Robert Byrd (D-WV) and ultraliberal Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) to vote against cloture of debate on the immigration reform bill. Therefore, this was evidently not a mere rebellion on the part of the new Democrats against the liberal leadership of Majority Leader Harry Reid and his cohort, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Republicans were far more predictable about who was conservative and who was not so conservative. The string of notables who supported this reform package included Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl; South Carolina’s Lindsay Graham; and Senators Olivia Snowe, Arlen Specter, Chuck Hagel, and Richard Lugar. Most of the traditional conservatives of the Republican Party voted against the bill.
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