07 Jun, 2007

‘A Great Day for Grassroots America’

Posted by: Rob Bluey In: Capitol Hill

mattress message, originally uploaded by Jai-to-Z.

Three weeks after the White House, Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.) and a handful of Senate Republicans unveiled a secretly negotiated immigration bill, the legislation died after sustained attack from conservatives. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) withdrew the bill after it fell 15 votes short on a motion to cut off debate.

“This vote sends the message that the American people can still call the shots on how they are governed,” said Eagle Forum Executive Director Jessica Echard. “The power of the White House, Big Business, cultural and religious elites was not enough to drown out the overwhelming public opposition to this bill. What a great day for grassroots America!”

Several Democrats joined a majority of Republicans for tonight’s vote to kill the legislation. Michelle Malkin has the blow-by-blow coverage on her blog.

Echard said the bill’s defeat was reminiscent of Harriet Miers’ decision to back out of her Supreme Court nomination. In both cases, conservatives revolted against the White House, which strayed from its principles and paid a price. Today’s vote came with President Bush in Europe, unable to twist arms as he did in 2003 when the House approved a massive government entitlement that expanded Medicare to include prescription drugs.

I’ve done so much on immigration that I thought it would be helpful to see how things progressed through the posts on Bluey Blog. It’s a makeshift timeline, but one that is fairly complete and representative of conservatives’ views.

Tuesday, May 15: Sources: Senate GOP on Verge of Amnesty Deal
Tuesday, May 15: Reid, McConnell Confirm Amnesty Deal Is Near
Wednesday, May 16: Immigration Deal Would Grant Amnesty to Parents, Spouses, Kids
Thursday, May 17: The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body?
Saturday, May 19: Required Reading: The Immigration Bill
Sunday, May 20: Bluey on Townhall: Kennedy Dupes GOP on Immigration Bill
Sunday, May 20: 10 Key Myths About the Amnesty Agreement
Monday, May 21: Conservatives Strike First on Immigration
Monday, May 21: The Amnesty Google-Bomb
Monday, May 21: ‘The Most Expensive Bill I’ve Ever Seen’
Monday, May 21: Conservatives Claim First Victory on Immigration Bill
Tuesday, May 22: Linkable Version of Immigration Bill on Heritage.org
Wednesday, May 23: Immigration Bill Undermines the Rule of Law
Wednesday, May 23: Immigration Bill Is Now Searchable, Too
Wednesday, May 23: Cornyn: Close Loopholes in Amnesty Bill
Wednesday, May 23: Amnesty Bill Is Sinking Fast
Thursday, May 24: Jon Kyl: Looking to Get Out of Immigration Deal?
Thursday, May 24: Arizona Republican Activist Vows to Take Out Kyl, McCain
Friday, May 25: Wall Street Journal Misleads on Immigration
Friday, May 25: Let Our Nation’s Leaders Know: NO AMNESTY
Friday, May 25: Ed Meese on Rhetoric vs. Reality in Immigration Debate
Friday, May 25: Heritage Foundation vs. Wall Street Journal
Friday, May 25: The Absent Senator: Brownback MIA on Immigration Votes
Friday, May 25: Has Mitch McConnell Lost His Way?
Friday, May 25: Heritage en Español
Sunday, May 27: Bluey on Townhall: The Politics of Amnesty
Tuesday, May 29: An Appeal to President Bush on Immigration
Tuesday, May 29: Exposing Illegal Immigration in Northern Virginia
Wednesday, May 30: Bush Finally Fires Up the Base
Wednesday, May 30: More Criticism of the Amnesty Bill
Wednesday, May 30: Linda Chavez Loses a Fan
Wednesday, May 30: An Alternative Immigration Bill
Wednesday, May 30: Bloggers Really Don’t Like the Amnesty Bill
Thursday, May 31: Jeb Bush, Ken Mehlman: Illegal Aliens Will Vote Republican
Thursday, May 31: A Debate I’d Like to Watch
Thursday, May 31: Immigration Bill = Bureaucratic Nightmare
Thursday, May 31: Grassroots Revolt on Immigration Prompts RNC to Fire Staff
Sunday, June 3: Bluey on Townhall: Bush’s Immigration Blunder
Tuesday, June 5: Immigration Bill Won’t Fix for Border Security
Tuesday, June 5: A Fair and Practical Immigration Strategy
Tuesday, June 5: How the Immigration Bill Has Hurt John McCain
Tuesday, June 5: Romney Campaign Sending Mixed Messages on Immigration Bill
Tuesday, June 5: Bluey on the Air: NPR’s Bryant Park Project
Wednesday, June 6: Stop the Silent Amnesty
Wednesday, June 6: Mike Huckabee: Immigration Bill Can Be Fixed
Wednesday, June 6: Top 5 Dumbest Aspects of Immigration Bill
Wednesday, June 6: This Is No Way to Legislate
Wednesday, June 6: Amnesty Opponents Making Progress in Senate
Thursday, June 7: Bluey on National Review Online: A Retort to ‘Silent Amnesty’
Thursday, June 7: Immigration D-Day
Thursday, June 7: Bluey on the Air: Michael Graham Show
Thursday, June 7: Cloture Vote Fails, but New Threat Emerges

3 Responses to "‘A Great Day for Grassroots America’"

1 | Bluey Blog | Robert B. Bluey » Four Republicans Who Deserve Our Thanks

June 8th, 2007 at 9:28 am

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[...] Blog – The Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey « ‘A Great Day for Grassroots America’ June 8th, [...]

2 | Bluey Blog | Robert B. Bluey » Divided Left + Divided Right = No Amnesty Bill

June 21st, 2007 at 9:24 pm

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[...] Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) has circumvented normal rules to stymie opponents. The American people rose up to defeat this bill once. Can they do it again? We’ll find out next week.  Posted at 9:24 PM in Capitol [...]

3 | Bluey Blog | Robert B. Bluey » This Time It’s Dead

June 28th, 2007 at 12:14 pm

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[...] Bush tested conservatives once and lost. He didn’t fare much better the second time. And so goes the story of the ill-conceived [...]

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