Toast Graham!

 Looks like the $3 billion they are trying to get though for border security is nothing but the spoonful of sugar before we get the poison, one bit at a time.

Sen. Graham added that much more needs to be done to fix what’s wrong with immigration, arguing: "The comprehensive approach failed but the problems posed by illegal immigration have not gone away. We are now addressing the major changes one piece at a time."
 Among the other common-sense "pieces" he advocates are a better electronic employee verification system, "merit-based" entry requirements, assimilation programs that include learning English, and a temporary guest worker program.

Read more…

 Specter now wants to give those in the country illegally their green cards. Looks like the border funding was just a way to soften folks up. And now Graham is speaking out against it. My, how the worm has turned.

Read more…

 Looks like they were able to get it through on the second try. I just wonder what promises were made to the Democrats to get them to change their minds. What "piece" will they try to get through after this? And will it matter anyway if Bush vetoes? On the surface this is good news, but I’m still very, very. very skeptical. 

Read more…

Looks like Lindsey has proposed an amendment to the Homeland Security funding bill that would increase border security. Has the message gotten through or is this just the first step in creating a trojan horse to get pieces of amnesty legislation through? Looks like the Democrats are already talking about adding some provisions for foreign workers (Reid is offering a side-by-side amendment that would pair the Graham bill up with the AgJobs and DREAM Act bills that would help those who entered illegally as children as well as certain agricultural workers who are "out of status").

At this point, I trust nothing from this group (McConnell, Kyl, McCain, Martinez, and Specter are some of the co-sponsors) until I see the full text of the amendment in front of me. It may be a moot point since the Whitehouse has already threatened to veto the bill because of budget issues.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and learning what the strategery behind this is.

Update: That was quick. The amendment was dropped for consideration (as was Reid’s side-by-side amendment) by a vote of 52-44. But, there are continuing plans by the Democrats to introduce the AgJobs amendment in future bills or as a standalone bill. This is going to be an ongoing fight.

Hot Air gives a great perspective on Graham’s introduction of the amendment:

Suddenly he’s for incremental, enforcement-first change, and all it took was two months, two highest-of-high profile cloture defeats, and a ton of venomous press and opinion polls to convince him. “The [amnesty] bill was super super tough on border security,” he notes, politely neglecting to mention that most of the security measures were only added at the eleventh hour to woo conservatives after they killed the first measure of the bill and that among the “super super tough” measures he had in mind were exactly four drones for 2,000+ miles of border. That package was $4.4 billion; the current proposal is only two-thirds that amount. Why scale it back? Hey, why not? They’re keeping the four drones. Isn’t that enough? 

Read more…

John Cina, the first grassroots candidate to declare, will be having a fundraiser on Aug 4th. Here are the details:

When: Aug 4,2008
Dorchester Boat Club, Summerville, SC
Time: 3:00 p.m.

 You can also find more information at his website: http://www.gowithcina.org

Read more…

 The special election in the GA District 10 Congressional race looks to be headed for a recount, but Paul Broun is still the declared winner. There were a lot of factors in Broun’s win, but it also shows that incumbency may not be such a strong factor in next year’s elections.

But Dr. Broun won for other reasons too. Phil Kent, a former editorial page editor of the Augusta Chronicle, told me that the upset victory by a candidate as conservative as Dr. Broun should be taken as "a wake-up call" by the party’s establishment.

Dr. Broun agrees. "The race boiled down to someone who represented the status quo versus someone who wanted to vote for change," he told me. He prevailed by using direct mail and telephone messages to go over the heads of party leaders with a pledge that, once in Congress, he would apply a four-way test before voting on any bill: Is it constitutional and a proper function of government? Is it morally correct? Is it something we really need? Is it something we can afford? He has said that, like libertarian congressman and fellow physician Ron Paul of Texas, he will always carry a pocket copy of the Constitution with him and consult it before voting. In an effort to limit pork-barrel "earmark" projects, he says he will even apply that standard to requests for federal funds made by local officials in his district.

Read more…

 Buddy Witherspoon has now given word that he’s considering running. The RNC Committeeman for SC has support among Christian conservatives in the Upstate. 

Read more…

I wanted to highlight this story on DeMint’s dogged determination (yes, I admire the guy) in trying to bring more transparency to congressional earmarks and how it is starting to tick off the GOP leadership as well as the Democrats. This is the real reaon I started this website. I’ll admit that during the "Shamnesty Bill" showdown,  my blood would boil whenever Graham would come out to defend it and insult those of us that opposed it. But, my biggest issue was the way our elected officials completely disregarded the majority opinion of the voters. They were far more interested in pleasing their big money donors and adding numbers to their voting rolls.

What the Senate and the Administration displayed was underhanded lawmaking. They schemed to push it through before anyone could dissect it. Rather than debate the merits and possible issues with it, they chose to play the intolerance card by calling those opposed bigots.

 Now why would they do this? Power (although I believe Bush thought it was to be his Emancipation Proclamation). A lot of those we elect begin to feel like a royal class. They aren’t there to represent us, they are there to maintain and obtain more power. They see us as the sheep who need to be guided for our own good. I thought that it was mostly a Democrat issue, but the Shamnesty thing really brought to light how deep this runs on both sides and the earmark debate is giving us more evidence of it.

And what about Graham’s motives? He had hitched his political star to McCain’s campaign and couldn’t deviate from John’s line. And then the Whitehouse called him in and asked him for his support on the bill. That likely was an attempt to get a "good ole’ boy" to be the face on it to bring in all us redneck hicks in the southern voting bloc to see the light.

Don’t think for a moment that this was some grand gesture to bring more security to our borders and to bring the hard working folks who "do the jobs that Americans won’t" out of the shadows. It was all about power. And if we can’t send a shot across the bow by bringing down one of the worst offenders, then we’ll just get more of the business as usual political backscratching in DC and we’ll continue to have more Grahams and Kennedys and less DeMints.
 

Read more…

 I’m going to work on getting a "easier to click" link system going at some point. But, for now, don’t forget to check out www.lindseygraham.info, where Ron has improved the look of his blog and added new content.

Read more…

Looks like Lindsey is still bringing in dollars to add to the sizable campaign pile he already has, but here is the kicker:

However, Graham’s second-quarter total of $543,617 was less than half the $1.2 million he raised in the first three months.

Aides denied the smaller amount raised was a result of Graham’s controversial support for an immigration bill that would have legalized millions of undocumented workers. After an often bitter debate, the Senate rejected the immigration measure. 

 I’m sure that folks were too busy with Spring planting to donate as much, and that it had nothing to do with that pesky immigration thing. Just like McCain’s campaign took a nosedive because he wasn’t managing his people properly…. No fallout over amnesty here folks, move along.

Read more…