A procedural vote in the Senate for the DREAM Act has failed. 55 Senators voted for the measure, with 41 voting against, falling short of the necessary votes to overcome a filibuster.
...but for once a handful of them decided that with three-quarters of the coutry wanting it repealed, DADT will get a final up or down vote.
In a landmark vote for gay rights, the Senate on Saturday voted to advance legislation that would overturn the military ban on openly gay troops known as "don't ask, don't tell."
The 63-33 test vote all but guarantees the legislation will pass the Senate, possibly by day's end, and reach the president's desk before the new year.
The House had passed an identical version of the bill, 250-174, earlier this week.
Repeal would mean that, for the first time in American history, gays would be openly accepted by the military and could acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being kicked out.
We'll see. This is a huge victory here, but not for everyone. Republicans still showed they care more about demonizing Latinos than they do giving people a path to earn their citizenship by serving our country in the military. And no, the DREAM Act was far from perfect. It wouldn't have helped a lot of people get citizenship, only a small section would have been eligible for it: High school graduates heading to college who were brought here as children, or graduates heading to the military for two years. The number of possible candidates for that numbered in the thousands, not millions. It wasn't "back-door amnesty".
But that was of course too much for the Republicans. Even one immigrant who could have become a US citizen due to this and possibly been grateful to a Democratic administration was too much to countenance.
But the vote to allow DADT repeal to go forward is a good, good thing. Straight ally, and all that...and just in the name of basic civil rights, this is something I'm glad to see happened.
One out of two isn't bad, but it's a harsh reminder that the largest blockade to getting things done in the last two years has been the filibuster.
Oh, and according to my calculations, the only Republican who voted yes on both DREAM and DADT repeal?
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Thanks, Joe Miller and Sarah Palin! The final DADT repeal vote will be this afternoon, and it should pass easily.
Should. Here's hoping.
[UPDATE] The Senate indeed repealed DADT 65-31. Several Republicans decided they didn't want to be on the "wrong side of history" here only at the last moment.
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23 comments:
And as usual Zandar is too fucking lazy to CHECK THE FACTS. The cloture vote come up 5 votes short. That means DEMOCRATS killed the DREAM ACT!
Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor (AR), Jon Tester (MT), Ben Nelson (NE), Kay Hagan (NC), and Max Baucus (MT) all voted no!
Those five votes would have defeated the filibuster!
So why do Democrats hate Latinos so much? Why are they RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACISTS?
They killed the DREAM, not the Republicans...
And Zandar gets pwned by the TRUTH again!
What a moron!
Oh No!
"Sen. Bond changed his vote at the last minute when it became apparent the measure had 41 votes to block cloture."
Which means the 36 Republicans who voted to block this are the ones that take the responsibility for stopping it.
Try again.
Unh hunh - 5 Democratic Senators crossed the aisle to join the REPUBLICANS... and we're the ones who killed the DREAM act. It seems to me that it was the Republicans who decided that hating on foreigners is the way forward, and 5 opportunists jumped on board. It's sort of like saying that Benedict Arnold was just following Washington's orders when he switched sides.
If only Americans had put their political will towards winning the war in Afghanistan rather than trying to cover up the Democrats bigotry when they instated DADT in the first place, maybe our men and women in uniform would be home right now.
How is this a victory?
I am pleased to hear from the last anon poster that the Republicans were all poised to end DADT in order to expose our bigotry towards homosexuals and allow our troops, gay and straight, to continue...
Wait, you mean the Republicans are AGAINST letting gays in the military? Really? Hunh, that's funny. They don't like DADT, but they don't want to end it either.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the Republicans are all full bore pro-gay rights, what with their support of anti-discrimin.... well, their advocacy of marriage for same sex... um, just cause. I just find it fascinating that GOP stalwarts really don't like a policy that lets gays serve, but not openly, for reasons entirely different than the gay community have.
Uh-Oh!
Sen. Joe Manchin said he would have voted NO on the DREAM Act!
That means DEMOCRATS are still responsible for killing it! Six Democrats are RAAAAAAAAACISTS!
You lose again, fucktard!
Good luck getting the Latino vote to give a shit when Democrats said NO, NO PUENO too!
Some champions of Latino civil rights they are!
And you're BUSTED AGAIN!
Oh No!
It's an interesting view that about 10% of one party votes to not support DREAM and they are racists, but the other party which had much larger percentages vote against it, and led up to the vote by basically claiming that immigrants will murder us all in our beds, are not.
In stupid winger troll math, 6 > 35.
Fail.
Dude, we're talking about the Incredible Credibility Problem.
The majority, if not entirety, of Republicans vote no? Business as usual, move along, move along.
A few Democrats vote no? The Democrats are all racist and so are the liberals! Zandar is wrong forever! Credibility problem! His penis is tiny! Oh No!
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Also, I think SteveAR forgot to add his name to his little "The Democrats and liberals are just covering up their own homophobia!"
I do have to thank Amanda Marcotte, though, she's the one who made the point stick that your average wingnut only cares about points and couting coup.
All that said, this is lovely to see, and I do thank those who voted for the measure.
If anything, it's a step closer. History marches on. Anyways, Kitty would like to see the full bill, looking it up now, or at least trying to.
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As a note, according to CNN, it was just a simple majority vote (as opposed to the 60 vote bullshit for cloture), which kind of dampens down my respect a bit and makes me think of bandwagon-hoppers.
But that's a thought for later. Focus on the good things.
But nothing you say changes the facts!
With five more votes from his own party President Obama would have gotten the DREAM ACT passed. Instead Democrats failed on yet another campaign promise.
Democrats have failed Latinos.
Just like they have failed blacks.
What makes you think Latinos will turn out for Democrats after this? Why should they?
They may not vote for Republicans, but they won't vote for Democrats either.
That's a victory for the GOP and you know it.
Oh No!
Because the blame is being put squarely where it belongs:
With the GOP.
Republicans just lost the Hispanic vote for a generation. Short term win with your rabid, xenophobic base. Long term?
Major fail.
It's okay because they're Republican, thus it's all the demmicraps fault for a bunch of conservadems voting with the One True Party!
You fail because CREDIBILITY PROBLEM LOLOLOL YOUR PENIS IS SMALL LOLOLOLFAPFAPFAPFAP.
Sorry boys.
Latinos are already blaming Obama for this FAILURE.
"Immigrant-rights advocates think the issue will reverberate through the 2012 elections. Obama will have to persuade Latinos - who turned out for him in record numbers in key states in 2008 - to do so again, despite the lack of progress on legislative initiatives. For Obama to get into trouble, Hispanics don't have to switch sides on Election Day - they just have to stay home, Latino leaders said.
Republicans, meanwhile, have found that they can talk tough on immigration and still appeal to Latino voters by picking conservative Hispanic candidates. That produced three significant Republican victories this year: Marco Rubio captured a Senate seat in Florida, and Susana Martinez won a gubernatorial race in New Mexico, as did Brian Sandoval in Nevada. Rubio is being mentioned by some as a vice presidential pick."
Conservative Latinos will turn out for Republicans. Liberal Latinos will stay home. Keep telling yourself that Obama can win without the Latino vote.
And what if the GOP runs Vice-President Marco Rubio on the ticket?
Oh No!
A Palin/Rubio 2012 ticket would wipe the Democrats out.
Oh No!
Okay, now I know you're either trolling or fucking high.
Palin/Rubio?
I relish that. And again you're conflating the opinion of one somewhat disappointed activist (who has much to be disappointed with) as solid fact.
Rhetoric fail.
As ZCP said, 5 Democrats voted against cloture. The vote was 55-41. That's five votes short of 60. But the Zandar the Democrat amnesty supporter blames Republicans. How typical.
Republicans just lost the Hispanic vote for a generation.
Yes. Because when liberals say anything, it's the truth. NOT!!!
The reality:
Hispanic Republican candidates scored record gains at all levels of government in Tuesday's elections, significantly advancing their party's longtime goal to widen its reach within the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group.
Rep.-elect Bill Flores (R-TX)
Republican Hispanics broke a partisan barrier to win at least four seats in the state Legislature. In Tarrant County, political newcomer Mary Louise Garcia won election as county clerk, joining two other Hispanic Republicans who hold countywide offices.
Five more Republican Hispanics -- the most ever in a single election cycle -- were elected to Congress, joining two incumbents.
Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval (R-UT)
Gov.-elect Susan Martinez (R-NM)
Sen.-elect Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman
And more:
Rep.-elect Raul Labrador (R-ID)
Rep.-elect Jaime Herrera (R-WA)
Tell me again how the GOP lost the Hispanic vote for a generation:
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that in the past year it has deported a record number of unauthorized immigrants - more than 392,000, about half of whom were convicted criminals...The number...still surpassed the 2009 total of 389,834, the previous record, according to the Associated Press.
That would be Obama, the Democrat.
But that was of course too much for the Republicans. Even one immigrant who could have become a US citizen due to this and possibly been grateful to a Democratic administration was too much to countenance.
Is there any reason there is zero fact-checking on this? Various versions of the DREAM Act haven't passed since 2001. Who was POTUS prior to Obama? Republican George W. Bush, who wanted it. And Democrats and their PR firms, the lamestream media, would have lied to make sure neither Bush or any Republicans got credit had it passed. All I have to do is read Zandar the Democrat amnesty supporter to prove it.
It'll be interesting to see what the Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) will do now that it failed. This is the idiot that seems to think his only constituents are immigrants:
“I have only one loyalty,” he says, “and that’s to the immigrant community.”
Unless the IL 4th CD is 100% immigrant, that leaves out everyone who isn't one. Even if half the district is made up of legal immigrants (highly doubtful), that means he will willingly ignore the other 50%; considering the probable percentage of immigrants in the district is far lower, that makes Gutierrez's statement worse.
It'll also be interesting to see if what Gutierrez threatens will materialize, "a divorce—from the Democratic Party, from the entire lawmaking process." Again, doesn't Gutierrez also represent people who aren't immigrants? Why does he hate his fellow Americans, especially those who are his constituents? After all, he was born in Chicago.
Why, I had no idea Gutierrez spoke for A) all Latino voters or B) the entire Democratic party.
News to me.
Why, I had no idea Gutierrez spoke for A) all Latino voters or B) the entire Democratic party.
News to me.
That's because you're extremely close-minded.
That doesn't even make sense.
This is exceptionally stupid, even for the Steve-ster.
Closed minded because one dude speaks for all Latinos or all Dems?
Dude, you must have had some good shit over the weekend.
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