While I was happily watching Barry Bonds fail to hit a homerun against the L.A. Dodgers, the Republicans were howling over a claimed injustice on the floor of the House of Representatives...
The Republicans offered a motion to recommit (a tool of the minority to require a bill go back to a committee and be revised) on the Agriculture Appropriations bill. The motion was solely designed to delay passage of the appropriations bill and these motions are routinely voted down.
Well on this occasion the Republicans offered a motion to preclude the bill from appropriating any money to illegal immigrants. Because of the sensitivity of this issue the vote was closer than most motions to recommit. At first it appeared that the motion failed by a 214-214 vote. Then a Representative changed their vote at the motion appeared to pass by a 215-213 vote. The Speaker Pro Temp accidently banged the gavel and Republicans thought they won, but Representatives still wanted to change their votes and the final tally ended up being 212-216 and motion failed.
The vote and the subsequent confusion led the Republicans to cry foul. They screamed "Shame, Shame" on the floor. They carried on like children and tried to use every paraliamentary maneveur they could to express their disgust. Eventually when Majority Leader Hoyer tried graciously to revote so the true will of the House could be reflected, the Republicans balked. In a final act of political theater, over 100 Republicans walked off the floor during a vote to reconsider the previous vote.
This morning, the Republican leader expressed dismay while speaking on the floor. The Majority Leader and he decided during a colloquy on the floor to discuss this issue off the floor and the House was adjourned.
Yet, less than an hour later, senior Republican leaders from Mike Pence (R-IN) (of Iraq market being like a summer's day in Indiana fame), Melissa (oh won't you give me an autograph Mr. President) Blackburn and about 5-10 others came out decrying this action as an attempt by the radical leadership of the House to give "food stamps" to illegal immigrants. They said that this whole kerfuffle is about preventing "illegal immigrants from getting food stamps." They further claimed that the "Democrat" (that irritates me to no end) leadership tried to suppress the will of the majority. They went on and on about how the American people would rise up about the leadership's effort to allow illegal immigrants to get taxpayer money.
So after all that it might be interesting to know if the bill actually would give money to illegal immigrants. Guess what...it won't. Not because the bill itself would preclude illegal immigrants from getting any of the money of the bill. But because current law states that no money can go to illegal immigrants. Let me quote from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture website:
What categories of aliens are ineligible for food stamps?
Individuals are prohibited from receiving food stamps under any circumstances if they are:
lawfully residing in the United States in a non-qualified status and are not exempt from the immigrant restrictions (such as students or qualified aliens who have not been in status for five years); or
undocumented immigrants (such as individuals who entered the country as temporary residents and overstayed their visas or who entered without a visa).
These Republicans will try anything possible to delay and malign the Democrats. We cannot let them get away with this. We need to make sure that the American people know that only thing Republicans want to do is delay the work of the American people, so that they can claim that the Congress is a "Do-nothing" Congress. They are trying to put the failures of the past Congress on the present Congress. WE WON'T LET THEM! It is time to do the PEOPLE'S business, not the psychotic right's business.