Politics Blog

Liberal Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) was a surprise vote against both Bush-Kennedy cloture motions last week. Here’s why he voted no:

About two weeks before [the Bush-Kennedy amnesty] died, I sat down with Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who up to that point had voted to let the bill go forward. Bayh was blue about the legislation’s prospects, and his explanation had more to do with the political climate than with the bill’s particulars – although he cited some of those in explaining why he voted, in the end, to block a measure he called “a theoretical hodgepodge.”

“The timing of this is all wrong,” Bayh said. “There’s a tremendous amount of middle-class anxiety in the country right now,” and anger over immigration reflected “the complete lack of a domestic agenda to address the needs of the middle class” in areas such as health care, pensions and education. When voters saw Congress directing its attention to 12 million illegal immigrants, he said, “They asked: ‘When are you going to get around to me? Are you going to get around to me?’ ” Bayh himself strongly favors legalizing the status of the 12 million. He opposed some of the bill’s more punitive sections and sided with Latino groups in trying to strengthen the rules on family reunification.

But he said he understood why many voters weren’t buying immigration reform this year. “When people are feeling more secure about their own situations, they’re more willing to welcome others,” he said in a follow-up interview yesterday. “If we had moved first to address the middle class’s anxieties, we would have had a much better chance of success.”

And the strongest arguments in the restrictionists’ arsenal played on a widespread belief that the federal government was too incompetent to enforce whatever tough provisions the bill contained. Bayh pointed to poor planning for the Iraq war and the failure to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina as leading inevitably to skepticism. “A government that’s going to permit that is suddenly going to know how to make an entirely new employment system work?” Bayh asked.

– PoliPundit

The Ross Report
by Richard Ross of Conservatives with Attitude!

Senior US intelligence officials say British authorities now believe “the key of the key suspects” in the London and Glasgow terrorist plot have now all been detained. Others may be arrested, but the Brits feel safe in thinking they have the major players in the plot.

“These guys left behind a gold mine of evidence,” said the official, asked why things moved so quickly and why the officials feel so comfortable.

We will continue to investigate this story and bring you the latest as information breaks.

— ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

Dems love Lindsey:

Robert Botsch, a University of South Carolina-Aiken professor, said if Graham has a problem it’s likely to be in the GOP primary with its hard-core conservative base.

The general election is safe for Graham, Botsch maintains. “He is the closest thing we’ve had to a Democratic senator in a long time,” Botsch noted.

Even Democrats agree.

Last year, Joe Erwin of Greenville, immediate past chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party, was asked what Democrat might challenge Graham in 2008. Erwin doubted anyone would.

“We already have our best Democrat up there in Lindsey,” Erwin quipped.

HT: Jon Sandor

— W.C. Varones

The Ross Report
by Richard Ross of Conservatives with Attitude!

The House Judiciary Committee is planning a hearing next week into the commuting of Libby’s sentence. They don’t yet know who they are going to call, but as of this morning they are thinking that they may not have enough time to call Libby himself and properly prepare. That could change.

Henry Waxman’s staff over at Government Oversight and Reform is still pursuing Peter Fitzgerald. Recall that Fitzgerald has already declined an invitation to testify, citing the ongoing appeals process. Though that process continues, Democrats on the committee think that the time may be now right for Fitzgerald to appear.

In the meantime this morning staff is looking through statements made by Republicans in the affair surrounding the pardon of Marc Rich. Republican were outraged at the time when it was disclosed that President Clinton did not consult the DoJ before acting. The same seems to have been the case now with Libby.

Meanwhile, conventional opinion on the Hill is circulating around the idea that the president is playing to his ideological conservative base in an attempt to mend fences after backing the comprehensive immigration reform that they all despised. He’s not thinking about the next election, the thinking goes, when Indies will decide things. He’s thinking about the next year and half and trying to salvage an agenda, since Bush hassuch little support or credibility anymore.

It should be noted that a full pardon would have meant that Libby would have been compelled to testify and could no longer take the Fifth. But as it stands, his appeal is still pending. One advantage of a commutation.

— ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

I just have to comment since this was one of my favorite stories over the past two years. I applaud the President for sparing Libby any jail time. However, it would be nice to see President Bush take on the hysterical claims of Joe Wilson and his lying enablers directly at some point when this is all over. Wilson’s wife was not covert. No crime was committed and two years were wasted on this investigation. The public needs to be reminded of this.

Opinion journal argues for a full pardon. I’m not sure how I feel about that as Libby is still appealing the appointment of the special prosecutor and that case probably needs to be settled.

Finally, it is fantastic to see Fitzmas end with such a whimper. Keith Olbermann said last night this was a “virtual pardon.” Right. The DU and Kos commenters are in hysterics and threatening to impeach President Bush. Where was all this indignation when President Clinton commuted the sentence of Mel Reynolds, child molester? And here I thought liberals cared about the children.

— The Ace

The illegal immigrants who have already broken the law by being here are threatening revenge for the failed attempt at Amnesty.

Mexican activist hiding out in a church in Chicago is making the threats:

Hours after the Senate voted against advancing the immigration reform project, the Mexican activist Elvira Arellano announced a campaign of resistance against the U.S. government.

In a written statement, the leader of the movement Familia Unida (United Family) said that “if the Democrats and the Republicans cannot summon the courage to fix the broken law we will not sit quietly and see our families and our children cut to pieces on the broken pieces of that broken law.”

She demanded an immediate moratorium on all raids and deportations.

Arellano, who has remained in a Northwest Side church since August 15 to avoid an order of deportation, said this would be the deadline the government will have to “revive and pass a comprehensive immigration reform.”

Otherwise, pro-immigrant organizers will begin a campaign “aimed at bringing this government and this economy to a halt.”

These are the people that Geraldo Rivera, Harry Reid, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Ted Kennedy, Michael Chertoff and President Bush have been whining about having to “hide in the shadows.”

It seems clear tome that they know when they want to be seen, and heard. This is the time to arrest and deport every one of them.

— ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

I was beginning to wonder if I could count on this president to do the right thing and arrange for Scooter to not serve any time. I do not have to wonder anymore.

President Bush commuted the sentence of former aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case. Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Bush’s move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That decision put the pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby’s allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

While we’ve all spent plenty of time railing against some of the presidents policy positions lately it’s nice to finally find myself in agreement with one of his actions. Good show Mr. President.

Update: Please comment in Michael’s post below, just wanted to add my 2 cents.
It would have been nice if he ditched the fine as well but I don’t know the legal details involved in doing such.
If the President would like to take another step in the right direction how about pardons for Agents Ramos & Compean? Don’t hold your breath.

rom NBC’s Joel Seidman
Likely presidential candidate Fred Thompson ® released this statement: “I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the President’s decision. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life.”

He’s making it look almost too easy to get into the base’s good graces lately.

— KnightHawk

This is will NOT make the liberals very happy. President Bush pardons Scooter Libby, sparing him his almost 3 year jail term:

WASHINGTON — President Bush commuted the sentence of former aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.

Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Bush’s move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That decision put the pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby’s allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Libby was convicted in March of lying to authorities and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative’s identity. He was the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.

— ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

We need more of this and less talk of amnesty:

Nine Hudson County residents have been picked up in a number of recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps that captured 131 people, including a Dominican national with a criminal record living in Kearny, officials said.

During June, ICE fugitive operations teams fanned out across the state to capture 71 criminal and fugitive non-documented residents, and during the investigations also arrested 60 other people who were in the county illegally, said Adam Puharic, spokesman for the Newark ICE office.

Just doing the work American’s won’t do, huh?:

Among the criminals caught was Ricardo Anthony Rondon, 31, of Kearny, a Dominican national who has a 2000 conviction for drug possession with intent to distribute, and a 2002 conviction for aggravated assault, Puharic said.

Our 2 Liberal Senators from New Jersey voted to give criminals like Ricardo immediate freedom and citizenship in this Country had that travesty of a Shamnesty bill passed.

— ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx

Michelle Malkin:

Actions have consequences. One of the negative consequences of the Department of Homeland Security’s push for shamnesty is its shrinking credibility. From the dog-and-pony show raids before shamnesty hit the Senate floor to the smearing of opponents during the legislative debate to the inaction of “emergency” border security appropriations after the bill’s defeat, DHS and its chief Michael Chertoff have abandoned principled enforcement of immigration laws for cynical, open-borders politicking.

We won’t forget the frenetic smear campaign that Chertoff waged against principled opponents of the Bush-Kennedy immigration disaster. We won’t forget that while global jihad marched on, Secretary Chertoff was more worried about the availability of cheap lettuce pickers than about terrorist operatives slipping past our air, land, and sea borders.

Now, in the wake of last week’s two attempted terrorist car bombings in London and Glasgow, Chertoff is all over the airwaves reassuring us that he’s got everything under control in the U.S. He appeared on weekend talk shows to encourage the American people to “be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to authorities.”

Uh-huh. This from the public official who maligned vigilant immigration enforcement proponents as ignorant bigots who want to execute illegal aliens. This from the public official who has dismissed strict enforcement of our immigration laws as infeasible. This from the public official who lavished praise on security-undermining Teddy Kennedy as “awesome.”

In a last-ditch effort to save shamnesty, the White House dangled a $4.4 billion emergency border security buyout tied to the deal. Why isn’t Chertoff asking for that money now?

— PoliPundit