Back on October 24, 2007 a majority of U.S. Senators voted for the DREAM Act but failed to reach the magic number of 60 to proceed to a vote on final passage. The DREAM Act provides a path to citizenship for people who entered the country illegally before the age of sixteen, and who have served at least two years in the military or have completed at least two years of college. It’s an idea the Pentagon embraced during the height of the war in Iraq when they were suffering from recruitment shortfalls. The cloture vote on the DREAM Act wasn’t a strictly partisan affair. Democratic senators Robert Byrd, Jon Tester, Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan Claire McCaskill, Mark Pryor, and Mary Landrieu voted against it. Republican senators Bob Bennett, Sam Brownback, Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Larry Craig, Chuck Hagel, Orrin Hatch, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Trent Lott, Mel Martinez, Dick Lugar and Olympia Snowe voted for it. Overall, the bill won the support of 52 senators. John McCain didn’t bother to cast a vote.
Today McCain took to the Senate floor to strongly object to the DREAM Act being attached to the Defense Appropriations Bill, stating that the Act has nothing whatsoever to do with our national security. It’s hard to see how a bill designed to improve our military recruitment has nothing to do with our national security, but that’s what McCain is claiming.
As you probably know, the Defense Appropriations Bill is the most must-pass bill in existence. If it doesn’t pass our troops are left in the field with nothing but their genitalia in their hands. If you want to pass something that cannot otherwise pass, you attach it to the Defense spending bill. That’s also why Harry Reid is including language in this year’s bill that will end the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. He’s letting the Republicans offer an amendment to strip that language out, but they’d need 60 votes to accomplish that, and there’s not a chance in hell that they can pick up 19 Democrats to maintain a homophobic law.
McCain is probably more pissed off about the Democrats giving something important to both the Latino and the LGBT communities on the eve of the midterms than he is about the procedure being used.
Maybe the procedure isn’t pretty, but it’s payback for the Republicans’ unprecedented obstruction. The Democrats will put the DREAM Act in the Defense Appropriations bill and defeat any effort to keep Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell before they recess for the elections. They will also force the Republicans to vote for or against keeping tax cuts for 97% of Americans, and then for or against keeping tax cuts for our richest three percent. It helps to be able to set the agenda.
Meanwhile, the Republicans will spend much of their time trying to explain their fondness for rape babies and hatred of Social Security, Medicare, and masturbation.
