UPDATE: Please make sure to read Mark Tapscott's take on Republican discontent.

At the bottom of this post is the hall of shame of Republicans who voted to kill a bill sponsored by Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, (Hat Tip Michelle Malkin) that would have demanded that border security be instituted before any sort of amnesty program was acted upon. Apparently these folks don't think controlling our border is important enough to demand control be asserted before any sort of amnesty program is instituted. And yes I know the President and probably these Republican Senators are against "amnesty".

They have the polling data that shows you people out in the hinterlands don't really think amnesty is such a good idea. So being good little politicians, with an agenda they cannot put aside, they simply switch labels. It is a measure of exactly how stupid the DC political class believes you are that they think a simple switch of labels will make it all feel better.

Pretty sure it doesn't feel so good for those Americans with legal employee's and all the attendent costs associated with those employees. Costs that the Government, the same government which now declares that there are jobs Americans won't do, burdened them with, costs like Workmans Comp and a minimum wage. Costs that companies that donate lots of dollars to the campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans don't burden themselves with since they simply avoid the problems by hiring people whose illegality and ignorance of our system insures their silence with the authorities. Silence regarding the fact that they are not covered with Workmans Comprehensive insurance meaning when they are injured on the job you and I pay, instead of Tyson foods for example. Silence about the fact that they are paid below minimum wage.

Remember that American company with the legal employee's? Well their choice is lose the business or adopt the same sort of illegal business practices. They are driven to the same seach for cheap labor, driven to the same dangerous workplace practices. Did you know for example that the Meatpacking industry is now a much more dangerous place to work then it was a mere 20 years ago? And we are not just talking about the Meatpacking Industry this cancer is pervasive.

Let's take a look at the disaster of illegal immigration on a smaller scale. On a scale where most of us operate this could be your business or your son's. Lets take a look at what happens to a drywall contractor who happens to believe that hiring illegals is actually not something you should do even if the authorities turn a blind eye towards breaking the law. Is that Drywall contactor rewarded or does he simply lose his business. Here is one such story. Channel3000.com - I-Team - Construction Controversy:

Jobs Americans won't do indeed! If President Bush wanted to repair much of the damage he has done himself with his base, apologizing for that insult would have been a tremendous start. This is work that Americans are not allowed by Law to do. The same Laws that sink American companies who naively follow the laws of the land also betrays those workers who cannot compete against a worker who will be paid less money and cost less due to his employer not being forced into buying Workers Comp insurance for him. It was an eye opening moment for me to watch a President I have idolized, utter such a lie as "jobs Americans won't do".

The base has stood by powerless until we discovered that by threatening to stay home this November people who had ignored us suddenly were all ears. All of a sudden those very same politicians who thought they knew better than us what we needed were all ears. All of a sudden many on the right began to be scared of losing the majority we all worked so hard for so many years to gain. A majority that this class of Republican politicans seems intent on squandering. Yet somehow, it was us, the base, that would be to blame should the Democrats win in November. It was not that our Senators, House Members and President ignored our feelings and refused to move an inch towards our position, no it was all our fault according to many pundits. And not only was it our fault but we should stop threatening to sit on our hands because that is somehow unpatriotic, unjust and just plain nasty for us to throw out the bums.

Not once in any of those articles chastising the base for being so upset with the Republicans did I hear anyone recommend that it was those Senators, House Members and a stiff necked President who should bend to our will. Not even when all we are asking for is simple enforcement of our existing laws, laws those very same politicians are charged with upholding. We are supposed to set aside the ridiculous spending habits and crazy spending priorities, set aside the fact that Republicans who were once rightly skeptical of running to the Government for help, are now identified with the worst habits of those who think the Government is the answer. We are to set all this aside and declare that right or wrong we are Republicans while at the same time those same politicians thumb their noses at our desires.

No not once, instead, our arguments are misrepresented and strawmen are constructed and knocked down with a speed that would bring shame to the 101st Airborne in a competition of destructive power. For instance, no one is calling for the Government to round up and deport between 11 million and 20 million folks. It is the vilest form of demagoguery to suggest that to be the case.

Jim Geraghty suggests that he is tired of those of us who are threatening to stay home. In a good article outlining the ways we can reassert power over the Republican Party he suggests that we must support the Republicans should we fail to change the party to reflect our views. Which at this stage with the results we are getting in finally getting our voices heard is merely another way of allowing the President to get his way. This must not happen. Perhaps Geraghty should direct his ire towards those stiff necked Republicans who are themselves causing this rift to occur and by doing so threatening that which Geraghty considers so important, control of the House and Senate by a party I don't recognize anymore.

So in a spirit of controlled anger with a Party that has run rampant against my wishes I present these Senators. These Senators who have decided that contrary to the publics often stated desire to gain control of our borders they voted against that desire. Please do not send them emails. Please take the time to call them and in a rational tone tell them how you feel. Phone calls are very powerful with these folks. You taking the time and spending the money to call will leave an indelible impression. Warn them that by their refusal to bend they are condemning the Republican party to the wilderness they were so familiar with just a few years ago.


Bennett, Robert F.- (R - UT)
Class III
431 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5444

Brownback, Sam- (R - KS)
Class III
303 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6521
Web Form: brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm

Chafee, Lincoln- (R - RI)
Class I
141A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2921

Coleman, Norm- (R - MN)
Class II
320 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5641

Collins, Susan M.- (R - ME)
Class II
461 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2523

Craig, Larry E.- (R - ID)
Class II
520 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2752

DeWine, Mike- (R - OH)
Class I
140 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2315

Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC)
Class II
290 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5972

Lugar, Richard G.- (R - IN)
Class I
306 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4814

Martinez, Mel- (R - FL)
Class III
317 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3041

Murkowski, Lisa- (R - AK)
Class III
709 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6665

Shelby, Richard C.- (R - AL)
Class III
110 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5744

Snowe, Olympia J.- (R - ME)
Class I
154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5344

Specter, Arlen- (R - PA)
Class III
711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4254

Stevens, Ted- (R - AK)
Class II
522 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3004

Voinovich, George V.- (R - OH)
Class III
524 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3353

Warner, John- (R - VA)
Class II
225 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2023

Other posts on immigration
Mickey Kaus makes some good points on immigration but...
The Reason Amnesty won't work even if President Bush hoodwinks us into passing the "comprehensive bill"
Call your senators, ask them why they are condemning the Republican party to minority status!
Congress
Politics
GOP
conservatives
Corruption
The Washington Post
The Washington Examiner Immigration border Illegal immigration

Reference Article