SENATOR KIT BOND AND MY THOUGHTS ON THE IMMIGRATION BILL

In Defense of Senator Kit Bond

In a strange turn of events, my Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill had seemingly voted to kill the immigration bill and my Republican Senator Kit Bond had voted to continue debate on it. Kit Bond has been a stellar senator on almost every issue so I checked into his reasoning. Over the years I can't remember ever disagreeing with him on any issue, he is a Conservative's dream Senator.

This is what Kit Bond had to say about his vote:

"First, I voted to allow this debate to occur so I could force a vote on my amendment that cuts the heart out of amnesty. My amendment would cut the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

"I think it is critical that my colleagues go on-the-record regarding whether they support giving U.S. citizenship to illegal immigrants. That is the heart of the amnesty that I, and a majority of Missourians, oppose.

"Citizenship is the most precious gift America has to offer. It should not serve as a reward to those who broke the law to enter or remain in this country.

"Also, the more this bill is exposed to the light of day through debate, the more people will see its fundamental flaws -- like the amnesty provisions and the $25 billion in new mandatory entitlement spending for illegal immigrants.

"Many people don't realize that the 12 million illegal immigrants legalized in this bill will eventually qualify for Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements. This will cost a lot of money and not even half of it will be covered by the new fees impose in the bill.

"The more my colleagues and the public understand what is really in this flawed bill, the better chances we have at ultimately defeating it.

"It is important to understand that yesterday's vote on the motion to proceed is just one of several 60 vote chances we have to kill this bill.

"I agree with Missourians who are outraged with this bill in its current form and I will vote against waiving the budget act to allow this bill's mandatory new entitlement spending on formerly illegal immigrants - that requires 60 votes.

"I will also vote against the motion to end debate, which also requires 60 votes.

"I want to be clear - unless the bill's fundamental flaws are stripped from this bill - such as amnesty for illegal immigrants and the $25 billion in new entitlements -- I will vote to kill this bill."

To hear his comments about it yesterday, go here, to hear his comments about his vote on Sean Hannity's show, go here.

My Thoughts

This issue just continues to make my heart sick. I hope the bill is killed today like many are predicting. I am upset with the President for pushing this so hard when he knows so many are against it. I am upset with the likes of Lindsey Graham and John McCain for turning a deaf ear to their constituents. I am upset with those on our side who are so hysterical and irrational on this. Hearing Ann Coulter trash my President hurts my heart tremendously.

I don't care how important an issue is, it isn't worth the vitriol and eating our own. I hate the immigration debate for that very reason, it seems to bring out the ugliest side of all people. I hope next time around our Representatives listen better to what the American people are saying and I hope Conservatives will be a bit more rational and civil on how they handle the debate.

VALERIE PLAME'S 3 VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH

While Scooter Libby had his life and career destroyed because of Plamegate, those who had the biggest issue with the truth, Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson walk around free of consequences.

My awesome Senator Kit Bond is saying not so fast. As Vice-Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee he is a little troubled by the fact that Valerie Plame has no less than 3 different versions of how her husband was chosen to go to Niger.

VALERIE PLAME'S 3 VERSIONS:

1) To the CIA inspector general, she said that she suggested her husband for the trip.

2) To the Senate Intelligence Committee staff, she said she could not remember whether she suggested her husband or if her boss did.

3) To the House Committee, she said she did not suggest him.

In Plame's testimony to the House she said that her February 12, 2002 memo was taken out of context by the Senate. When I look at the memo it looks pretty clear to me that she was recommending her husband for the trip, maybe a liberal can point out to me what in the memo (posted below) is being taken out of context:

The report forwarded below has prompted me to send this on to you and request your comments and opinion. Briefly, it seems that Niger has signed a contract with Iraq to sell them uranium. The IC [Intelligence Community] is getting spun up about this for obvious reasons. The embassy in Niamey has taken the position that this report can’t be true — they have such cozy relations with the GON [Government of Niger] that they would know if something like this transpired.

So where do I fit in? As you may recall, [redacted] of CP/[office 2] recently approached my husband to possibly use his contacts in Niger to investigate [a separate Niger matter]. After many fits and starts, [redacted] finally advised that the station wished to pursue this with liaison. My husband is willing to help, if it makes sense, but no problem if not. End of story.

Now, with this report, it is clear that the IC is still wondering what is going on… my husband has good relations with both the PM and the former minister of mines, not to mention lots of French contacts, both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity. To be frank with you, I was somewhat embarrassed by the agency’s sloppy work last go-round, and I am hesitant to suggest anything again. However, [my husband] may be in a position to assist. Therefore, request your thoughts on what, if anything, to pursue here. Thank you for your time on this.

As a result, Senator Kit Bond has:

written to the CIA asking to interview the people said to be involved. He also wants to reinterview Valerie Plame Wilson herself.