It's Do or Die Time, People!

The first vote for cloture on the Shamnesty Bill (Part 2) is likely going to happen tomorrow, Tuesday the 26th.

Here's the situation...according to NumbersUSA, it comes down to a handful of Senators, one of whom is Kit Bond from Missouri. To this point, Bond maintains that he will be voting YES on cloture but NO on the bill itself.

That means he's playing both sides of the issue.

He will vote YES on cloture to play nice with the deal-makers and the White House, ending debate for a final vote on the bill. But, by voting NO on the bill, he can still say he opposed amnesty.

The problem is, the final vote on the bill will only require 51 votes to pass (which they've more than likely got), but the cloture vote requires 60 (which is a toss-up at this point). If the cloture vote doesn't pass, the bill is dead. If the cloture vote passes, the bill will more than likely pass, and we have amnesty.

As the Editors of National Review Online say, "Any senator who votes to bring this legislation back to the Senate floor tomorrow is supporting it, and any contrary vote he casts later will be a scam designed to fool gullible voters."

So, if you're against, this bill, ACT NOW! Here's how you can contact Bond's office:
Call: (202) 224-5721 OR 800-417-7666
Send a fax: http://www.numbersusa.com/actionbuffet (registration is free; you just click which fax you want sent, and NumbersUSA does the rest)
E-mail: http://bond.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Feel free to do all three, and do them multiple times a day until this cloture vote happens.

Contact Bond's office and tell them that you know a vote in favor of cloture is a vote in favor of the bill. His people may give you a line about wanting to see the final draft of the bill before making his decision, but that's irrelevant - given the overall structure of the bill and the positioning of the deal-makers, they will get what they want (amnesty) regardless of the amendments that may or may not be passed. Bond's been around the block and knows how these things work - he's playing politics with America's future (and your wallet), and he knows it.

There's my two cents.


***UPDATE:
National Review Online posts a list of seven Senators this morning who are considering voting YES on cloture but NO on the bill. Here they are:

Kit Bond, Sam Brownback, Richard Burr, Thad Cochran, Norm Coleman, John Ensign, and Jim Webb

These are the people to target with your calls, e-mails, and faxes today. Go check out the NRO article for details on the stance of each Senator. If they say they're against amnesty, there's no reason to vote YES on cloture - call them on their political bluff.