Brownback says he intended to switch vote on immigration / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, June 29, 2007

By Sam Hananel - Associated Press Writer

June 29, 2007

The Senate voted 46-53 Thursday to block final action on a bill to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants.

On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote in favor of the bill and a "no" vote was a vote to stop its progress.

Kansas Republican Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts both voted no.

Washington — When voting began Thursday on whether to advance President Bush's immigration bill, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback was among the first lawmakers to vote "yes."

About 10 minutes later, Brownback switched his vote to "no."

But don't bother accusing the Republican presidential hopeful of flip-flopping - he says he did it on purpose.

"I wanted to signal that I support comprehensive immigration reform, but now is not the time, this is not the bill," Brownback said.

Brownback explained that his "yes" vote initially was to "showcase" that reform is needed. The switch to "no" was because he didn't think this was the right way to do it.

Spokesman Brian Hart confirmed that Brownback planned the switch all along, ever mindful that presidential candidates face a tough time explaining vote switches.

"You don't go to the Senate floor to vote 'yes' and then vote 'no' in the John Kerry era unless you mean it," Hart said, referring to the Massachusetts senator and former Democratic presidential nominee.

Kerry was accused of waffling in 2004 after he tried to explain his votes on funding the Iraq war. "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it," Kerry said.

The Bush campaign repeatedly used Kerry's comments in television ads to back its claim that Kerry was a flip-flopper.

Brownback has shifted his position on the bill since last year, when he supported a Senate measure that would give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become U.S. citizens. Brownback came under heavy criticism from conservatives who adamantly oppose the bill.

Now, Brownback says he favors a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that secures the border, provides interior workplace enforcement and establishes an effective guest worker program.

"I became convinced along with many of my colleagues on the floor that this version of the immigration bill was not, and would not become, the vehicle that would fix our broken system as I had hoped," Brownback said.

Hart denies that Brownback has changed his position on immigration reform, saying the senator was hopeful that the bill last year would be improved in conference committee when Republicans were still in charge of Congress.

Discussion

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29 June 2007
at 2:22 a.m.

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Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (Anonymous) says…

Is that manure that I smell?
29 June 2007
at 2:25 a.m.

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Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (Anonymous) says…

Uh, correction needed for your little sidebar, Roberts voted No and Brownback voted both Yes and No. And yes, apparently that is manure I smell, enough that I can smell it coming all the way from Washington, D.C.
29 June 2007
at 6:24 a.m.

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KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

So how does a Kansas Senator who either switches his votes or doesn't vote at all really working for his Kansas voters??? He is not, he is for Sam and Sam alone. Next election please.
29 June 2007
at 6:46 a.m.

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ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

Well Senator Moonbeam, while you were NOT voting and looking after your constituents, your constituents got wise to your BS. We checked on how often you vote (not often) how often you are actually at the Capitol (not so much).

Now after having your office was flooded with mail asking you to vote NO on cloture 3 TIMES, and you ignored them all. You blew off your constituents, even those that voted and supported you in the past.

Yes that is right…in the past. You blew it Senator “Switchback”. You have ZERO credibility and crying about what a good christian you are and opposing gay marriage, and abortion all will get you nothing.

the last thing voters want out of their senator is to be ignored!

Pack your bags!

Signed a Republican!
29 June 2007
at 6:56 a.m.

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Sigmund (Anonymous) says…

I thought the whole “I voted for the war, before I voted against the war” played really well for John Kerry in the last election.
29 June 2007
at 7:06 a.m.

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ljreader (Anonymous) says…

I'll decide to vote for him before I don't..
29 June 2007
at 7:31 a.m.

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temperance (Anonymous) says…

Michelle Malkin is (predictably) having a meltdown over this:
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/06/28/…
And gosh, I didn't know that the title of the legislation was the “Illegal Alien Amnesty Act,” but thanks to Malkin's website I'm now properly educated.

Seriously, why are conservatives mad? He ultimately voted against the bill. That's what y'all wanted, right?

29 June 2007
at 8 a.m.

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packrat (Anonymous) says…

I hope a viable candidate opposes him in the primary.
29 June 2007
at 8:21 a.m.

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mick (Anonymous) says…

“Let them by their fruits be known.” “Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.”
29 June 2007
at 8:47 a.m.

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Stain (Anonymous) says…

OMG, the dumb sheep will not be able to figure this out. They cannot handle this kind of nuance.

It was to easy to label John Kerry a flip flopper for a symbolic protest vote and have it stick.
29 June 2007
at 9:33 a.m.

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Defender (Anonymous) says…

flip flop!! Hmmmmm…….
29 June 2007
at 11:13 a.m.

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Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (Anonymous) says…

How cynical do you have to be to change your vote after it made no difference except for the purposes of deceit and then issue a press release bragging about it? I don't care what party you're in, do you really want a liar representing you?
29 June 2007
at 11:17 a.m.

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Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (Anonymous) says…

The biggest problem is that he'll probably be replaced by Governor Roundheels, giving Missouri one more vote in the Senate, and replacing a Republican embarrassment with a “Democratic” one.

This is just sickening. Can we hold the election tomorrow?
29 June 2007
at 2:24 p.m.

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ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

“Let them by their fruits be known.”

Let them hang from their fruits!
29 June 2007
at 9:42 p.m.

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eesti006 (Anonymous) says…

I find it rather ironic that Senator Brownback accuses Romney of flip flopping on issues and yet Brownback is the biggest hypocrite of all the Republicans in the presidential race. His change on Immigration( mentioned above) is just one of numerous examples of his flip flopping campaign.

Brownback is a hypocrite who claims to be pro marriage and then “flip flops” on the issue by sponsoring a law creating a brute blockade regulating (preventing) marriages between Americans and foreigners by requiring three different background clearances at various stages of a relationship.
Senator Brownback claims to be pro marriage but has changed his stance on abortion. In 1997 when he first ran for Senator he was very queasy and quiet on the abortion issue (suggesting a neutral stance) according to the Kansas City Star. Shortly after being elected as a Senator for Kansas he “flip flopped” his stance on abortion to his current stance which is adamantly against abortion. (Of course this issue would have been forgotten had Brownback not run for President).

Senator Brownback as president would be a disaster. He took an oath to defend the constitution of the United States and then renigned on his oath by sponsoring the most undemocratic and un American law in the history of the USA: The International Romance Regulation Act a law that regulates marriage and romance, a legal pursuit. He “flip flops” on immigration, abortion, marriage, religion and other issues.

29 June 2007
at 10:27 p.m.

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Machiavelli_mania (Anonymous) says…

What a total fruitcake!!

Brownback writes of 'hatred' of Clintons
By sam hananel, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 29, 6:20 PM ET
washington - Sam Brownback says he harbored a “hatred” of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton until he experienced a religious awakening in the mid-1990s.

Brownback, a Republican presidential hopeful, details in a new book how the change in outlook led him to make a stunning apology to Hillary Clinton a few years later during a Senate prayer breakfast.

“I was considering what I should say when I confronted all the anger that I held for the Clintons,” the Kansas senator writes in the book, “From Power to Purpose: A Remarkable Journey of Faith and Compassion.”

“I thought, I hate them for what they are doing to the country and I feel justified in hating them for it,” he writes.

But Brownback says he realized there is never justification for hating someone regardless of their actions.

He told the prayer breakfast audience that he used to have a “hatred for Bill and Hillary” because of their politics. He spotted Sen. Clinton in the crowd and, speaking directly to her, said he “realized that those thoughts of hatred were wrong. I apologized to her for them. I don't know what she thought, but I believe it made a difference.”

Religion permeates nearly every corner of Brownback's book, written with Jim Nelson Black and officially slated for release July 3. His soul searching began in 1995, hastened by two dramatic events in his personal life. His marriage was in real trouble - he was “on track” to getting divorced - as he devoted all his energy to the conservative agenda that fueled the Republican takeover of the House in 1994.

Even more traumatic was his 1995 bout with cancer and surgery to remove malignant melanoma from his right side. Brownback says he finally found peace when he resolved to devote himself to God.

“One night I got down on my knees and said 'OK, Lord, that's it. I give up. It's all Yours,'” Brownback writes.
29 June 2007
at 10:32 p.m.

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Machiavelli_mania (Anonymous) says…

I just never have bought the “god” stuff, not from anyone.

You cannot measure spirituality from the outside of a person,
and, as yet, I don't think there is any solid science out there to teach us how to frequently get inside a person, any person, to determine their spiritual strength.
So I take all the “god” stuff with a grain of salt and an ounce of vinegar.

I doubt Brawnback's sincerity.
29 June 2007
at 10:39 p.m.

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Machiavelli_mania (Anonymous) says…

Brownback says he is pro-marriage but I have yet to see him do anything loudly about domestic violence and alcoholism, both the two major culprits that so frequently damage and break marriages.
29 June 2007
at 10:47 p.m.

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camper (Anonymous) says…

This switch is nothing more than a political maneuver; a PR job to either gain votes or not lose votes. Not very presidential to me. Another warning flag for the undecided.
29 June 2007
at 11:02 p.m.

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blackwalnut (Anonymous) says…

Brownback tells Fred Phelps he approves of what Phelps is doing. Brownback brags publicly about his sudden revelation that it is wrong to hate Hillary Clinton, because it's wrong to hate.

I guess hating fags doesn't count as hating.

What an embarrassment. Bush shill, too.
29 June 2007
at 11:05 p.m.

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blackwalnut (Anonymous) says…

Absolute must-read - Rolling Stone interview of Brownback.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/…
30 June 2007
at 12:07 a.m.

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perkins (Anonymous) says…

Mr. Brownback maried into Topeka Capital-Journal (Stauffer Communications) money. That paper regularly prints huge articles full of lavish praise for the senator. Pay attention, children. Marrying into a publishing empire is one way to achieve most of your political ambitions.