UPDATE: ‘Don’t Ask,’ DREAM Act Senate vote not looking good

http://blog.reidreport.com/2010/09/t...ted-in-senate/



UPDATE 2: As of 12: 30 p.m., Susan Collins is a ‘no.’

And President Obama’s pick to lead the Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos, though obviously unable to vote on it, is also a “no” on repeal. The Marines tend to be the most conservative service branch (they didn’t accept racial integration until the 1960s, for instance) so it’s not all that surprising. And there remains a layer of military brass in multiple services that opposes open service for one reason or another. But Gen. Amos also added this:

He noted, however, that “one of the rights of passage of being a young enlisted Marine is being able to grouse.” He went on, “If we step away from don’t ask, don’t tell, there are a lot of things that the average marine won’t agree with.”

But what the service does have, he said, is discipline. “We are the most disciplined service of all the ones you have,” Amos reckoned. “We follow orders.” Any new policy, he added, would be backed by strong leadership and strong discipline. “If the law is changed… the Marine Corps will get in step and do it smartly.”

Amos’ comments came under harsh questioning from Senator John McCain, who has said a Congressional repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy should wait until a Pentagon study on the impact of repeal is completed, but who in hearings today attacked the study itself, calling it a political ploy.

ORIGINAL POST:

It’s a big day on the Hill for two priorities of the Democratic base: the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and the passage of the DREAM Act, both of which Harry Reid has attached to a Defense authorization bill, with John McCain playing the spoiler (and risking the wrath of Gaga.) Here we go …

From Politico, moderates in the balance:

Gay rights and immigration reform advocates mounted a last-ditch effort Monday to overcome an expected Republican filibuster of a defense authorization bill that could lead to a repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

All eyes were on a few moderate Republicans who might be able to get Democrats to the 60 votes needed to bring the bill to the floor in a vote scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Backers of the bill held out slightly more hope for the measure Monday than late last week, when many viewed the legislation as a lost cause — but Democrats made clear they didn’t know how the vote would turn out.

“I don’t know whether we have the votes or not,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan told reporters. “I haven’t done a whip check. I just don’t know if the votes are there.”

The stakes for the Democrats are high, with key provisions on the table for two important constituencies ahead of midterm elections, in which they’re already in danger of losing the House and conceivably even the Senate.

Read more here.

Even before the vote, gay rights activists, in particular, made it clear that there would be recriminations against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and President Barack Obama if the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal doesn’t go forward — a pledge Obama made throughout his 2008 campaign. And immigration-rights activists say they’re watching how both parties handle Tuesday’s vote as well.

Meanwhile, Carl Levin is ready for John McCain.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and his staff apparently did their homework over the weekend.

Last week, the top Republican on the committee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, blasted Levin and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for loading down the defense authorization bill with “extraneous” amendments – a practice Democrats began last year with anti-hate-crimes legislation, according to McCain.

But in an informal session with reporters Monday, Levin dissected McCain’s remarks, pointing out where he got his facts wrong. The chairman presented reporters with a laundry list of unrelated amendments that had been attached to defense authorization bills tracing back 12 years.

Levin noted that senators on both sides of the aisle had tried six times since 2000 to add a hate-crimes provision to the annual defense policy bill. Since 1998, other amendments have focused on concealed weapons (Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.); indecency standards (Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas); and secret holds (Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa).

A campaign-reform amendment was proposed in 2000 by McCain himself, Levin said, noting that Senate rules allow for such amendments.

“When Senator McCain repeatedly says that extraneous items were never offered or put on the defense authorization bill, he’s just clearly wrong,” Levin said. “The rules are the rules, and people have the right to use the rules here, and to suggest anything to the contrary is just simply inaccurate.”