The Democrats failed to pass the DREAM Act which was attached to a defense funding bill. The repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell also failed. Michelle Malkin rightly points out that Harry Reid and the Democrats were holding up defense spending with social justice. It’s an old trick they use to pass unpopular legislation or spending – they attach all sorts of amendments to defense bills, and if the opposition balks they turn around and say they don’t care about the troops or national security. What a disgusting display.

2:58pm Eastern Cloture vote FAILS to reach 60-vote threshold, GOP sticks together…now pass a clean bill and do it the right way.

FYI: Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor voted no, joining all Republicans. Murkowski is out all week and missed the vote.

Reid voted no in order to file a motion to reconsider. Dick Durbin took the floor after the vote to lament the fate of his DREAM Act nightmare.

Reid: “We’re going to vote on the DREAM Act. It’s only a question of when.”

Durbin: “It’s a matter of American justice” to pass the illegal alien student bailout.

It remains to be seen whether the media will report on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comments on the Senate floor shortly before the vote.

“The defense authorization bill requires four or five weeks to debate at a minimum.

“But instead of having that debate or turning to the Defense Appropriations Bill which funds the military, they want to use this week for a political exercise they want to weigh this bill down with controversy in a transparent attempt to show their special interest groups that they haven’t forgotten about them ahead of the election.

“It’s astonishing, really.

“Democrats have called up this bill not to have a vote on it or to consider amendments to help our troops in the field, but to put on a show to use it as an opportunity to cast votes for things Americans either don’t want or aren’t interested in seeing attached to a bill that’s supposed to be about defense.

“The Majority Leader has already said this bill isn’t going to pass with these items attached to it before the election but he’s keeping them on there anyway.

“So this is not a serious exercise. It’s a show.

“And it’s because of shows like this that our friends have lost credibility with the public.

“Americans want us to take care of the basics and to do it competently.

“This isn’t too much to ask.

“But evidently, it’s too much to ask of Democrat leaders in Congress before the election.”

He’s right. Now we’ll wait and see how the media and the Democrats spin this.

lonelyconservative.com/2010/09/dream-act-repeal-of-dadt-fail-in-senate/

Sept. 21,2010