Here’s Pat Buchanan on Americans vs. McCain

But it is the immigration issue that could sink McCain. For it is hard to believe today’s GOP and Middle America, which wants the U.S. border sealed with a security fence and troops, will vote for a senator who favors amnesty, voted for welfare benefits for illegal aliens and sponsored with Teddy Kennedy a bill to bring scores of millions of new immigrants in over the next 20 years.

A McCain nomination would sunder the GOP between corporate conservatives and populist conservatives, and might generate a third party movement that could return the country — to Bill and Hillary.
RealClearPolitics Bad Month for McCainBy Patrick Buchanan,June 09, 2006

And here’s Ruben Navarette on McCain vs. Americans, starting with Brian Bilbray.

Exit John McCain. In a last-minute e-mail to the Bilbray campaign, a McCain spokesman noted that the two men “disagree on some of the issues related to immigration reform.” And, the spokesman said, McCain wanted to “avoid distracting” from the event.

Bilbray supporters called the snub petty and vindictive.

It wasn’t. It was principled, honest and morally consistent. How could McCain have appeared at a fundraiser for someone who has tried to get political mileage from blasting a major McCain initiative?
McCain’s Stand & Bilbray’s DemagogueryJune 04, 2006 By Ruben Navarrette

Party loyalty is how everyone but McCain manages these things. But that’s not the McCain style. After all, the “major McCain initiative” is also a major Ted Kennedy initiative. And that was Pat’s point above; McCain isn’t going to get many actual Republicans to vote for him for President.

Pennsylvania’s Senator Rick Santorum is in an extremely tough re election race, which many expect him to lose. It has done wonders for his attitude on Immigration.

To the disgust of The Philadelphia Inquirer, which is classical MSM style would much prefer the matter remain suppressed, Santorum is attacking his opponent on the issue, and trumpeting his vote against the Senate’s Amnesty/Immigration Acceleration bill. [Suddenly, Senate race is all about immigration -By Tom Infield June 9 2006]

…immigration - to be precise, illegal immigration - suddenly is topic No. 1 in the contentious U.S. Senate race.
Incumbent Republican Rick Santorum - looking to capitalize on an issue that has galvanized his conservative base like no other in recent months - launched a pair of 60-second radio ads last week… “This is an issue that I want folks to know I’m not where the president is on this,” he said in an interview this week about his radio ads.

This is a particularly remarkable development, because generally Santorum has been very much a Bush loyalist. Until recently his voting record on Immigration has been poor. But he is a professional, and in fact immigration is more visible and irritating in the state’s long-stable industrial towns than The Philadelphia Inquirer seems to realize.

Some might find this distasteful opportunism. But to succeed immigration reform needs a coalition. When the rats start boarding your ship, you can be more confident it will float.

Santorum is a welcome sign.

Here’s a term: Blue Slipping

Blue slipping is a House rule involving the act of sending a bill back to the Senate because it violates House prerogatives–the resolution is printed on blue paper, hence the name.

The decision to return a bill to the Senate is determined by a majority vote in the House of Representatives. This may be the vehicle by which convervatives in the House rid themselves of that nasty immigration bill: S.2611

As written, the Senate immigration bill is unconstitutional because it violates the origination clause for tax legislation.

Certain Senators are aware of this potential snafu but are hoping to salvage the present Senate bill by hijacking a tax bill which has already passed the House. Technically the Senate could use the tax portion of that bill, strip out the rest of the language, replace it with the contents of S. 2611 and send ot back to the House for approval.

Voila! The Senate bill would still be a tax bill but not one which originated in the Senate and as such, perfectly constitutional.

Sneaky and under-handed but constitutional.

So far the Republican leadership has been unable to garner unanimous consent to pursue this plan.

Additionally, the highly anticipated joint conference between House and Senate representatives has yet to be scheduled.