The Ambushes Are Upon Us

It's like legislative Russian roulette: spin the wheel and pick your poison....

***As our dear readers are indellibly aware, unchecked, triumphant Senate Majority Chisler "Dirty Harry" Reid has his Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill ramming leadoff.  NRO provided a recent historical example of the consequences of government imposed public sector unionism:

Consider the case of Hawaii, where coordinated strikes by public-school teachers and college professors in 2001 resulted in massive pay increases for educators who already were among the nation’s highest paid. It was a display of raw power on the part of the unions: Education was shut down, semester schedules were disrupted, students going to on-campus jobs were harassed with impunity by union thugs. So successful was the strategy that the professors authorized another strike just a few years later. It is impossible to imagine such a scene playing out in Texas or South Carolina, where the laws do not empower public-sector unions to commit legalized extortion.

Kind of like Robin Hood in reverse, in a nutshell.  Helluva gig, isn't it?  After all, if you mug people individually, sooner or later you're gonna get caught, or your victim will be armed, or something else will go wrong.  But if you mug everybody, your haul is exponentially larger, and your victims are correspondingly helpless.

Steve Forbes discusses this corruption of first responders:

***And the second half of this first-day blue plate middle finger special, Obamnesty!:

‘READY’ ON IMMIGRATION: Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told reporters on Monday that he might meet with President Obama this week to talk about a way to pass immigration legislation during Congress’s lame-duck session.

“The White House is ready and willing, and we may be having another meeting with the White House very soon this week,” Menendez said on a conference call, adding that Obama is “clearly interested” trying to reach a deal on immigration before the Congress convenes.

“He made it clear that he is willing to move forward if there is bipartisan support,” Menendez said. “We need some clear response from some of our Republican colleagues.”

The "clear response" ought require only two words, and the latter one is "you".  But when your filibuster margin of error is only two votes, and you've got as many as six RINOs in that cushion, you can't take anything for granted.

Part of the issue is the scope of this "immigration legislation".  If it's across-the-board Obamnesty, the "Republican coalitioning effect" (i.e. all those "red"-state Dem senators staring down the barrels of their own teanamis in two years) is a lot more likely; if it's the DREAM Act (i.e. Obamnesty Lite) all those aforementioned "red"-state Dems are potentially offset by seven Republicans who voted for a similar bill three years ago.

Mickey Kaus offers up the worst-case scenario:

I still shouldn’t worry, I’m told. You see, the lame duck Congress has so many huge bills to consider (extension of the Bush tax cuts, the revived estate tax, the alternative minimum tax, the huge pending cut in Medicare doctor reimbursements, etc.) that there won’t be any time for the little old DREAM Act. Some DREAM opponents have accepted this line of reasoning.

They may be right. But it seems to me the trainwreck of big legislative issues is another reason for DREAM opponents to worry. Why? Precisely because compared with the giant, headline;grabbing issues, DREAM looks like small potatoes. Suppose the Democrats fight furiously against a big item on the GOP wish list – say, extending the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 – but suddenly let Republicans know that they will cave, and give their opponents a huge victory, if only the GOP agrees to slide this little immigration provision into the larger bill. Will Republicans have the fortitude to say “no”? Will the press pay attention to the DREAM “sweetener,” or focus only on the big set-piece tax battle?

I take it as an encouraging measurement of the political barometric pressure that even Eeyore doesn't see that happening.  You can also note how The Great Amnestizer himself hedged on Menedez with his "if there's bipartisan support" clause.  After the PR results of the Battle of Arizona over the summer and the ballot box results of a fortnight ago, Pachyderms ought to be able to muster sufficent sense AND courage to stand fast, play hardball, and not get suckered in so pathetically.

Still, two seats is like sitting on an axe blade - really no margin at all.

And just imagine: this is only the first day.