Last night, rather than allowing a vote on the resolution, the Maricopa County Republican Party tabled it, keeping the issue alive and postponing the vote for at least a month. The sudden and abrupt end to the matter was orchestrated by County Chairman Lyle Tuttle and is being hailed by supporters of the LAW initiative as a major triumph, while supporters of the GOP-backed legislation HB2779 view it as a direct rebuke of their work. At the Capitol, Republican lawmakers are shaking their heads at the lack of support their work is receiving from the County Party. The resolution, which praised HB2779 as reflecting the will of Arizona voters, was to serve notice that the County Party supported the bill and did not want anyone to interfere with its implementation, whether such interference should come from the Governor, any legislators who wanted to water it down, or ballot initiatives such as LAW or the threatened initiative from WakeUp Arizona.

Tuttle, and others on the County Committee who are active supporters of the initiative, are indicating that they do not trust the legislature to implement HB2779 and that they believe that without the initiative, weak-kneed GOP legislators will work with the Democrats and Governor Napolitano to gut the bill. Proponents of the resolution felt that Tuttle and his brethren could still work on the initiative if they wanted to in their personal capacities, but that the Republican Party should be on record as supporting the bill passed by the Republican majority at the behest of prior resolutions passed at State GOP meetings.

“It is hard to believe that the County Party is telling its own legislators that they don’t trust them or don’t think they have the guts to do the right thing” said one Capitol insider, who remarked that “With the business community threatening to primary Republicans who voted for it [HB2779] you would think that the Party would be moving to protect these guys for voting for it, instead of hanging them out to dry.”

We’re pretty sure this isn’t the last of this issue that we’ll be posting about here on West Washington.

The full text of the proposed resolution is as follows:

Motion of the Executive Guidance Committee of the Maricopa County Republican Committee in Support of HB 2779

WHEREAS, the citizens of Arizona overwhelming support employer sanctions in all polls conducted to date;

WHEREAS, the federal government has failed to enforce the immigration laws of the United States;

WHEREAS, the Arizona state legislature passed and the governor signed into law HB 2779, the Fair and Legal Employment Act;

WHEREAS, the Fair and Legal Employment Act is a tough but fair employer sanctions law, which prohibits employers from knowingly employing an unauthorized alien; and based on polling, is overwhelming supported by Arizona voters; and

WHEREAS, Arizona voters support technical corrections to the law in order to clarify how employers would comply with the law provided the corrections do not change the intent of the law nor the penalties; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that it is the sense of the Executive Guidance Committee of the Maricopa County Republican Committee that HB 2779 represents the will of the citizens of Arizona, as well as making such legislative technical corrections as may be necessary to insure its implementation; and it is further

RESOLVED, that any citizen initiatives or legislative effort that would modify or weaken the intent of HB 2779 are counterproductive to the implementation of HB 2779 and are not sanctioned by the Executive Guidance Committee of the Maricopa County Republican Committee.

Did the Democrats ignore the results a honest vote?  Arizona Congressman John Shadegg updates us on the the latest shennanigans by Congressional Democrats and their determination to give taxpayer dollars to illegal aliens:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 3, 2007 – 12:36 a.m. EDT
CONTACT: SEAN NOBLE
(202) 225-3361

DEMOCRACY OVERRULED
Democrats Abuse Power – Alter Vote Count

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Democrats tonight overruled a clear vote showing that the Republican Motion-to-Recommit on the Agriculture Appropriations bill had passed.  Democrats ruled, instead, that the motion failed.

With the vote total boards at each end of the House Chamber clearly showing the Republican motion prevailing by a vote of 215 to 213 and the word “FINAL” displayed beside that count, the Democrat Chairman gaveled the vote closed, announcing the Republican motion had failed on a 214 to 214 tie.

“I have been here almost 13 years and I thought I had seen it all, but tonight’s display of corrupt, raw, partisan political power was stunning,” said Rep. John Shadegg (AZ-03). “I honestly didn’t think this could happen in America.  This is a sad day for the U.S. House and a tragic day for our nation.”

Following a protracted period of chaotic protest and procedural wrangling, Democrats altered the displayed vote total two more times.  However, when Democrats refused to acknowledge their abuse of power and accept the passage of the motion, Republicans walked out en masse in protest.

“If my vote doesn’t count, what point is there in voting?” Shadegg said.  “I owe it to my constituents and to this nation to demand integrity and fairness in the operations of this institution.”

According to the center-left Politico.com:

Details remain fuzzy, but numerous Republicans argued afterward that they had secured a 215-213 win on their motion to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving any federal funds apportioned in the agricultural spending bill for employment or rental assistance. Democrats, however, argued the measure was deadlocked at 214-214 and failed, members and aides on both sides of the aisle said afterward.

Politio.com also informs us that the Democrats have made sure that we’ll never know what really happened:

…Republicans quickly discovered that there was no longer any record of the controversial vote and immediately charged Democrats with erasing the bad result.

This may be a new low in American politics.  A former world leader used to say ”It’s not the voters who count.  Its the people who count the votes who count.”  Lets hope this doesn’t become the Democrats new motto.