Harry Reid: No way that refugee vetting bill survives in the Senate

The Paul Ryan-led House was not intimidated by Obama's veto threats, nor did it need to be in passing a bill that strengthens vetting of Syrian refugees with a veto-proof majority that included 47 Democrat votes. If Obama succeeds in his determination to let ISIS members slip in among the refugees, it won't be because the House rolled over for him.

The Senate, as you might expect, is another matter. Harry Reid is no longer the majority leader, but he is still the leader of Senate Democrats and his goal is not only to defeat the bill in the Senate but to prevent a vote from ever taking place - thus sparing Obama the burden of vetoing it and fellow Senate Democrats the problem of explaining why they opposed checking the backgrounds of potential terrorists before they were allowed into the country:

Reid said at a press conference that Democrats will block the legislation that requires the secretary of Homeland Security to affirm to Congress that every refugee being admitted is not a security threat. Senate Democrats are pushing alternative legislation, to be unveiled after Thanksgiving, that would tighten up security gaps in the visa waiver program. “The problem is not with refugees,” Reid said. “I don’t think we’ll be dealing with it over here.” When asked about the prospect of Obama vetoing the legislation, Reid said, “Don’t worry, it won’t get passed. Next question?”

By the way, if you were wondering about that "alternative legislation" Democrats are passing, this won't surprise you: It's a gun control bill. Of course. When they say they want to "tighten up security gaps" what they're really talking about is making sure that no one who receives a visa waiver is allowed to buy a gun. This is classic leftist thinking if you want to call it that. Let them all into the country and do nothing to ensure they don't represent a security threat, but they, once they're here just make it illegal for them to buy guns. Problem solved! Because no one who enters the country under a directive from ISIS could possibly get connected with anyone else who might be able to supply them with a gun. That could never happen. But about the vetting bill, here's a crucial question: Will Mitch McConnell scheduled debate and actually make Reid and the rest of the Democrats do a real filibuster? Or will he mutter something about the second kick of a mule and declare that it's pointless because there aren't the votes to get to cloture? A real debate would at least force the Democrats to go on record with their don't-protect-the-country position. Even if they don't get to cloture, it would subject Democrats - or so we'd like to think - to effective Republican challenges to their nonsense. I'd say that's more than worth the time and effort to do, but I'm less than confident Mitch McConnell sees it that way.

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