On Thursday, the United States Senate approved its so-called comprehensive immigration bill. It is the first significant attempt to fix out broken immigration system in over 25 years, and it includes a long-awaited path to citizenship. Senate Democrats passed the measure with the support of 14 Republicans, and the crowd in the Senate chamber erupted in chants of “Yes we can.”

While many are cheering the bill as a breakthrough in the immigration debate, which has been stalled for years, others are concerned about new border security measures in the proposal. Those provisions – dubbed the “border surge” - include 20,000 new border agents, 700 new miles of fencing, and electronic surveillance of our southern border. The price tag for these increased security measures is nearly $40 billion dollars. Lawmakers also included a 13-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, which will be implemented once border security measure are in place.

Some immigration advocates are calling the security provisions extreme and expensive, while others explain that the measures were necessary to gain Republican support. Now that the Senate has approved their version, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives will start working on their own version of immigration reform, which could include even more extreme security measures, and remove any path to citizenship.

Immigration advocates are worried that the House Republicans will purposely include controversial measures, in an effort to doom the bill to failure. Millions of Americans and undocumented immigrants are watching this effort closely, and are remaining hopeful that Congress will finally fix our broken immigration system.

-Thom

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Thursday's Daily Stack

Article: "Ecuador: Media Distorting Our Words. We're Pulling Out of US Trade Agreement. Offer US Economic Aid" by Catherina.

Article: "Pigeon-headed pranksters flock to Google's Street View camera" by Devin Coldewey.

Article: "Six States Already Moving Forward With Voting Restrictions After Supreme Court Decision" by Joseph Diebold.

Article: "Time To Move Away from the Reagan Revolution" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Harsh Texas Voter ID Law 'Immediately' Takes Effect After Voting Rights Act Ruling" by Ryan J. Reilly.

Article: "Texas lawmakers pass key special session bills" by Chris Tomlinson.

Article: "Mississippi Moving Ahead With Voter ID, Too" by Eric Lach.

Speech: "Reagan's Neshoba County Fair "states' rights" speech", August 3, 1980.

Article: "The Ronald Reagan Myth".

Book: "Elite Deviance and the Higher Immorality" by David R. Simon.

Article: "The Powell Memo or Powell Manifesto".

The Big Picture
- Nate Sweet, The Big Picture producer

Article: "No Lawsuits For Defective Generic Drugs, Supreme Court Rules" by Aaron Kase.

Article: "Supreme Court Strikes Down DOMA Section 3, Issues Standing Ruling on California’s Prop 8" by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defender (GLAD).

Article: "NYC Now Largest City In America Requiring Paid Sick Leave" by John Del Signore.

Article: "Paid sick time law passes in NYC, veto overridden" by AP.

Speech: "Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Democratic National Convention in New York" by Bill Clinton, July 16, 1992 (New Covenant).

Article: "Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan & Kevin McCarthy: Plot To Sabotage US Economy with Frank Luntz" by keepemhonest.

Book: "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives" by Robert Draper.

Article: "Rick Perry Attacks Wendy Davis: ‘She Was A Teenage Mother Herself’" by Igor Volsky.

Article: "Senator Wendy Davis Responds To Perry's SB5's Call (UPDATE x4 - Davis To Perry's Insults...)" by LSalzillo.

Article: "‘Argo’ helps Iran’s dictatorship, harms democracy " by Abolhassan Bani-Sadr.

Book: "October Surprise" by Barbara Honegger.

Camping out for Coverage
- Andre Butler, banquet server / part of camp-out at the PA Capitol in support of expanded Medicaid coverage.

Article: "Philly protesters amongst those occupying Capitol for Medicaid expansion" by Randy LoBasso.

Hour Two: Who pays the price for sick employees?
- Scottie Nell Hughes, Tea Party News Network

Article: "New York diners relax. Paid sick leave is now the law." by Jena McGregor.

Article: "Witness responds to suggestion that Trayvon lied before getting shot: ‘That’s real retarded, sir’" by David Edwards.

Article: "Drunk Texan kills himself while playing with gun" by Stephen C. Webster.

Article: "Rick Perry: Wendy Davis learned nothing from ‘her own example’ as a teen mom" by Stephen C. Webster.

Article: "S.E. Cupp: Shockingly pathetic that people consider state Sen. Wendy Davis heroic" by Eric W. Dolan.

Book: "Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

Article: "Senate passes immigration reform bill by 68 votes to 32– live updates" by Jim Newell.

Article: "14th Amendment - Citizenship, Due Process Clause, Equal Protection.

Article: "Full Faith and Credit Clause" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Constitution of the United States", article 4.

Movie: "White House Down".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief

Article: "TRNS News Notes- Thursday, June 26" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- Thursday, June 27" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Obama and President of Senegal offer very different visions of gay rights in African meeting" by Julie Pace.

Article: "DOMA ruling will mean big changes for vets' same-sex spouses" by Kevin Freking.

Article: "Boehner: House Will Not Pass Senate Immigration Bill" by Ian Schwartz.

Article: "Bipartisan Group Opposes Arming Syrian Rebels" by AP.

Article: "Federal Grand Jury Returns 30-Count Indictment Related to Boston Marathon Explosions and Murder of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier" by FBI.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Hour Three: Zimmerman trial coverage
- Debbie Hines, Trial lawyer, former prosecutor and legal/political commentator

Article: "'That's retarded sir': Trayvon Martin trial's star witness cracks when her credibility is questioned and is forced to admit she could not read letter she allegedly wrote" by Rachel Quigley.

Article: "Self-Defense or Murder?: The George Zimmerman Trial; Trayvon Martin's Friend Testifies about His Final Moments; Will Previous 911 Calls Make a Difference to Jury?" - Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees June 26, 2013 transcript.

Article: "George Zimmerman's 911 call transcribed".

Site: Center for Constitutional Rights.

Site: "ACLU".

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution".

Geeky Science - How the Ocean 'Breathes'

Article: "How the Ocean 'Breathes': Migrating Deep Sea Creatures Suck Oxygen" by Catherine Griffin.

The good: Judge Barbara Nelson: "Judge stops deportation hearing minutes after high court strikes down DOMA" by Clare Kim.

The bad: "Fox Business host Neil Cavuto struggles to keep IRS scandal scandalous" by Eric W. Dolan.

The very, very ugly: Zombie Industries: "‘Obama’ Target Maker Debuts ‘Gun Control Lobbyist,’ Al Sharpton Targets" by Eric Lach.

Article: Tax Cuts: The B.S. and the Facts By Larry Beinhart, November 11, 2008.

Book: "The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America--and What We Can Do to Stop It" by Thom Hartmann.

Shane Farnan and Danielle Guilday of the Thom Hartmann Program guest host for the last 10 minutes. They have their own show, 'Talking Left with Danielle and Shane-O'.

Article: "Constitution of the United States", article 3 section 3. "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort... The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted."

Article: "BP goes on the offensive to recover settlement money" by AP

Article: "BEA - Bureau of Economic Analysis : State Quarterly Personal Income, 1st quarter 2012-1st quarter 2013" by BEA.

Article: "Lamar Alexander Says Minimum Wage Should Be Abolished" by Dave Jamieson.

Article: "House GOPer calls on Congress to pass Voting Rights fix" by Jillian Rayfield.

Article: "Pentagon to extend benefits to gay couples in wake of DOMA ruling" by Kristina Wong.

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