Bush suffers what hopefully will be the beginning of a long series of humilating defeats:
The Senate drove a stake Thursday through President Bush’s plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections.
After the stinging political setback, Bush sounded resigned to defeat.“Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress’ failure to act on it is a disappointment,” he said after an appearance in Newport, R.I. “A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn’t find common ground. It didn’t work.”
The bill’s Senate supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation, which critics assailed as offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.
Some senators in both parties said the issue is so volatile that Congress is unlikely to revisit it this fall or next year, when the presidential election will increasingly dominate American politics. t
Bush appeared glum as he spoke. His negotiators had expressed optimism the vote would go their way—or, at least be closer.
“Congress really needs to prove to the American people that it can come together on hard issues,” Bush said. He turned attention to other his other goals in Congress this year, including energy, health care and balanced-budget initiatives.
I don’t know if the bill would have been a good or bad thing for the country- I really don’t. As I stated before, I have mixed feelings- anything Michelle Malkin is that vehemently opposed to can’t be all that bad, anything Bush and Kennedy agree on can’t be all that good.
I guess I will settle for the simple repudiation of Bush’s ideas. That has to count for something.