Last fall, there was supposedly 67 senate supporters. The Nov elections reduced that to 65. The reduction from 65 to the 53 that voted for yesterday could be attributed to the following:
Some are hiding from the heat, such as Hatch.
Some think that reform should be a stand alone bill, not attached to another bill.
Some think that the reform bill should deal with both H2A and H2B; AgJobs deals only with H2A.
Some support legislation patterned around the Bush Plan.
You must understand that all of the senators, including Craig, that voted for AgJobs would much prefer the Bush Plan, which is republican friendly, but they know that the republicans are split and for any bill to pass, it must must have the support of the democrats.
Many here think that this vote is a victory and Congress will now turn to deportation. They are wrong.
For once I agree with you. The Senate will indeed block every attempt to strengthen enforcement of our immigration laws, better protect our borders and make it difficult for Illegal Aliens to acquire false IDs. There are simply too many Senators who are in the back pocket of the OBL for any meaningful change in the open borders status quo at this time.
It only highlights just how disconnected the Senate, particularly the RINO leadership is from the American electorate.
Though I would not be so smug and assured that the Senate will forever do your Open Borders bidding. With the approval ratings of Congress and Bush plummeting, there very well might be some interesting developments that you and the OBL are not going to like in the next few years.
Given all the mounting problems in this country that are purposely being ignored by Congress and the Administration, the political environment is ripe for change.