Reply #3: Both your and Beachmom's comments are very thought provoking

[karynnj]

I can see why a well written immigration bill that fairly treats the 12 million plus illegal immigrants already here and contains intelligent border control would be both a good and useful thing to do. It also is true, as I was told on Daily Kos, that they already have the 2007 bill as a starting point. But, while that seemed a very good starting point to me, it failed badly in 2007. The same forces that caused it to fail are still there. In fact, with the far higher unemployment rate, it could do worse - even though we have more Democrats.

So, is the likelihood really a comprehensive bill? The Republicans are saying, as they did for healthcare, let's just start with the pieces "we all want". To them that means securing the border. It might also mean some way to find and deport people here illegally. What it clearly isn't is the pathway to citizenship - which is the key piece for Hispanics.

To be fair, Climate change will be a tough vote too - and one that will take time to show the value. I don't think Graham was lying - from some comments like, "Am I suppose to write all the bills?", I suspect that he was blindsided. He also might feel the Democratic leadership does not value him as much as he thinks they should. It has to be tough to be trashed by a large part of your party then not treated well by the party he is working with. Remember he did get concessions from Kerry for being involved.

Reid owed it to Kerry, Lieberman and Graham to tell them of any decision that was made soon after it happened. The way it came out is awful. It also makes Reid look weaker than before.