[angkor]

BUT, I suspect this leglislative landmark might be phrased like Churchill’s “the end of the beginning” of the border war.

Agreed. And I would not be at all surprised if GWB gives it a final go early next year.

He is consumed by his plan, God knows why. (And it ain't "his legacy" you Beltway twits Barnes and your buddies)

[Mr. Jeeves]

It will be later this year. The Senate has political cover now, because they rejected this one. The new bill will be "so much better" and "so much more focused on security" that many Republicans will switch to support it. The fundamentals won't change. The bill will become law before December.

This is the oldest political trick in the book - deliberately put up an exaggerated bill that everyone hates, defeat it, follow it up with a "much better" bill that contains all sorts of outrages that would never have been tolerated before the intial bill was floated, and get it passed.

Not one Senator ever intended for this bill to pass. It's the next one they'll be betting on.

[twigs]

This bill had some trade legislation in it and it was good for Mexico. I’ve been hearing about that aspect some now on talk radio. It’s time to return to the original legislation and see why the president was so frantic that it would pass. There’s a reason why senate leaders wanted to pass it quickly so that folks wouldn’t have a chance to read what was in it. We should now get educated for the next round. Hugh Hewitt, for one, has read this and knows a lot about the small print.