Congress Goes on Vacation without Immigration Reform

The AP is reporting that the Immigration reform bill is dead, via Drudge:

The Senate sidetracked sweeping immigration legislation Friday, leaving in doubt prospects for passing a bill offering the hope of citizenship to millions of men, women and children living in the United States illegally.
A carefully crafted compromise that supporters had claimed could win an overwhelming majority received only 38 of the 60 votes necessary to protect it from weakening amendments by opponents……………..

Congress is closing down for two weeks after today. So after their incompetent attempts to address the immigration issue over the past several weeks, they are going on vacation without accomplishing squat…………………

Senate Majority Leader Frist is quoted as follows:

"that we in all likelihood are not going to be able to address a problem that directly affects the American people."

I think it’s pretty clear that Congress and Washington have been unable to address this problem regardless of political affiliation. Whether it’s using it as a political chip or putting window dressing on a problem that calls for replacing a broken window, Washington punted on the Immigration Reform.

Surely both Democrats and Republicans in Washington are aware of the dismal polling numbers that they are collectively pulling (via Fox):

Bush: 36% Approve vs. 53% Disapprove
Democrats Congress: 29% Approve vs. 51% Disapprove
Republicans Congress: 29% Approve vs. 53% Disapprove

Those are not the kind of job performance rankings that would prompt most in the private sector to head-off on a two week vacation, while leaving a hugely important issue unaddressed and spinning out of control.

The Fox poll just as every other poll on the issue shows that Illegal Immigration is viewed as a serious matter that must be addressed. Leaving town for two weeks with this issue still in full blaze is playing with fire………………………………