July 2, 2007 12:00 AM

Shut Down
The next steps for immigration reform.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ND ... ExM2NjNzQ=

By Michael Barone

The Senate’s rejection of the immigration bill was a shocker. On Tuesday, 64 senators, four more than the required 60, voted for cloture, that is, to consider the bill and a couple of dozen amendments. On Thursday, only 46 senators, 14 fewer than required, voted for cloture; 53 voted against, which was a vote to kill the bill. The bill’s opponents had been assuming that if cloture had been voted, there would have been the 50 senators needed to approve the bill (only 50 because Democrat Tim Johnson of South Dakota has been ill and absent for all votes). The Thursday vote casts that into doubt. In May 2006, more than 60 senators voted for a bill that was more generous in its legalization provisions than the bill before the Senate last week. In June 2007, it appears, a Senate with more Democrats and fewer Republicans may not have had 50 votes for a more stringent bill.

Those of us who have favored a “comprehensiveâ€