Winners and Losers

Who are the winners and who are the losers with the collapse of the immigration bill?

Here are the winners:

Talk radio: They became relevant again and have a nice pelt on their wall — the president’s.

Big Labor: They killed the bill from the left, but pinned all the blame on conservatives.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.): He became famous.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): She doesn’t have to try to bring this bill up now. She escaped a bullet.  

Bipartisan congressional leaders: This is what a Senate rump group gets when it tries to pass something without leadership involvement. Serves them right. No leader in either party or in either chamber really wanted to have this thing pass.

The Democrats: They get to blame Republicans for its demise, even though they hold the Congress. They get to call the GOP a bunch of racists. And they wink and nod at their Big Labor allies.

Here are the losers:

President Bush: So much for that presidency.

Big Business: They need the workers, but aren’t going to get them. Just have to continue to hire illegals, I guess.

Border towns: This bill could have been a vehicle for even more enforcement dollars. Kiss that money goodbye.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): Standing on principle is nice, but not when you are running for president.

The hi-tech industry: They really need the workers from India and China. Look for the jobs to move over there.

The RNC, NRCC and NRSC: Fundraising is just dying because of this issue.

The GOP: Remember Pete Wilson. This is bad for Republicans.