First step: admitting you aren't winning ... but not losing

In an interview with reporters from The Washington Post yesterday, President Bush discussed multiple issues ranging from Iraq to his domestic agenda. On Iraq, the President turned to politics by asking if Republicans and Democrats can work together to fix problems like those addressed recently by top officials like Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker and former secretary of state Colin L. Powell (both have said in the last week that the active Army will break or is about broken). Answering the President's question, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) fired back: "I am glad he has realized the need for increasing the size of the armed forces . . . but this is where the Democrats have been for two years."

On whether persuing domestic policy will be tougher with the 110th Congress, the President said:

Quite the contrary. Quite the contrary. The microphone of the president has never been louder, and I think we have a good -- in other words, to talk about what I think is important. But it turns out that what I think is important, the Democrat leadership thinks is important, as well -- energy security, immigration reform, education -- and Republicans on the Hill agree. And so my task is going to be to talk about big issues that the American people expect us to work on, and work with both Republicans and Democrats.

Discussing the issue of comprehensive immigration reform, the President said:

I'm interested in getting a comprehensive bill out, because I believe it is vital to solving the pressure we have on our border.

One of the interesting things that, if you notice from the recent enforcement activities that ICE took, there are a lot of people who are using forged documents to do jobs Americans are not doing. And my attitude is that there ought to be a way for people to come to this country on a temporary basis and fill those jobs in an open way, a transparent way, that doesn't cause there to be, one, a smuggling operation that's vibrant and making money, a housing operation that is illegal, and a document forgery operation that clearly is in effect.

There is a better way to treat people, and there's a better way to deal with the issue of finding workers Americans are not doing, to fill on a temporary basis. And, therefore, there need -- and that in itself will take pressure off our border. In other words, if people feel like they can come in on a temporary, legal basis, they're not going to have to sneak in, which in itself does away with -- that in itself does away with this kind of underground industry that has sprung up.

The point I make to you on that is that it's a comprehensive reform of the immigration system that is going to make our borders more secure. I strongly believe that is important, and look forward to working with people on the way forward. It's hard for me to predict the dynamics yet on how the Congress is going to handle the immigration bill. The point I'm telling you is that I think it's vital and necessary, and this is an area where we can work together to get it done.

(For more on the immigration debate, check out NDN's work on it here. Also look at how business has been dealing with immigration, check out this article from the WSJ about Swift & Company's hiring processes.)