Barack Obama News Blog @newzblogz.com

"For the first time in our history, we're in a position where those who are the wage earners are paying a bigger chunk than they should. It's got to shift back."

HILLARY CLINTON

-On the number of black teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS: "This is a multiple-dimension problem. But if we don't begin to take it seriously and address it the way we did back in the '90s when it was primarily a gay men's disease, we will never get the services and the public education that we need."

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WASHINGTON -- An historically diverse field of Democratic presidential candidates - a woman, a black, an Hispanic and five whites - denounced an hours-old Supreme Court desegregation ruling Thursday night and said the nation's slow march to racial unity is far from over.

"We have made enormous progress, but the progress we have made is not good enough," said Sen. Barack Obama, the son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, challenged those who would suggest otherwise. "There is so much left to be done and for anyone to assert that race is not a problem in America today is to deny the reality in front of our very eyes."

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Democratic Presidential hopeful former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. answers questions during the televised Democratic presidential candidates debate at Howard University in Washington Thursday, June 28, 2007.

Quotes from the Democratic debate

Democrats denounce desegregation ruling

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Washington —- An overhaul of the nation's immigration laws was crushed Thursday in the Senate, with the forces of the political right and left overwhelming an attempt at bipartisan compromise on one of the most difficult issues facing the country.

The 46-53 tally fell dramatically short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and seek a final vote on the bill. With no way to move the legislation forward, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pulled it from the Senate floor for the second time this month, and this time, it is not likely to come up again before a new president comes to power.

"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment," said President Bush, who has pushed a comprehensive reworking of immigration laws since he came to Washington. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find a common ground —- it didn't work."

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Some reaction to the Supreme Court decision Thursday rejecting school integration plans in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle:

"I believed so much in what we are doing, I just felt we had to win. The goal here is to make sure all kids have access to great schools." - Kathleen Brose, president of Parents Involved in Community Schools, who sued the Seattle school district after her daughter failed to get into a highly regarded high school.

"I'm confident the Jefferson County Public Schools leadership team will develop new guidelines for student assignment that will continue this community's commitment to diversity and educational excellence." - Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

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