[Mr.K]

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Is there any material likelihood that the bill won't get out of conference before the lame duck session? And would that be good, bad, or indifferent for us?

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Good question. I believe there IS some likelyhood that the DoD Authorization might not make it to the floor in September. Maybe a 15% chance of that happening -- it happened last year if memory serves me.

In that event, the bill would be considered in the lame duck. I don't see any way they fail to pass a DoD Authorization this year, although as I said before such a bill is not technically necessary. The appropriations bill, which has the ca$h and is a different bill, is the one that really matters.

In a lame duck scenario, I think online poker players would fare worse. Frist and Co. would have significantly more time to hammer out a deal. The nexus of Iowa's importance in selecting presidential candidates with Frist's desire to get the GOP nomination with his leadership post in the Senate with his pending retirement with Leach's home state of IA creates a tremendous one-time coming together of events that favor continued pressure for passage right through the end. I hadn't fully realized this until this past weekend. Those are some pretty intense forces, and they should not be taken lightly when combined. Getting good press in IA, and commitments from Congressman to help in 08 is a priority for Frist, and I believe he'll do almost anything to move forward on those fronts. Just my guess -- I don't know him or his plans directly.