[Nate tha\\\' Great]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Are we assuming the gambling bill has been attached or do we still have no idea? Or does it really matter because it may be added later or scratched from the DOD later?

[/ QUOTE ]

Adding to his question: If it is on the DoD Authorization Bill how likely is it, it gets scratched off.

[/ QUOTE ]

We aren't assuming anything. Well, at least some of us aren't. ;-)

IMO, the reason that we're receiving all these conflicting reports about the DoD bill is because the damned thing ain't done yet. Undoubtedly there are numerous drafts floating around and some of them may have internet gambling langauge included and some of them may not. But they're just that -- drafts.

Fortunately, it looks like a little bit of an uphill battle for any form of the DoD authorization bill to pass before the elections. That's what all credible sources are pointing to -- Hastert's riders are just too much of a clusterf*ck/poison pill. Of course all of this can change.

After the elections we probably get a "reset" of sorts, but there will still be numerous routes for Frist to try and get the legislation passed if he's determined to do so. It's going to be a question of his motivation, the results of the midterms, and how the politics of the lame duck session play out. My personal, subject-to-change opinion is that we're fairly heavy favorites if the Democrats take over one or both chambers and it's probably fairly close to a coin flip if they dont.