Interesting ... potential DoD bill clusterfu*k

[Halstad]

Another question: Is there a deadline for when the conference report must be filed for there to be enough time to bring it to the floor for a vote?

[Mr.K]

Good find on the article, Nate, and I agree with much of your analysis in this thread. This is a real curveball, and it breaks across all kinds of crazy lines. We have Dem versus Republican on this (at least the immigration piece -- which you all need to know is not the big immigration reform bill, but a smaller, more limited package focusing on deportation of criminal aliens). We have House versus Senate, featuring the most powerful man on Capitol Hill (Hastert) against a guy known to buck his party when he wants to (Warner). We have a deadline of passage by Friday, and we have elections coming up, which puts pressure on passage of troops bills. All in all, we've got ourselves a real Potomac drama here, with Internet gambling stuck right in the damned middle.

The gambling bill's fate rests as much on events totally unrelated to it as it does on the holds and battles immediately related to it. I want to comment much more extensively on how this will begin to play out, but I will refrain from doing so until I get a chance to talk with some people tomorrow and read the Hill rags, which I guarantee will have a good beat on this story. CongressDaily, CQ Today, and Roll Call will all probably have value-added coverage tomorrow AM.

Here's the thing that all of you need to know about this week: All the usual rules go out the window on procedure. All of them. This is the last week before one of the most tumultous elections in the last 20 years. At no point in the past decade and a half have the House and Senate been so at odds with one another, at least as far as I know. The environment is not just about Democrats versus Republicans, it is Republicans versus Republicans as well on several major items, and we are going to see some crazy fireworks before week's end.

My prediction: leaders will assemble a monster bill that will roll taxes, military, energy, immigration all together in to a single package, and they will dare the rank and file to oppose it this close to an election. There will be plenty to complain about in this package... Chairmen will get their feelings hurt (again, in Grassley's case), moderates and partisans will explode with anger at certain provisions, interest groups will rally for it and against it, and in the end we'll have big, highly publicized votes on it in each chamber. It might pass the House, but it'll fail in the Senate, and the R's will go on calling the Democrats obstructionists. Or at least this is one way things could play out...

How the Internet gambling bill shakes out in that mix is anyone's guess at this point. More to come on that later.

[Bilgefisher]

I have learned far more about our system in the passed few weeks then I ever did back in school. One thing simply amazes me, that anything actually gets accomplished. Seems like you would have more luck pushing a bowling ball up a hill with a rope then trying to get a bill passed the way it was intended. Thanks for the continued updates Nate, Mr. K, and Berge.

[redbeard]

well a glimer of hope is shining through some very dark clouds. i'm still extremly concerned that we do not have a "champion" fighting directly for our cause within the house or senate. sure we have dodged some major bullets so far, but only by luck as it would appear. hastert could care less if the gambling bill is included as a rider anywhere we just happen to be the beneficiaries of his other concerns. we also appear to have lost our friends from the horse racing states who have supposedly received the excemptions they desired. frist and company will still have a plenty of opportunity to attach the gambling bill to another bill after the elections -- the omnibus bill apparently being the leading candidate. but it also is true that we are better off with a delay as opposed to getting our nuts kicked in tomorrow.

[Colonel Kataffy]

[ QUOTE ]
I have learned far more about our system in the passed few weeks then I ever did back in school. One thing simply amazes me, that anything actually gets accomplished. Seems like you would have more luck pushing a bowling ball up a hill with a rope then trying to get a bill passed the way it was intended. Thanks for the continued updates Nate, Mr. K, and Berge.

[/ QUOTE ]

that is why no bill has ever been bassed the way it was intended.

[JuntMonkey]

I stupidly didn't even realize until this weekend that "horse racing" meant OTB. I have a friend who makes good money working for OTB...that would have sucked. He said people at work kept it on the low so as not to get political, but they were nervous.

[Mr.K]

Monday morning update:

CongressDailyAM is reporting no further progress on the prayer issue and a few other outstanding issues on the DoD Authorization bill this morning. At present, it looks like House and Senate leaders will be pushing for passage of four military-related bills this week, though it is unclear if any of them will be packaged together. Those bills are: DoD Appropriations (the cash), DoD Authorization (the plan), Military Tribunals (rules to try the people we're holding at Gitmo), and NSA Wiretapping. Of the four, the only one that will definitely pass this week is the appropriations bill.

Here's a blurb from the article:

"House Armed Services Chairman Warner and Senate Armed Services Chairman Hunter were locked in a stalemate last week over a provision in the House-passed defense authorization bill that would loosen restrictions on military chaplains. Warner has said he wants to hold hearings on the issue when Congress reconvenes in January before enacting any legislation covering the topic.

The chaplains issue was widely considered the largest unresolved matter facing conferees, but lawmakers have said compromises are still needed on several other outstanding issues."

I'm waiting to talk to some people about where the Internet gambling language stands, and will report as soon as I learn more.

[antneye]

Excerpt from CNN.com on timeframe for lame duck sessions..........

OVERTIME! HOUSE, SENATE CONSIDER LAME-DUCK SESSIONS: Even as the House prepares to stay in session until the December snow flies, GOP leaders in the Senate remain intent on a brief, weeklong lame-duck session that would end just before Thanksgiving. Senate Republicans acknowledge, however, that a poor political outcome for their party in the midterm elections could send their planning into free fall. The Senate is set to adjourn this Friday or Saturday and plans to return to work on or around Nov. 13 for the overtime session intended to complete any outstanding fiscal 2007 appropriations work. That lame duck is expected to span just seven or eight days - likely through Nov. 21 or 22 - to allow Senators time to return to their states for the holiday... While the Senate is hoping to call it quits by Thanksgiving, House Republican leaders - facing a potential loss of their majority - already have left open the likelihood of meeting for at least a couple weeks of business in December. Roll Call: Lame Duck Could Drag On

Stupid Q: what good is it for the House to meet if the Senate is hom shopping for Thanksgiving turkeys?

[JuntMonkey]

The possibility of a very brief lame duck session sounds like more good news, even if slight.

[Gringo777]

I just called the two senators that head up the DOD committee. The NROG is recommending we all call today.

When i asked Sen Levin' aide what the Senator's view was. He said he was not sure and was getting ready to discuss the matter.
so if u get a chance call him soon:
202 224-6221 Sen Levin

other one is Sen Warner 202 224- 2023

Just say you are against Sen Frist trying to attach his anti gambling bill with the DOD appropriations bill.
(i gave my name & they did not ask if i lived in their state).