"It all rides on what comes out of conference. In this example of immigration reform the ball rests with Congress and W was proper to state as such in his speech."
This is true, it does lie with Congress.
But the President is the leader of the Party, and the President's stance backs McCain and the guest-worker faction in the GOP, which is the lethal minority here.
Probably, the result will be no agreement.
The House Republicans aren't going to accept amnesty or guest worker.
The Senate probably won't accept anything without it.
So, we will have status quo...which is an uncontrolled, open border.
And the BorderBots will stay home.
We so needed the President to shape the issue differently.
But he didn't, and he won't.
The will isn't there, in the Senate, to work against the President, although it is true that nothing quite focuses the mind like the approach of the executioner, so there's always a possibility the Senate could agree to a very robust sea-to-sea barrier and postpone talk about guest worker awaiting some new commission report.
I would agree that many in the Senate want inaction to rule the day. For many years on many issues that has been the case.
I think this issue today is very different. Elections are coming and they are all feeling the heat that inaction is not going to be tolerated as status quo. I think this is felt on both sides of the aisle because inaction may well lead to an anti incumbant standpoint from voters no matter what party the usually vote for.
Thus I think that both houses of Congress will end up with something neither is really happy with and they will send it to the President's desk in an attempt to lay all the responsibility onto the office of president for the fallout of the bill as made law or the veto of it.
A veto of it would make for great podium blame game saying that the congress heard the call and produced a bill but it was that damn W that played obstructionist.
As before I do not think W will veto anything. his record shows that to date. This will remove the claim that it is his fault and lay it right back on Congress.
The conference is really going to be something else and I can only wish that we could all see behind that door that will absolutely be closed when it comes to debate between the two houses.