Reply #8: Not sure we can ready any tea leaves on this, but interesting item from Marc Ambinder:

[beachmom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/the-night-beat-clapper-to-get-a-recess-appointment/58180

1. Be aware: the White House has a strategy here for getting climate change legislation passed. It's called "getting to conference." That is, the Senate needs to pass a bill this year. And then the House and Senate will (in theory) put in some sort of carbon pricing mechanism when the two chambers reconcile their bills. It's just much easier to get bills passed without forcing the Senate to try to pass a bill it does not have the votes to pass.

Democrats hope that Obama's speech creates some room for them to run on clean energy platforms and castigate Republicans for siding with big oil against regulation.

So pass any old bill in the Senate and then throw carbon pricing in after, and then .... it magically ends up the President's desk for signing? Oh, please may that be in the works!