Do I sense a change in the weather?

From The Washington Times:

Majority Leader Bill Frist, frustrated by the sluggish debate over immigration reform at the committee level, plans to introduce a bill that deals solely with border security as early as today.

This pretty much clinches it. Frist wants to be president.

Mr. Frist's bill, according to aides on both sides of the aisle, does not include a guest-worker provision or a process for handling the 12 million illegal aliens already in the U.S., divisive topics that have stalled immigration legislation in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

No guest-worker program – Good. No process for kicking out the illegals already here – Bad. This bill is a start. Not a terribly good start, but a start.

The bill would beef up security along the U.S.-Mexico border, provide funding for thousands more Border Patrol agents and build short sections of fencing in key traffic areas.

This is good. We don’t need to build a barrier along the entire border. Most of the border is simply too far away from any human habitation to allow people to walk across and survive. This is why the Minutemen were successful. They denied an easy to cross section to the illegals, who knew that trying to bypass the Minutemen patrols would have forced them to walk too far through area that was too remote.

The real problem is the reluctance of politicians of both parties to do anything meaningful about illegal immigration. The Republicans like the cheap labor and the Democrats like the votes. This creates a bi-partisan do-nothing coalition on Capital Hill that is almost impossible to break. What’s needed is a politician who wants to be president who recognizes the power that this issue has with the American people.

Is Frist that politician? It’s too soon to tell. If he keeps up the pressure and continues to introduce meaningful legislation he could be.