President must be smoking something: The president said he was "optimistic" that Congress would meet the goal he set of passing an immigration bill by the end of the year - Obama Backs Piecemeal Immigration Overhaul

From The Wall Street Journal:

President Barack Obama said Tuesday he would accept a piecemeal approach to overhauling the immigration system, a move aimed at jump-starting a moribund process that reflects the realities of a divided Congress.

Mr. Obama has long favored the sweeping immigration bill that passed the Senate in June, but the House has made clear it wouldn't consider that measure.

 

Many advocates of a broad immigration overhaul have worried that Congress would pass some elements, such as business-backed measures allowing more temporary workers into the country, without setting a path to citizenship for people now in the U.S. illegally, as the Senate bill does. Mr. Obama's statement was his most extensive about accepting a piecemeal approach.

 

The president said he was "optimistic" that Congress would meet the goal he set of passing an immigration bill by the end of the year.