Free Republic

With Muammar Qaddafi finally out of the picture, Republican lawmakers are pressing the U.S. to open its wallet to help the new regime in Libya rebuild its nation, restore essential services and care for those wounded in the eight-months-long bloody conflict – an expense they say oil-rich Libya can and will reimburse. “They’re willing to reimburse us. It’s not a matter of money,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Fox News, making a tough sales pitch in an era of high unemployment and increasing austerity. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., noted that the Libyans’ top request was for help in tending to...

According to Politico, President Obama will be forced to abandon his controversial nomination of Donald Berwick as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Politico reports that "Senate Democrats have given up on confirming Don Berwick as CMS administrator in the wake of a letter from 42 Republican senators opposing the nomination," as "there's no way for Berwick to get the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate." As with his various "czars," President Obama had previously circumvented the Senate confirmation process (despite having a Democratically controlled Senate) to install Berwick in his post. He had...

Sen. Lindsey Graham is concerned that the Republican Party faces political dangers by resisting efforts to reduce carbon dioxide and other air pollution. That assertion seems to challenge GOP campaigns this year, in which candidates often rejected the science behind climate change. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, is designing an agenda for next year featuring a clean energy standard for utilities, which rewards increased nuclear and renewable power alike. Similar ideas have failed because they tended to dilute incentives for wind and solar. But under an increasingly conservative Congress, many advocates see that outcome as a potential victory, under...

The Obama administration is considering it. The idea is to have the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) just start handing out green cards to illegals. USCIS, a part of the Obama administration, outlines the ideas in a draft memo that includes the possibility of issuing green cards to tens of thousands who entered the country illegally. "In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, CIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations," the memo advises.

A tantalizing bit of 2012 gossip dropped way, way down in an otherwise fun piece about amnesty shills boo-hooing over having (temporarily) lost McCain. Note to Politico: This is what’s called “burying the lede.” Their hope now is that Republican presidential candidates and former operatives under Bush, a reform proponent, can convince GOP congressional leaders that the issue needs to be dealt with before 2012 — or that they could risk alienating the burgeoning Hispanic vote in the crucial swing states of New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and Florida.Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a front-runner for the nomination, has signaled...

SNIPPET: "Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and George S. LeMieux of Florida made their comments a day after one of the court's conservative icons, Justice Antonin Scalia, undercut Republican criticism of Kagan's lack of a judicial background." SNIPPET: "Scalia last week volunteered that he considers Kagan a friend." Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of U.S. District Court in Washington said

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This weekend, dozens of Southern Californians plan to march in Washington for immigration reform, joining thousands of activists from around the country. Today, a different group of Southern Californians – members of the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce – heard from a U.S. senator who took a lot of political heat for his efforts at immigration reform. The question arose at lunch during the Chamber’s annual lobbying trip to Washington. What did Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona think the U.S. should do about the “flood of immigrants” “running over” California? McCain cosponsored the last major immigration reform bill with...

The Washington Post article that Dan posted about last night is a head fake. President Obama is not caving on military commissions. He has already caved on them: He failed (thankfully) to abolish them, Congress enacted legislation endorsing them again in 2009, and the administration has already directed a commission trial for the Cole bombers. The real agenda here is to close Gitmo. That’s the ball to keep your eye on. The Post is trying to soften the opposition to shuttering the detention camp by portraying beleaguered, reasonable Obama as making a great compromise that will exasperate the Left. The...

A pair of White House meetings Thursday designed to chart a path forward for immigration reform instead spotlighted the daunting obstacles ahead — and showed why many Capitol Hill insiders believe it’s quite unlikely an immigration bill will happen this year. After meeting with President Barack Obama, the leading Republican backing a comprehensive approach warned that a Democratic health care push could scuttle any chance of action on immigration in this Congress. “I expressed, in no uncertain terms, my belief that immigration reform could come to a halt for the year if health care reconciliation goes forward,” Sen. Lindsey Graham...

Senator Lindsey Graham, ever the faithful follower of uber-RINO John McCain, scored three RINO initiatives in just one week. Reminiscent of the "the band's getting back together" scenes from the movie "Blues Brothers", Graham and McCain reached back to the good old days of bipartisan shafting of conservative judicial nominees and offered the Democrats another "Gang of Fourteen"--this time to shaft the public with a bipartisan Obamacare bill. The offer must have been tempting to the Democrats who remember how "bipartisan leadership" from Graham and McCain spiked conservative guns when the Republicans were in the majority in the Senate. But...

WASHINGTON -- Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Chuck Schumer of New York discussed major immigration reforms Thursday with President Barack Obama at a White House meeting. Graham, a Republican, waded back into a political minefield on a controversial issue that has prompted conservative activists across the nation to vilify him since he helped lead a failed Senate bid to overhaul the immigration system in 2007. Obama has faced more recent criticism from Latino lawmakers and advocacy groups accusing him of failing to deliver on a 2008 campaign promise to help the 12 million undocumented workers in the United...

Three years after efforts by Congress to reform the immigration system went down in flames, the issue is slowly re-emerging onto the national stage as two senators from the opposite sides of the political aisle work on crafting another bill. BY TRISH TURNER Three years after efforts by Congress to reform the immigration system went down in flames, the issue is slowly re-emerging on the national stage, as two senators from the opposite sides of the political aisle work on crafting another bill. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham,...

Lindsey Graham to President Obama: Time to ‘step it up’ By: Glenn Thrush March 10, 2010 04:31 AM EST President Barack Obama is summoning two key senators to the Oval Office on Thursday for an update on immigration reform efforts — but one of them, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), thinks Obama should be the one giving the update. Graham, less than thrilled at the notion of providing the equivalent of a book report to the headmaster in chief, said Obama’s lack of direction on immigration reform is hampering Graham’s efforts to recruit additional Republicans to the cause. “At the end...

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham denounced a recent ad questioning the loyalty of Obama administration lawyers who had previously represented suspected terrorists. The ad — run by Liz Cheney's group Keep American Safe — derided the unidentified appointees as the "Al Qaeda 7” asking "Whose values do they share?" “A defense attorney who is making the government do their job regardless of the nature of the case is making this whole country a better place,” said Graham, a military lawyer who’s currently a senior instructor at the Air Force JAG School. “I represented people as a defense attorney in...

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham denounced a recent ad questioning the loyalty of Obama administration lawyers who had previously represented suspected terrorists. The ad — run by Liz Cheney's group Keep American Safe — derided the unidentified appointees as the "Al Qaeda 7” asking "Whose values do they share?" “A defense attorney who is making the government do their job regardless of the nature of the case is making this whole country a better place,” said Graham, a military lawyer who’s currently a senior instructor at the Air Force JAG School. “I represented people as a defense attorney in...

It is early evening on Capitol Hill, and I am sitting with Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, who, along with John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, is trying to craft a new energy bill — one that could actually win 60 votes. What is interesting about Graham is that he has been willing — courageously in my view — to depart from the prevailing G.O.P. consensus that the only energy policy we need is “drill, baby, drill.” What brought you around, I ask? Graham’s short answer: politics, jobs and legacy. We start with politics. The Republican Party today has...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said today that skeptical Republicans and Democrats should throw their support behind climate change legislation not only because it's good for the economy and the environment, but because Congress desperately needs a win under its belt. "We tried immigration. It's hard. And we failed. We tried Social Security. It's hard. And we failed. We tried health care. It's really hard. And it looks like we're going to have to start over again," Graham somberly told a luncheon audience of energy and climate advocates on the Hill. "On the energy, climate change front, I don't want to...

Advocacy groups step up efforts to rally support. BY NOELLE PHILLIPS In recent weeks, Latinos in South Carolina have gathered for food and conversation to discuss a strategy for immigration reform. Energized by the election of President Barack Obama, they are trying to push the explosive issue back into the national conversation. "It's going to come up," said the Rev. Sandy Jones, pastor of Spring of Life Lutheran Church, which has a predominantly Hispanic congregation. "I'm afraid this debate is going to be more vitriolic than health care was." People attending these events want the federal government to create a...

I’m trying hard to convince myself that this is actually a devilishly clever scheme by Graham to set a political trap for Democrats by pushing the issue now. But I’m losing the argument. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “At the end of the day, the president needs to step it up a little bit,” Graham told POLITICO on Tuesday. “One line in the State of the Union is not going to do it.” For the past six months, Graham and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — who meet with Obama at 3 p.m. Thursday — have worked on a reform framework. Their plan, which hasn’t...