Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 04/24/2010 5:56:57 PM PDT by neverdem
The decision by Arizona's Gov. Jan Brewer to sign a tough immigration bill for her state may have endangered the fate of an unrelated, but highly anticipated, climate change legislation scheduled to be introduced in the Senate in Washington on Monday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the lead Republican sponsor of the climate bill, sent a letter Saturday to supporters of the measure threatening to abandon the effort without assurances from President Obama that climate change, and not immigration reform, will be his highest legislative priority.
Graham pointed to recent press accounts that top Democrats may choose to bring up immigration reform for a vote in the Senate before climate change, a move that would push the environmental bill closer to the mid-term elections and worsen its chances of passage.
"Unless their plan substantially changes this weekend, I will be unable to move forward on energy independence legislation at this time," Graham wrote. "I will not allow our hard work to be rolled out in a manner that has no chance of success."
Graham also accused Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, of using immigration reform in a "cynical political ploy" for Latino votes in the November elections. "I deeply regret that election year politics will impede, if not derail, our efforts to make our nation energy independent," he wrote.
But Reid fired back at Graham for that assertion Saturday, insisting that both issues are vitally important and need immediate action. "I understand the tremendous pressure (Graham) is under from members of his own party not to work with us on either measure," Reid said. "But I will not allow him to play one issue off of another, and neither will the American people. They expect us to do both, and they will not accept the notion that trying to act on one is an excuse for not acting on the other."
The climate bill, to be unveiled by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and possibly Graham (R-S.C.), would for the first time put a price on carbon emissions from manufacturing, transportation, and utility sources, and would regulate each pollution from each sector differently. Graham came under heavy fire recently for proposing a gas tax as a part of the bill, a charge his office vehemently denied.
Despite the fact that Graham is also the only Republican sponsor of immigration reform in the Senate, he called the apparent decision by Democrats to consider that issue quickly "a phony, political effort...that accomplishes nothing but making it exponentially more difficult to address in a serious, comprehensive manner in the future."
Although neither the president nor Reid ever said that immigration reform would be the next item on the Senate's agenda, Obama did speak from the Rose Garden Friday to slam the new restrictive Arizona immigration law as "misguided" and to call on the Senate to address comprehensive reform on the issue quickly. While Graham and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have presented an outline for immigration reform, they have not released a formal bill.
As Brewer prepared to sign the Arizona bill -- requiring police leeway to challenge individuals they suspect are illegal immigrants -- Latino leaders warned that there could be severe consequences for Democrats in November if President Obama and others do not do enough push back against it with steps such as preempting the state law with federal law, and passing comprehensive immigration reform.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, (D-Ill.), said of Latino voters, "It seems to me that it is an option for people to stay home (in November). They don't necessarily have to fill out the Democratic ranks. They could just stay home. It is not what I have called for, but let me be clear, it's not an option I have ruled out."
Latino voters supported President Obama in 2008 by a 2 to 1 margin
Does that make it a two-fer?
One has to be a blithering idiot to actually believe that they can influence “climate change” by raising taxes.
I would love to hope... but I don’t trust any of them.
Maybe Grahamnesty will succeed somehow in killing both of his misbegotten efforts.
He just wants something. He’s holding out for it. Maybe an increase in his JAG rank. Who knows.
Now that Graham has been outed, maybe the blackmail can stop and he can quit pushing a leftist agenda under duress..
1. Obamacare is a tax program. Everything else is window dressing and irrelevant.
2. Cap and Trade is a tax program. Everything else is window dressing and irrelevant.
3. Immigration reform is a tax program and a democrat vote registration program.
Most of us here know that No. 3 is the sealer for the first two.
I am soooo glad Grahmesty is having problems.
“Does that make it a two-fer?”
Maybe. The games not over yet.
You are correct. If that happens it is over. Done.
Our biggest battle ping!
Man the guns!
Tens of millions, at least. And maybe worse than Dems.
This government should have dealt with this 9/12/01 before all these people got here. It’s not fair to us, or them. It’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.
I have no idea what Graham is up to, but he/they are up to something that we have no idea of. But I’m convinced some of this is cover for McCain.
He hasn’t bothered with his senate job for 10 years...always running for office, just like he’s doing now. He’s in Arizona all the time. I notice he doesn’t bother much with Arizona otherwise, just like his senate job.
So what’s the bottom line if they don’t push an amnesty...
Little if any enforcement..
The border is wide open....
No one is going to make them leave...
More coming every day, especially as ‘refugees’ of Mexico’s civil war.
Why take the political heat for an amnesty?
There is a Ted Kennedy religious face to amnesty. Old Teddy must have made promises to somebody somewhere he would advocate AMNESTY for peoples from his families country of origin.
AND given the competition for souls in religious circles 'social justice' of compassion became the mantra joint in with the open borders cheap labor crowd...
Personally, I think the 'government' has dealt with the problem just as some intended... they for the most part have sent out official/unofficial welcome mats to any and all. And in so doing they have forced upon the rest of US taxation without representation, polluted the voter registrations in all counties, for their own self serving purposes.
Too late for Graham....it’s a delay, not an end to it....
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