Graham withdraws support for climate legislation
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 25, 2010; A03
The effort to enact comprehensive climate and energy legislation this year suffered a critical blow Saturday when Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), the key Republican proponent of the bill, withdrew his support because of what he said was a “cynical political” decision by Democrats to advance immigration legislation first.
The move forced the other two authors of the climate and energy bill, Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), to cancel a much-anticipated news conference planned for Monday at which they were to unveil the plan they negotiated with Graham.
Graham, who spent weeks working with Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on an immigration measure that will appeal to both parties, wrote in an open letter Saturday to leaders of the climate effort, “Moving forward on immigration — in this hurried, panicked manner — is nothing more than a cynical political ploy.”
Late last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) raised the idea of bringing up immigration legislation before an energy bill, and President Obama on Friday criticized Arizona’s tough new immigration law and said Congress must act on immigration or risk leaving the door open to “irresponsibility by others.”
In an interview, Graham said he has become convinced that Democrats have decided to push for an immigration overhaul in an effort to mobilize Hispanic voters, a key political bloc, and that only a focused effort on a climate and energy bill could ensure its passage.
Democrats denied that election-related considerations were driving the focus on immigration, and the White House, Reid, and Kerry and Lieberman said they would continue to press ahead with the climate and energy effort.
Even so, Graham’s departure greatly undermines Democrats’ prospects of picking up the handful of Republican votes needed for passage. “If Senator Graham leaves the effort, a long shot becomes a no-shot,” said Joe Stanko, who heads up government relations for the law firm Hunton & Williams and represents several industries that would face new federal regulation under a climate bill.
more here at WaPo
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Joe Romm must be having a conniption fit about right now.
Global warming bills should be debated in July or August, like Hansen’s 1988 testimony to Congress with the air conditioning intentionally sabotaged. It is a lot easier to convince people that global warming is real after several months of hot weather during the summer.
2009 wouldn’t have been a good summer for this, because parts of the Midwest (including Chicago) had their coldest summer on record.
I don’t think Graham has come to his senses at all. He supports immigration and tax a cap, so why he should care which order makes no sense at all.
DJ Meredith (07:58:49) :
We should deal with immigration first, because the swarm of immigrants into this country could cause it to tip over.>>
Canada has your back. We’ve moved 90% of our population to within 100 miles of the border. Any sign of tipping due to immigrant swarm from the south, and we’ll just step over the line and hold it down from our end. Not that we like Americans all that much, but we have an obligation to preserve our largest market for oil exports. We just can’t burn all the oil ourselves, and what with the ice creeping down from the north recently (based on the trend of the last 3 years it will have advanced the 49th parallel by 2035) we may need to move anyway. All we ask in return for taking these extraodrinary measures to help the Americans out is that you get Hillary to stop p***ing on our foreign minister every time she comes to visit. Small favour in context of the big picture.
While I am encouraged by Sen. Graham’s change of heart(?) on this bill. I think his move is telling with regard to his ( and most of his colleagues) primary motivation. It comes down to protecting the Party. These guys appear to care only about the effect that the debated legislation will have on their respective political parties. The interests of those who they supposedly represent are relegated to an after thought.
Graham was all in favor of this tax, oops sorry, I mean energy bill until he perceived the threat of a political maneuver by the leader of the rival Party. I guess that the potentially crushing impacts that this tax scheme would have on what remains of the productive segments of our economy was not enough to persuade him. Nor was the fact that the justification for the tax remains an unproven, popular culture fad being pushed by lobbyists for rent seeking corporate interests.
Let’s hope that both of these legislative initiatives end up on the scrap heap. Pray for a do-nothing Congress!
I guess we are no longer the United States of America. The independent state’s rights are being eroded away every year, every new bill signed by Congress. How about the Federal Republic of America – all 57 states could join.
Tom in GA (08:29:17) :
Sounds an awful lot like the group-think that propelled the concept of AGW so far with nothing but anecdotal and fabricated data as support.
Do you mean the Noetic Principle that was blared by the loudspeaker has worn off, and Lindsay finally heard the last crackle of the fried electronics it was built upon?
Brianp (08:18:25) :
“As a Canadian I don’t quite understand what this really means. Does this kill it or is just a political move”.
It’s getting to close to November for Senators to consider controversial legislation. Maybe enough time for one more thing, but not two.
In any case, the whole purpose of ‘Cap and Tax’ was to sent a long term price signal to the markets vis-a-vis coal.
The price of coal has been skyrocketing on the global markets. China became an importer in 2006 and India became an Importer this year. Between the two of them they account for 50% of world coal consumption.
Europe was already a big importer.
There really isn’t a need for cap and tax. The ‘market’ is already sending a pricing signal that the days of cheap coal are coming rapidly to an end.
rbateman:
“Noetic Principle”
Beautifully put.
Yes. Quackery as well.
Graham’s need for approval from Democrats, the MSM, and the elite is disturbing. Reality and knowledge play no part in his decision. There are few people as ignorant of facts as a US Senator.
People focus,
Capn Trade is dead, dead.
So now a lot of bankrupt people need a new crisis.
But the good news they bet a lot money on AGW, they backed it up and it’s zero.
Your call the wind you reap the storm.
Lot of people bankrupt, just not mugs super.
Lot of people wont be around.
A bit naked.
The war is over.
That’s 5 months for trustees to move.
Money is moving.
Carbon trading is like twiggy’s tits, never happened.
Anyone ever seen Twiggy’s tits, all nipple no milk.
PNS is dead, the Industrialists, will not cop bad science.
“DJ Meredith (07:58:49) :
We should deal with immigration first, because the swarm of immigrants into this country could cause it to tip over.”
You mean capsize.
Another initiative the legislature in Arizona is taking is a bill that will require candidates for office to prove they meet the constitutional requirements for the office before they can be put on the ballot. That’s great idea but the horse is already out of that barn.
There were already rumblings that the senate was not going to take up climate legislation in an election year. Seeing corporations take charges against future earnings in the wake of the health care bill was the tip-off. There’s little doubt that immeidately after cap and tax is passed, most corporations will have to take massive charges against future earnings. Why do that in an election year when the EPA is ready and waiting to do the hard work for you.
Since ramming the health card bill down our throats just about guarantied a historic swing in the 2010 election (apparant political suicide), the obvious next step has been to focus on amnesty. Ramming amnesty for illegals down our throats between now and November just about guarantees still another historic swing in the 2012 election.
Taken with the extraordinary crisis this administration is in the process of engineering, these two high gain positive feedback loop swings will leave the whole world in a scary position. Any of you pondering whether or not to have another child, might want to put that one off.
In the end, it will be up to the states to come together and amend the constitution to save us from this mess.
The wording of the amendment needs to go something like this, Any law passed by the congress of the United States that grants citizenship to any alien who did not immigrate in accordance with the laws of the United States at the time of entry shall be null and void. Citizenship and any right to vote granted under any such law is revoked.
Graham didn’t come to his senses, he’s just not getting what HE wants today. Once Graham gets what Graham wants, the rest of us can go to hell. Typical RINO.
I wonder if they got wind of the “scandle” due out on Monday – Icecap is reporting…
“This morning on Global Cooling Radio, Chris Horner, author of the recently released book, Power Grab: How Obama’s Green Policies Will Steal Your Freedom And Bankrupt America, revealed that a major ethics scandal involving someone in the Obama administration will be unveiled on Monday.”
“You’re going to see the first ethics scandal in the Obama administration. We’ve got our hands on some internal documents revealing a serious conflict of interest at a very high level on these green jobs and stimulus and the
policies that Carol Browner was talking about. It isn’t Ms. Browner, but it is someone tied to Al Gore.”
http://www.icecap.us/ link to interview there.
It could have been mighty embarrassing if it broke prior to the Kerry et al press conference.
As an inhabitant of the Upstate of South Carolina, I’m reasonably familiar with Lindsey Graham’s modus operandi. He was our congressman (SC 3rd district) before he got elected to the Senate.
The guy has always been slick and untrustworthy. And over time he’s found that he gets more favorable media attention if he can be cited as a “reasonable” Republican.
But his push for cap and trade has so alienated his base in South Carolina that some other factor would seem to be involved. One speculation I’ve heard is that he expects to become Obama’s next Secretary of Defense when Gates leaves. This is not a crazy idea, as Graham was a lawyer in the military, and Obama doesn’t have an abundance of credible nominees among the Democrats.
Maybe Graham has now learned that Obama won’t make him his next Secretary of Defense?
Or maybe he is just worried that the debate over an immigration bill will take the spotlight off his cap and trade scheme. The immigration debate is sure to become a circus.
It doesn’t matter to me, so long as cap and trade gets put off. Because if the Senate doesn’t pass this turkey before November, it ain’t gonna pass it all, as John Kerry is publicly admitting.
I don’t buy the dopey remarks about Graham being outed as gay. He’s never said anything on the subject, but it’s widely assumed in South Carolina that he is, and this hasn’t hurt his prospects of reelection so far as I can determine.
Tom in GA (09:34:33) :
You name the sales pitch, they have run it.
They have also managed to appear as pesky boiler room sales, a coat they do not wear well at all: Mass Irritant of the Highest Order/Brooklyn Bridge limited time offer.
The MO is always the same: When at first you don’t suceed, dive for cover, resurface later with a new Paint Job.
Some have asked: Where have all the trolls gotten off to?
Answer: They went to DC to lobby, only to find a rain check promissary note.
I have to think that the democrat leaders know the jig is up on “climate change” and can forsee the tidal wave of opposition barreling down on them. This situation looks like a life saver for sen. Graham but many of the other politicians on the climate ship titanic are still busy rearranging the deck chairs.
I’m currently something like a disenfranchised Pennsylvania voter, since I had voted straight Republican then lost the Republican Senator I had voted in (Specter). This lookalike replacement Democrat is having fun, primary season just started and already he has out negative attack ads against the other Democrat, who has not responded in kind. With things looking this tough for re-election, seems that’s one vote for cap-and-trade in the Senate that is far from certain.
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DJ Meredith (07:58:49) :
We should deal with immigration first, because the swarm of immigrants into this country could cause it to tip over.
California has listed heavily to port and is about to capsize, thus it seems the danger is very real.
He’ll be back.
I’m not sure this is good news. The EPA already has made their finding that excess CO2 in the environment endangers health and welfare. If nothing comes out of the legislature the U. S. is stuck with the rules made within the agencies.
There won’t be a single Repubican vote for any AGW related bills.
Graham won’t be back on board the Al Gore express.
And as this election years rolls forward to November and more of the AGW fraud and insanity surfaces it will be Democrats who will be
attempting to hide their support.