This morning a coalition of business leaders, Republican Lindsey Graham, Democratic senators, religious leaders, and military officials were scheduled to debut their “grand compromise” climate bill. This weekend dueling press releases and political positioning led Lindsey Graham to pull support for the climate bill however. The climate bill has been within the Senate for months and was set to ask government and companies to take payday cash advances to promote green technology and improve their environmental impact Lindsey Graham might return to the list of sponsors and also the bill isn’t entirely dead.
Lindsey Graham pulls support for climate bill
When the compromise bill was begun by senate leaders, Lindsey Graham was one of the few Republicans that showed a willingness to negotiate. Lindsey Graham, John Kerry, and Joseph Lieberman were crafting the legislation to address climate change and energy policy within the US. A comprehensive climate bill is one of the stated Obama administration priories. Without Lindsey Graham’s support, the climate bill is in question, though the White House has said it will still “work to secure bipartisan agreement.”
Reform immigration as part of climate bill
Nothing legislation caused Lindsey Graham to pull support for the climate bill. In his statement explaining his reasoning for removing himself as a supporter of the bill, Graham calls out the White House and Democratic leaders for insisting on immigration reform bill. Although the White House and Democrats have pushed for forward motion on the issue much sooner, an immigration reform bill has been on the docket to be discussed for a long while. Lindsey Graham has stated that this “bait-and-switch” of issues is similar to instant pay day loans no faxing – taking an issue now at the possible cost of an additional later. Graham feels it would almost extremely hard to discuss and pass a climate bill with all of the debate on illegal immigration getting in the way.
Lindsey Graham has been under significant pressure from Republican leaders to not work with Democratic senators on crafting a climate bill. Graham has been the only bride in the divided Senate, providing bipartisan support for contentious legislation. Graham has suggested that by putting both climate and immigration into the same session, leaders won’t be able to make progress on either issues. In a statement where he removed his support, he explained by saying:
“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.”
So what do you think?
Do you think the Senate could be able to discuss climate and immigration in the same session?
Resources for the article
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/us/politics/25graham.html?hp
Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/apr/26/congress-republicans-graham-climate-change
