This morning a coalition of military officials, religious leaders, business leaders, Republican Lindsey Graham, and Democratic senators were scheduled to debut their “grand compromise” climate bill. However, this weekend dueling press releases and political positioning led Lindsey Graham to pull his support for the climate bill. 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 The bill is not entirely dead, and Lindsey Graham might nevertheless return to the list of sponsors.
Lindsey Graham pulls climate bill support
One of the few republicans that showed a willingness to negotiate with the compromise bill was Lindsey Graham. . A climate bill is one of the stated Obama administration priorities. the climate bill in question is without Lindsey Graham’s support, though the White House has said it will nevertheless “work to secure bipartisan agreement.”
Immigration reform at issue for climate bill
Nothing in the legislation caused Lindsey Graham to pull support for the climate bill. Instead, in his statement removing his support of the climate Bill, Graham calls out the White House and Democratic leaders for their insistence on an immigration reform bill. An immigration reform bill has been discussed for a while although the white house and democrats have pushed for forward motion on the issue much sooner. Lindsey Graham has stated that this “bait-and-switch” of issues is akin to instant payday cash advances no faxing – taking one issue now at the possible cost of an additional later. Graham feels that highly charged Senate debate on illegal immigration would make it nearly impossible to discuss and pass a climate bill.
Graham has been under pressure from Republican leaders not to work with Democratic senators on the climate bill. Graham has been the only bride within the divided Senate, providing bipartisan support for contentious legislation. However, Graham has stated that by including immigration and climate in the very same Senate session, leaders will not be able to make progress on both issues. In his statement removing support, Graham explained his actions 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 are you thinking?
Do you think the Senate will be able to discuss climate and immigration within the very same session?
Sources 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
