Reid Reverses: Now Climate Change Bill Bumps Immigration Reform
Published April 27, 2010, 9:16 pm, CST
by Diane W. Collins
dcollins@marketingweb.com
It doesn't get any better than this does it? The only transparency the Obama Administration really offers is political motive. Last Saturday it was reported by The Hill Newspaper that Sen. Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) bumped "Climate Change" legislation also referred to as "Clean Energy" or the "Energy Bill" during the weekend in order to address immigration reform first. In response, Sen. Lindsay Grahman (R-SC) withdrew his support of climate change legislation.
Sen. Graham had originally cosponsored the "Clean Energy" bill with Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT). They were expected to introduce their bill to the Senate on Monday, April 26th. The bill was being sold as "an alternative to EPA determination." This "alternative" approach is something many in Congress could support if properly written to carefully ensure the profitable, regional production of all types of domestic energy.
Majority Leader Reid said with regard to his change of heart, "I have an energy bill to present. I don't have an immigration bill." But, in reality that is not what has changed. Reid didn't have an immigration bill last Saturday either when he capriciously bumped the "Clean Energy" bill from the schedule. So what did change?
As we reported in our article, Political Agendas: Ideas, Strategy, Results 2010?
Next, we must look to the issues that will help the Democrats mitigate any losses in the 2010 elections. We're all aware that they intend to push forward as much legislation as possible after Spring break. Financial Reform will be steam rolled through Congress. Immigration is complex, but this Trojan horse will follow. Promises will be made. The President's administration will judge from the response if that is all they need to give. Democrats have to replace the Independent and Conservative Democratic votes they lost over Health Care.
What has changed is the available crisis "not to be wasted." The administration no longer needs to pursue Immigration Reform in Congress. The promise of reform is now all they need to give. The Administration has a "new crisis" to exploit in the Arizona Immigration Law passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer. Democrats appear to believe the push back against Arizona's action to protect its legal citizens from the ravages of drug cartels, human trafficking and kidnapping in the face of the Federal government's failure to secure the border will be the crisis they need to produce political capital... immigrant votes for 2010. The Justice Department is looking into the legality of the Arizona law citing potential civil rights violations. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) has called for a boycott against his own state in the form of goods, services and tourism.
However, the whole they "protest too much, me thinks" routine may backfire. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) who has pushed for a strong Immigration Reform Bill may not be too happy about Sen. Reid's decision. Also, the Administration should be careful in fighting the new Arizona immigration law in that closer examination shows it mirrors Federal law. It might be good to read the bill, guys.
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