Graham Says Health Vote Will Kill Immigration Reform (and He Would Know)
EmailABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports:
Democrats have one bipartisan partner left in the Senate: Lindsey Graham is working with Chuck Schumer on immigration reform and with John Kerry and Joe Lieberman on climate change legislation.
In a short, sweet statement this afternoon, Graham said he’ll pull out of the immigration talks if Democrats pass health reform.
“The first casualty of the Democratic health care bill will be immigration reform. If the health care bill goes through this weekend, that will, in my view, pretty much kill any chance of immigration reform passing the Senate this year,” said Graham in a paper statement.
Since there’s no way Democrats will back down from health reform at this point, we can probably say goodbye to immigration reform.
Beyond showing the contentiousness in the Senate, there is a subtext here. Hispanic Democrats frustrated with the exclusion of unauthorized immigrants from new health insurance pools in the president’s plan, had signed off on it Thursday after Obama pointed to Graham and his commitment of working toward immigration reform.
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So the guy who voted for a war that has cost $750 billion dollars and over 4,700 American lives, wants to take his ball home and quit playing politics. Sounds like a good idea. Bye bye.
Posted by: Doug | March 19, 2010, 11:42 pm 11:42 pm
Sen. Opie throws a little tantrun. Does he really think we bought the bipartisanship act? No, he was just playing the Chuckie Grassley delay and stymie role on immigration reform.
Posted by: BBear | March 20, 2010, 12:05 am 12:05 am
Actually Graham has been a supporter of comprehensive immagration reform since 2006, see senate bill 2611.
If the Democrats sour Graham enough for him to step back from somethign he’s been working with since 2006 then they have destroyed any chance this session has of any kind of bipartisan agreements on anything.
Posted by: bobtherepublican | March 20, 2010, 9:10 am 9:10 am
Graham is a sell out. Let’s hope there will be a strong contender to run against him or some kind of recall movement. Instead of legalizing all the criminals here illegally how about kicking them out and sealing the border? Maybe bring back our troops guarding OTHER countries’s borders and use them here. We have Iraq-style violence on our borders now and the corruption and violence is creeping into America also. Obama, of course, wants more illegals to move here and to give them amnesty, programs, school, and jobs- the continued bid to destroy the working and middle classes. And some Republicans support him in this goal. A shame.
Posted by: Ed | March 20, 2010, 12:56 pm 12:56 pm
Oh, i have 4 words for all you Obamacare lovers, CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS… Ha, enjoy your victory while it lasts….
Posted by: jman | March 21, 2010, 11:02 am 11:02 am
Too late for bipartisanship now – Graham would only be giving Obama cover and he knows it. And why deal with anyone who doesn’t think the process is relevant?
Posted by: bad carlos | March 21, 2010, 2:53 pm 2:53 pm
I don’t quite understand what the dear Sen. Graham is saying. By passing health care reform, does the need for immigration reform go away?
Posted by: Lydia | March 21, 2010, 5:02 pm 5:02 pm
Who knows what’s in the bill. Who’s been able to actually READ 2200 pages? Amnesty could be part of it already.
Posted by: kkja | March 21, 2010, 10:28 pm 10:28 pm
Illegals came to the US to steal from the taxpayers. Nothing more should be given to them.
Enough is enough. They are all free to take their extended families and return to their countries of origin. the us is not trying to split up these illegal families. They can reunite in their home countries and get the the health care they see as a right from these home counties.
Posted by: susan kohn | March 22, 2010, 12:30 am 12:30 am