Hill Republicans dodge on Arizona law

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Hill Republicans dodge on Arizona law
Democrats can’t shout loud enough about how much they hate Arizona’s harsh immigration law. But Republican lawmakers are hedging, dodging, and reaching for nuance—anything to avoid taking a strong stand on Arizona.
House Minority Leader John Boehner says it’s a state issue and, well, it has 70 percent support in Arizona. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is “sympathetic.” Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and rising conservative star, has major “concerns.” Lindsey Graham says it might not be constitutional anyway—and so does former Rep. Tom Tancredo, the right’s loudest critic of illegal immigration. But Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), caught between Texas’ large Hispanic population and his job running national Senate campaigns, thinks it’s “probably constitutional.”
Indeed, for a party that has been remarkably unified and on message of late, the Arizona fallout has jammed Republicans who need to please a base that is virulently anti-illegal immigrant yet still wants to expand their party’s appeal to Hispanics, the fastest growing demographic in the country. Everyone in the Republican Party says it’s Washington’s fault for neglecting the illegal immigration problem, but virtually no congressional Republicans are fully embracing what Arizona has done.
“I am sympathetic to the problem and the challenge the people of Arizona and their elected leaders face with this issue…there is an absence of direction at the federal level on this,” said Thune, a South Dakota Republican who is viewed as a possible presidential contender in 2012.
“I think the federal government needs to step up, that’s why I support a comprehensive approach,” Cornyn said, but only if President Barack Obama invests some political capital—and so far “I haven’t seen any investment whatsoever other than just lip service,” he said.
Should Texas implement a law like Arizona’s?
“I don’t think we need to have a proliferation of different state standards,” Cornyn said.
Under the bill, law enforcement officers would be required to ask people for a driver’s license or citizenship documents if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that someone is an undocumented immigrant.
President Barack Obama has called the Arizona law “misguided”— giving some Republicans an opening to talk about the law.
“I’m not sure why the administration is throwing stones at the legislature and governor in Arizona, for example, when they should be working together to solve the problems and address the very, very real concerns that the citizens of Arizona have,” said Sen. Scott Brown (R-Ariz.). The administration is pushing him to support a comprehensive immigration bill.
Republican aides quietly acknowledge that no one wants to be the first to stand up and speak up in favor of the law. “Accusations would fly, and no one wants to risk that,” said one Senate Republican aide.
“The Democrats see it as a politically advantageous argument to have, but I think there are probably a lot of Democrats too, who as hot as this issue is right now…probably think it’s not the best time to bring this up,” said Thune.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36440.html#ixzz0mLEovId3

[Twoller]

Odd isn't it? Not once is the name "McCain" mentioned.

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Senators nix Reid's plan to roll out immigration bill
By: Susan Ferrechio


Politically embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may want to bring an immigration reform bill to the floor to invigorate the Democratic base in his home state of Nevada, but the rest of the Senate is far less enthusiastic.
Democrats, who control 59 votes, need at least one Republican to bring an immigration reform bill to the Senate floor. One of their biggest hopes for that bipartisan deal made it very clear he wants no part of a bill this year.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was to co-author a bipartisan immigration reform bill along with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate should not take up a bill until the borders are first secured.
Graham, who spoke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Homeland Security Department, told Secretary Janet Napolitano that any attempt to pass reform this year would "crash and burn" and be "absolutely devastating" to future attempts at a bipartisan compromise.
President Obama and Democratic leaders in recent days have revived the idea of taking up a comprehensive immigration bill, prompted in part by their opposition to Arizona's new law aimed at curbing illegal immigration.
Democrats, especially Reid, also want to energize Hispanic voters, who make up a growing percentage of the electorate, particularly in Nevada. Reid said Tuesday he is "committed" to taking up a bill this year, adding, "Others may have given up on immigration reform; I haven't."
But an informal poll of Democratic senators shows there is little appetite for taking up such a bill, especially with the election season approaching and several Democratic seats in peril.
"I think generally, it's a very difficult time to do it," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Feinstein pointed out that even if the political will exists, there may not be enough time on the Senate calendar, given the need to hold votes on a new Supreme Court justice and a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.
Senate Democrats are also planning an attempt to take up a major energy and global warming bill, which Reid said would come before an immigration bill.
"Most of us feel like the climate change issue is ready to go, and we'd like to see a full debate on it," said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
Schumer, the immigration bill's lead sponsor, had little to say about progress on a bill, other than, "We're trying."
Most Republicans and even some moderate Democrats, including Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., are calling for border security problems to be addressed first before taking up a comprehensive reform bill, citing the escalating drug war on the U.S.-Mexican border.
"It won't pass," said Republican Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. "It will just poison the well, and that's not good for legislation next year."

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/congress/Senators-nix-Reid_s-plan-to-roll-out-immigration-bill-92260939.html#ixzz0mM0WxMnz

[Don]

Our great Republicans are sitting on the fence waiting to see which way the wind blows.

RINO Michael Medved steered clear of the AZ law today. Seems like he doesn't want to go there. Maybe his listeners emailed him and told him he's on the wrong side of this one. I sensed a certain anxiety in his show today.

RINO Hugh Hewitt commented briefly on the AZ law and acknowledged, sourly, that it is not unconstitituional on its face and that its consitutionality will be in the application. He had on the usual GOP milk sops who said it was a bad bill for the Republican Party. (The same Republican Party that gave us McCain, Bush Jr. and Schwarzenneger).

Hewitt is a globalist quisling who has mocked, ridiculed and condemed nationalists who have fought to defend our borders and he is obviously very scared of this bill. It's obvious that the GOP elite is also scared to death of it, but is that elite more scared of the illegal aliens or of the GOP grass roots who clarely support this bill. One thing I notice: The further down the GOP foodchain you go, the closer to the people, the more support for the AZ bill. The grass roots citizens have really dragged the elites by their tails on this one. A good sign.

[Ayatollahgondola]

One thing I notice: The further down the GOP foodchain you go, the closer to the people, the more support for the AZ bill. The grass roots citizens have really dragged the elites by their tails on this one. A good sign.

I think it could be said that, the more people a politician represents, the less they represent them.

If that hasn't been said before, consider it an official Ayatollah quote. If it has been said before, consider it an official Ayatollah plagerism;)

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Menendez: Graham has McCain in mind
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is questioning whether Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had other motivations for attempting to push off final action on an immigration bill until after the November elections.
Menendez, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told POLITICO that Graham may be worried about his close pal Sen. John McCain. The Arizona Republican faces a tough primary challenge from conservative former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who has pilloried McCain's previous stance supporting a comprehensive immigration bill that included a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Now, Menendez said, Graham may be attempting to shield McCain from political blowback on the divisive issue.
"Clearly John McCain is in a huge fight," Menendez said in an interview. "He has done a 360-degree turn on immigration – he’s getting a challenge from the hard right, I’m sure the last thing any friend of John McCain wants to see is to see is immigration come for debate."
Graham, who has been trying to strike a deal on the issue with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), denied he had any motivation other than seeing Congress eventually pass an immigration bill, which he said could not occur in the fiercely polarized 111th Congress.
"I’m not giving the Democrats cover, I’m not giving Republicans cover, I’m trying to protect an issue I care about," said Graham, who spurred a controversy over the weekend when he insisted that Democrats shelve plans on a comprehensive immigration bill this year in favor of a climate change bill.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36457.html#ixzz0mOCV9E00