Free Republic

It's hard to imagine a Republican more useless than South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Whether he's spearheading legislation that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, stumping for the $787 billion taxpayer robbery known as TARP, being the lone GOP committee member to confirm liberal Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor, or partnering with John Kerry to promote cap-and-trade, Graham has never been a friend to conservatives. And yet in 2008, Graham was reelected in the deeply red state of South Carolina over a Democratic candidate, Bob Conley, who staunchly opposed amnesty and TARP and was well to the right...

WASHINGTON – The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Barack Obama on Sunday as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House has nowhere to go in the Senate. Speaking from the Rose Garden about 14 hours after the late Saturday vote, Obama urged senators to be like runners on a relay team and "take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people." The problem is that the Senate won't run with it. The government health insurance plan included in the House bill...

We strongly object to the President creating a two-tier system of justice for terrorists in which those responsible for the death of thousands on 9/11 will be treated as common criminals and afforded the kind of platinum due process accorded American citizens, yet members of Al Qaeda who aspire to kill Americans but who do not yet have blood on their hands, will be treated as war criminals. The President offers no explanation or justification for this contradiction, even as he readily acknowledges that the 9/11 conspirators, now designated "unprivileged enemy belligerents," are appropriately accused of war crimes. We believe...

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., flanked by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, to discuss climate change legislation

Even before a Senate committee could begin marking up the "Kerry-Boxer" climate bill, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) himself announced a new "track" of negotiations over climate policy that makes his original bill look somewhat irrelevant. Kerry, appearing at the U.S. Capitol with Sens. Lindsay O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), said the three legislators would work with business groups and the White House to forge a compromise climate measure that could get 60 votes in the Senate. These negotiations would be separate from the work that six different Senate committees are doing on climate legislation, including the...

Senator Lieberman’s threat to filibuster the health-care bill isn’t a betrayal of the Democratic Party, says Meghan McCain—it’s a sign of courage. And we need more of it. BY MEGHAN MCCAIN A few weeks ago, I gave a speech at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and one of the questions I was asked was: Aside from your father, who are your favorite senators and politicians? Without hesitation, I said that I admire South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Connecticut’s Joe Lieberman. Now before my fellow Republicans start panicking at my fondness for two independent, moderate, and dare I say maverick...

"Republican Dede Scozzafava today endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, her former opponent, in Tuesday's election to fill the North Country congressional seat formerly held by John McHugh. Scozzafava suspended her campaign for the 23rd District seat Saturday, citing weak poll numbers and inadequate campaign funds. In a statement released this afternoon, she called Owens ''an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York.''"

Charlston, SC- Doctors in South Carolina are reporting that all has gone well with Lindsay Graham’s recent surgery and that the long time Democrat Senator is resting comfortably and expected to make a full recovery. Graham, who early yesterday morning became the second person to undergo a complete personality transplant and the first individual to survive the procedure, is also reported to be in good spirits and eager to find out what it is like to make friends. Graham is well known for his work in the Senate. What is less well known is the fact that he suffered from...

For once, please pray that this man is correct.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., drawing fire from energy industry group after saying he would seek bipartisan consensus on energy and global warming, said Friday reducing pollution and energy independence go together. The lawmaker told reporters he wants a bill to do both.

WASHINGTON -- The national debate among Republicans over their party's future is nowhere sharper than in South Carolina, where Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint pursue distinctly different visions for restoring GOP primacy at the polls. Graham and DeMint, who profess to be friends and live within an hour's drive of each other in the conservative Upstate, prescribe conflicting cures for the Republican ailments that led to sweeping defeats in the last two national elections. Graham, a Seneca Republican elected to his second term last year, says the party must stop alienating young people and Hispanics and start promoting pragmatic,...

Glenn Beck just showed a tape of Senator "Gramnesty" admonishing his audience that the Republican party had to be a "center right" party. Hmmm, I thought we were already a center right party. I thought that this is a conservative country and conservatism is center right. Surely it is not extreme right. If conservatism is already a center right philosophy what was Graham talking about? Suddenly the lightbulb went on in my head. Of course, Graham is speaking in rino code. What Graham was really trying to say was "no conservatives need apply" to the Republican party. Graham wants to...

He also rips the House bill. Some good news to extract from this: there's nowhere near 60 votes for cap & tax as it stands. Also, he takes a strong position against supporting a bill with no offshore drilling provision. That could be enough to kill it. So it's possible that nothing will happen. And, in this case, nothing is good.

Politics: Move over, John McCain and Olympia Snowe. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is fast becoming the Democrats' favorite Republican as he partners with John Kerry to push cap-and-trade through the Senate. Earlier this year, eight Republican congressmen made it possible for Waxman-Markey, the 1,400-page job- and economy-killing cap-and-trade legislation, to barely pass the House of Representatives. At the time it seemed dead on arrival in the Senate if it was brought up there this year. Once again, as with their medical plan, the Democrats seek to better the odds by putting a GOP hood ornament on a Democratic clunker....

...Enter the Republican establishment. They sold this country out when they were in power and can’t ever be trusted again. But they see an opening and are setting the stage for their own return. They are handpicking candidates — Bush-likes and Bush-lites — to run against conservatives in primaries. Many are retreads, all are available for purchase. Then the party elite endorses their candidate early in the primary, fills their coffers with millions from corporate PACs and special interests, pressures party regulars to get in line, and sends word to the grassroots candidates: “Drop out — you can’t win”. Their...

According to most conservatives in South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has officially gone over to the dark side. Under the guise of 'bipartisanship,' Graham has signed on to one of the left's most ambitious plans to impose a socialist agenda in America - government control of the formerly free market through implementation of cap-and trade, the 1,400 plus page Waxman-Markey bill approved earlier this year by the House. The main (scientifically unproven) premise of cap and trade is that the earth is melting and government must step in to save the world. Of course, it will be expensive, but...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime friend and ally of Sen. John McCain, is now going a step further, Democrats say, and actually becoming the new McCain. Senior members of the majority party say the South Carolina Republican has displaced his Arizona mentor as the dealmaker on two big agenda items of the Obama administration: climate change and immigration. As McCain, on the heels of his presidential election defeat, has distanced himself from Democrats, Graham has moved in to fill the vacuum.

Although Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) vowed this week to introduce comprehensive immigration reform next month, his Senate counterparts expected to take the lead on the issue aren’t heeding a similar timeline. “That’s new to me,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of Gutierrez’s announcement, made Tuesday at an immigration rally on Capitol Hill. “I’ve been talking to Sen. Schumer, and we hope to get something done that’s comprehensive,” Graham added. “We just don’t know when yet.”Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, has been meeting periodically with Graham to discuss ideas on immigration,...

Mitch McConnell and his deputies in the Senate Republican leadership are responding very cautiously to Olympia Snowe’s decision to become the first GOP vote for a Democratic health care reform bill. That’s about all they can do. “My job as whip is not to twist her arm but to bring all the information that we can bring to bear on the issue and hope that people vote the way we would like to see them vote,” said McConnell’s No. 2, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). Kyl said a heavy-handed approach “doesn’t work.”

(Oct. 14) -- As Republicans search their ranks for a new leader, there's also a bit of competition developing for the title of party maverick. The AP is hailing Olympia Snowe as the GOP's new female maverick -- supplanting Sarah Palin -- because the senator from Maine is the only Republican who voted for the Finance Committee's health care reform bill Tuesday. But when it comes to going rogue, Snowe's Senate colleague from South Carolina appears to have the edge. Lindsey Graham teamed up with Democratic Sen. John Kerry for a New York Times op-ed pushing climate change legislation a...

(CNN) – South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has always enjoyed a little back-and-forth with belligerent audiences. He was at it again on Monday night as he faced down an angry town hall crowd in Greenville packed with libertarians and Tea Party activists who accused at the Republican senator of ditching conservative principles by working with Democrats on issues like climate change and voting to send Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. But Graham stressed a mantra he's repeated many times since his friend John McCain lost the presidential election last November — that the GOP must reach out to different...

Lindsey Graham is at it again, playing the same game he learned from his good friend John McCain. When will Republicans in Congress realize that they always get a raw deal when they attempt to reach "bi-partisan" agreements with Democrats? One would think Senator Graham would have already learned the nearly disastrous lesson of his support for amnesty in 2006, but a dual op-ed with John Kerry from Sunday on the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade bill shows that he has not. The worst thing Graham does is agree that man made global warming exists and is a problem. "First, we...

The surprise endorsement of climate-change legislation by a leading Senate Republican has jump-started the languishing proposal but also has raised the prospect that it will include two major items that environmentalists dislike: more nuclear power and more offshore oil drilling. In an op-ed published Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joined with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the chamber's leading Democratic advocate of climate legislation, to promote a bipartisan plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. They proposed a compromise that reduces U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions - which are widely considered to contribute to climate change - through a market-based "cap and...

During the process of the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Lindsey Graham was the only Republican joining all the Hyde Committee Democrats in voting "nay" on Article Two, perjury in the Jones deposition. He killed it, a double-cross of Henry Hyde without doubt. This article had the best evidence against Clinton of any of the three articles of impeachment. As I remember, the judge in the Jones case had said that Clinton committed perjury. The extreme egotist, Lindsey Graham seems willing to do anything to attract special attention. He is nothing if not a shameless self promoter as the record shows....

The surprise endorsement of climate-change legislation by a leading Senate Republican has jump-started the languishing proposal but also has raised the prospect that it will include two major items that environmentalists dislike: more nuclear power and more offshore oil drilling. In an op-ed published Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joined with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the chamber's leading Democratic advocate of climate legislation, to promote a bipartisan plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. They proposed a compromise that reduces U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions - which are widely considered to contribute to climate change - through a market-based "cap and...

I hate to say “I told you so.” But, well, I told you so. GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham has signed on to the Democrats’ massive green redistribution scheme masquerading as a planet-saving, national security-enhancing “energy independence” scheme. Can John McCain and the rest of the Climate Change Republicans be far behind? Now, the announcement of Graham’s alliance with Big Government Democrats. In the NYTimes, natch. Kerry and Graham go on to argue that we must buy into their plan because the EPA regulatory power grab will be worse. It’s greenmail: Sign on or else the out-of-control bureaucrats (and the unaccountable...

(snip) "Every idea is on the table," said Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), the lead sponsor of Senate climate legislation. "We're going to work in a bona fide way with everybody to see how to bridge a gap here. We've got to get a 60-vote margin. That means you've got to legislate, which means you have to compromise." Several moderate Senate Republicans, including John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they are in talks with Kerry and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on the nuclear language, as well as other key issues."A guy like Senator Kerry...

ast Updated: Tue, 10/06/2009 - 2:55pm In an effort to avoid incarcerating illegal immigrants and assure their humane treatment, the Department Homeland Security is creating an innovative system that detains those awaiting deportation based on flight risk and danger. Illegal aliens determined to pose no true threat to the U.S. will be housed by the government in facilities like hotels and nursing homes rather than jails, according to a news report outlining the Obama Administration’s immigration detention overhaul. Other private facilities are also being considered and Homeland Security officials are asking the private sector for more ideas. Nearly 400,000 illegal...

Lightning-rod talker Glenn Beck is taking a hit from an unexpected source. The Fox News host isn't aligned with any political party, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday, Beck is "aligned with cynicism." And, the South Carolina Republican added, America isn't a nation of cynics. Graham, who spoke at The First Draft of History conference sponsored by The Atlantic, also took at shot at "birthers." He said those who question President Obama's citizenship or claim he's a secret Muslim are "crazy" -- and he urged them to "knock this crap off." Graham's remarks came a day after the White House took...

Lindsey can't just stop himself from stabbing conservatives in the back. He has learned well from his dark master, Lord McCain. If there's any RINO I'd like to see go down as much as McCain, it's Grahamnesty. This guy complains about people on his side (supposedly) and only has compliments to give Obama as he trashes the country financially and may get his way with all of our healthcare too. This foof needs to walk across to the other side of the aisle and finally have a coming out party as the true democrat he really is. He complains about...

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham Thursday blamed the lack of civility in today's political discourse on voters' willingness to send confrontational representatives to Washington as well as the 24-hour news cycle, talk radio and organizations like MoveOn.org. "Can you imagine writing the Constitution today?" Graham said during a conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg at The First Draft of History, a conference in Washington, D.C. produced by The Atlantic, the Newseum and The Aspen Institute. He speculated that Fox News host Bill O'Reilly would complain that "Ben Franklin [is] giving in on something." Asked what he thinks of another Fox News personality, Glenn...

Federal authorities Thursday arrested the chief of staff to D.C. Council member Jim Graham and charged him with two counts of accepting bribes. In an indictment unsealed Thursday, authorities say Ted Loza, 45, received cash payments on two separate occasions in exchange for agreeing to promote legislation favorable to the taxicab industry. Mr. Graham is chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, which oversees and regulates the city's taxicab commission. Mr. Graham is not mentioned by name in the indictment.

A middle path of muddling through is the real recipe for quagmire and loss of public support. BY LINDSEY GRAHAM, JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, & JOHN MCCAIN Growing numbers of Americans are starting to doubt whether we should have troops in Afghanistan and whether the war there is even winnable. We are confident that not only is it winnable, but that we have no choice. We must prevail in Afghanistan. We went to war there because the 9/11 attacks were a direct consequence of the safe haven given to al Qaeda in that country under the Taliban. We remain at war...

Mccain's abstain "makes sense" to me, given that he's the de facto amnesty republican. But what's Vitter's excuse? He also had an amendment to defund ACORN, did he not? I say defeat them all in the primaries for their support of this criminal enterprise.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's SarahPAC has donated money to the campaigns of Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah, as well as to Republican Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman, according to a Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission. The exact amounts of the contributions were not reported, but Palin had to list the names of candidates she had financially supported to make SarahPAC a bona fide political action committee. Her contributions to Arizona Sen. John McCain, for whom she served as a running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski...

I want to track the biggest Rhino's roaming the GOP so I can support any active opposition they have. How hard would it be to set up a web site where visitors could vote for the top ten rhino's, blog about their party backstabbing,keep abreast of their opponents, and help rid the GOP of these smelly animals? WWW.RHINOHUNT.COM! With a "Safari Jungle Theme," it would help track of the likes of Collins, Snow, Graham, McCain! The biggest Rhino of the week should end up in a large kettle surrounded by local natives, or their heads superimposed on a four legged...

Senate Democrats have found a Republican in Sen. Lindsey Graham to help them push for passage of a comprehensive immigration overhaul this year. Democrats and Republicans say Mr. Graham of South Carolina is working behind the scenes with Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) to gain support from other GOP members. The bill is still taking shape, but it is expected to include key features of unsuccessful 2006 and 2007 immigration proposals, including a path to legal status for many of the illegal immigrants already inside the U.S. and measures to strengthen border security. A new Gallup poll this week showed...

It was a profile in statesmanship, if not courage. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was the only Republican on the Judiciary Committee to vote yes on the Supreme Court nomination of the irrefutably well-qualified Sonia Sotomayor. That Graham was the only member of his party to reject the tit-for-tat pettiness that has marked recent judicial confirmations shames his colleagues on the panel and provides a model for Republicans in the Senate as a whole. However much they cloaked their opposition in high-minded arguments about judicial philosophy and Sotomayor's supposedly radical views, the other six Republicans on the 19-member committee...

Libertarians warn Judiciary vote may have consequencesSenators reminded a vote to confirm was a vote against gun rights WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party Wednesday reminded members of the Senate Judiciary Committee their vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was a vote against constitutionally-guaranteed gun rights and those who vote to confirm in the full Senate next week can expect to be held accountable at the polls. Libertarians announced their opposition to the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation early, after reviewing her troubling record on individual, property and gun rights. The Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to send the nomination to the...

When Sen. Lindsey Graham announced his support for Sonia Sotomayor this week, right-wing radio talk show host Mark Levin said it was a sign that Graham is “unreliable ... as a thinker and a leader.” Wendy Long, counsel for the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, called it proof that Graham “still lacks courage, statesmanship and an understanding of the Constitution and rule of law.” “May his antics get the attention they richly deserve.” The response from Graham: Enjoy life in the minority. In an interview with POLITICO Thursday, the South Carolina Republican defended his decision to back Sotomayor by laying out...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, an early critic of President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, said Wednesday he will vote to confirm her as the first Hispanic on the top U.S. court. Graham, who sharply questioned Sotomayor at her Senate confirmation hearing last week, said she was a good pick to replace retired Justice David Souter, one of four liberals on the court that often splits 4-5 in favor of conservatives. "I think that Judge Sotomayor will not be any more liberal than him, and on some issues, quite frankly, may be more balanced," Graham said...

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he'll vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, breaking with his party's conservative leaders. The South Carolinian had hinted during Sotomayor's confirmation hearings that he might back President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. His announcement brings the total number of Republicans publicly backing her to five. Graham is generally conservative but has been known to flash a maverick streak similar to his mentor, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The other Republicans who've said they'll vote for Sotomayor, who would be the first Hispanic justice, are all moderates. The 55-year-old appeals court judge is expected...

Sen. John McCain (L) talking to Sen. Lindsey Graham during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Washington, July 7.

You can’t judge a judge by her cover. Despite the best efforts of Republicans to root out any sign that Sonia Sotomayor has emotions that color her views on the law, the Bronx Bomber kept a robotic mask in place. A wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not know that a gaggle of white Republican men afraid of extinction are out to trip her up. After all, these guys have never needed to speak inspirational words to others like them, as Sotomayor has done. They’ve had codes, handshakes and clubs to do that....

Watch the video here.I know, he has basically already promised her his vote, and he doesn’t have the greatest reputation amongst conservatives, but you should be proud of his questioning here and how he makes Sotomayor squirm about who she really is. He is doing what every Republican on this panel should be doing. If you don’t have time to watch all 30 minutes, at least skip over to around the 7 minute mark.

Graham: Sotomayor OK 'barring meltdown' 'And I don't think you will have a meltdown,' says S.C. Republican senator WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats praised Sonia Sotomayor as a judicial pioneer, but Republicans questioned her impartiality and President Barack Obama's views as well Monday at the start of confirmation hearings for the nation's first Hispanic nominee to the Supreme Court. Even so, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Sotomayor, "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed. "And I don't think you will" have a meltdown, he added quickly as Sotomayor sat listening, her face in a half-smile.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has been very critical of Sonia Sotomayor, appears to be changing his tune on the Supreme Court nominee. The Miami Herald reports that Graham, unlike some other Republican senators who continue to gear up for a fight over Sotomayor's confirmation, is weakening in his opposition. Here is what Graham said, per the Herald: "The only way she can get derailed is if she performs poorly next week," acknowledged Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Senate Judiciary Committee member. He said he was still undecided, but added, "I honestly think I could vote for...

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S Car.) and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) say they are proud of the way President Obama has handled the situation in Iran so far.