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A few weeks ago, at the end of a 40-minute Oval Office huddle on climate change between President Barack Obama and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham — one of many tête-è-têtes on various subjects between the two this year — Obama leaned forward. "Look Lindsey, I'm ready to play," he said. "I'm for nuclear power. I'm for responsible offshore drilling. I'm for clean coal. I just need a reasonable emissions standard." "Count me in," Graham replied. "Let's see if we can do it." Wait, you may ask, a conservative Republican is seriously negotiating with the President? And on global warming, of...

COLUMBIA, SC (WMBF) - U.S. Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsay Graham are hoping to turn the tables on health care in Washington, after requesting an investigation into special deals being made to secure votes for successful reform. A letter addressed by the two South Carolina lawmakers was received by State Attorney General Henry McMaster Tuesday morning, detailing concerns over funding arrangements negotiated with Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. "The language of the Nelson provision appears to give Nebraska a permanent exemption from paying the Medicaid expenses all other states in the nation will be required to pay," McMaster said in...

With a Senate health care bill on track to be passed before Christmas without a single Republican vote, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says his biggest concern about what he calls a "sleazy process" is the long-term damage it will do on Capitol Hill. "You are legitimizing partisan outcomes rather than looking at the best interest of the nation and that is to hold hands and do big things together," Graham said in an interview Monday from Washington. "It's the first time a major piece of legislation has passed along partisan lines," he said, "a departure from what has been a...

Here is video of Sen. Lindsey Graham on CNN yesterday saying "Change You Can Believe In" has been replaced by "Seedy Chicago Politics" by Democrats and the Obama Administration. Graham was referring to the way Democrats are conducting their push to pass a Health Care Bill in the Senate. Graham also said Sen. Ben Nelson has lost a lot of credibility with the pro-Lfe community by compromising with the Obama Administration in return for his vote on the Senate Health Care Bill. Graham said the Democrats have essentially given out "bribes" to Senators in exchange for votes, and are using...

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that he wants South Carolina's top prosecutor to investigate a deal that helped secure the 60th vote needed to pass a Democratic health care bill through the Senate. Blasting Senate Democrats for what he called "backroom deals that amount to bribes," Graham found much to complain about in their health care bill. He was particularly irked that the senator who provided that final vote to head off a Republican filibuster, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, cut a deal in which the federal government pays his state's share of the cost for new Medicaid recipients.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a leading congressional advocate for immigrants' rights, has introduced a bill that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens and would end a controversial program that enlists local police to enforce immigration laws. The bill is widely viewed as too liberal to pass. Obama administration officials have said they are looking instead to a more moderate, bipartisan immigration-reform bill to be introduced in the Senate early next year by Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).Still, the Chicago Democrat made it clear that he and his allies expect a seat at the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham makes an unlikely champion for action on climate change. The South Carolina Republican has joined forces with Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to drum up support for a bill that would put a price on heat-trapping pollution. Graham's position has irked just about everybody. (snip) Q: How did you get involved in this issue? A: It was a slow evolution. I started traveling with Sen. (John) McCain, who has been a climate change advocate for a long time, and I went to the Arctic region with him and...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is scheduled to meet privately Wednesday evening with top administration climate aide Carol Browner. Graham is working with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to craft a bipartisan cap and trade bill. He plans to discuss the ways Senate leaders can deal with manufacturing and coal state worries that the bill will spike electricity bills in the midst of a deep recession. “We’ve got to address people’s concerns about compliance costs and rate payer increases,” he told POLITICO. He’ll also use the meaning to address nuclear power, off-shore drilling and new coal technologies —...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday praised President Barack Obama for heeding his advice to bypass the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., and transfer terror suspects instead to an Illinois prison from the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said he spoke with Obama recently and reiterated his strong opposition to moving the Guantanamo detainees to the medium-security brig at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston. "I spoke to the president about Charleston a couple weeks ago," Graham told McClatchy. "He listened intently as I said I thought Charleston is not an appropriate...

If anyone had any doubts whatsoever that the Republican Party has lost its way and is no longer a true friend to the core conservative values of individual liberty and limited government, those doubts should be put firmly to rest considering the current debate in Washington over the proposal for socialized health care coming out of the far left. It is no wonder that conservatives, people who actually believe in the Constitution, are upset with Republicans who time and again run out to stand before the cameras and at Tea Parties to proudly proclaim how much they understand us and...

WASHINGTON — Senators negotiating a bipartisan climate change bill on Thursday unveiled the broad outlines of their plan to combine greenhouse gas limits with expanded offshore drilling, more nuclear power and protections for refiners in a bid to attract support from wary lawmakers. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., announced their proposal as international leaders at a summit in Copenhagen were trying to devise a plan to combat global warming. President Barack Obama is set to attend the Copenhagen meeting next week. Graham said the group “did this just for Copenhagen … to give the...

Barack Obama began his presidency with an open hand toward the man he had just defeated in a race that was at times bitter. "There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain," said Obama at an inauguration-eve tribute dinner to his former foe. But in the year since that evening of comity and collegiality, McCain has emerged as one of the leading critics of the new president. On foreign policy, his traditional area of expertise, and domestic affairs, where McCain has shown new passion, the 72-year-old Arizonan is making it...

Three Senators released a broadly-worded blueprint of a climate change and energy bill on Thursday afternoon that they believe can win the 60 votes needed to push the bill through next year. The proposal was timed to help persuade delegates to the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen that the Senate is serious about passing a climate bill and not mired in a partisan morass. Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and Joseph I. Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut, sent President Obama a letter on Thursday outlining their plan.

A report released this week by the Center for American Progress (CAP) includes recommendations that could serve as a blue-print of sorts for a broad immigration reform bill being crafted by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Immigration subcommittee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). An overhaul of the U.S. immigration laws has for years been a high priority for technology companies that say they need more H-1B visas and green-cards to hire high-skilled workers and keep the industry competitive on a global scale. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and others make yearly pilgrimages to Washington to make...

"Two of the most influential Republicans in the U.S. Senate these days come from South Carolina, Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham. But Graham’s efforts to work with majority Democrats on some issues has angered many GOP voters in the state, even prompting efforts to censure him."

"Senator Graham owes it to America to account for climategate before taking action that could push the "great recession" into a depression. When RemoveRINOs contacted Senator Graham's office for a statement, his staff only stated that this moderate hasn't even acknowledged that a fraud has taken place. The senator's office's statement: 'The senator hasn't made a statement regarding climategate, but he does believe man is responsible for raising temperatures.' The absurd is becoming the surreal. Please call each of the senator's offices and politely demand Senator Graham acknowledge the seriousness of climategate and the legitimacy of his detractors' concerns. Let's...

Sen. Lindsey Graham may be under fire from conservatives back home in South Carolina. But the Republican got a personal assurance from President Obama yesterday that the White House is supporting his efforts to craft a sweeping Senate energy and global warming bill. “The president told me personally he was very open, that nuclear power would be part of the mix, that clean coal would be part of the mix, that he’s for offshore drilling in a responsible way,” Graham said today in describing his Oval Office meeting with Obama. “But we have to have a price on carbon,...

(snip) “Why did I do this? I want my time to count. I want to be seen as someone who can solve a hard problem by working with my colleagues across the aisle. I want to do something that matters. I can’t think of a better use of my time than to work with Democrats and Republicans to break our dependency on foreign oil, to create jobs for our next generation of Americans that will never go to China. And yes, leave behind a cleaner planet.” (snip)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senators on Tuesday gave a boost to next week's global environmental summit in Copenhagen, with a senior Democrat advocating more U.S. funding of climate change efforts by poor nations and a key Republican calling for quick action on a U.S. climate bill. Democratic Senator John Kerry, a leading advocate of climate control legislation in Congress, recommended that the Obama administration include $3 billion in next year's budget to help fund efforts to address global warming. This year's funding is about one third that amount. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the few Republicans willing to negotiate with...

When the Charleston County Republican Party censured South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham last month, the official statement read that Graham: “in the name of bipartisanship — continues to weaken the Republican brand and tarnish the ideals of freedom, rule of law, and fiscal conservatism.” That some Republicans-any Republicans-would dare treat Graham as a traitor for his bipartisan efforts, was portrayed by the national media and liberal pundits as yet another example that “fringe” elements were taking over the GOP. (Accompanying YouTube video)When Connecticut Democrats sought to censure Joe Lieberman in 2008 they cited the senator’s “extraordinary disloyalty to countless Connecticut...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Senator Lindsey Graham joined forces last month with Senator John Kerry on a compromise to the climate change legislation known as cap and trade, it was the last straw for the Charleston County Republican Party. The latest on President Obama, his administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. The county party, which has traditionally been considered moderate, voted by a wide margin to censure Mr. Graham in harsh terms. Their grievance list was long: it cited the senator for calling opponents of immigration law change “bigots,” holding the Republican Party...

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has become a media celebrity. On constitutional issues, aside from the right to life, gun rights and national security, he takes a center-left position. Graham opposed the Republican option on judicial nominees and also voted yes on Sotomayor, knowing she supports abortion and gun control and is not for a strong national defense. Graham is determined to again attempt to pass an immigration reform bill with amnesty for illegals, never mind his 2007 resounding defeat on this issue. Graham is said to be working with far left Sen. John Kerry on cap and trade and seeking...

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman have been working overtime to craft a climate bill that can attract significant GOP support. But they aren’t exactly scoring points with their mutual best friend in the Senate, John McCain. “Their start has been horrendous,” McCain said Thursday. “Obviously, they’re going nowhere.” McCain has emerged as a vocal opponent of the climate bill — a major reversal for the self-proclaimed maverick who once made defying his party on global warming a signature issue of his career. (snip) Former aides are mystified by what they see as a retreat on the issue, given McCain’s...

Senator Lindsey Graham, of all people, destroys Our Attorney General (and Obama) on their idiotic decision to fight this war as a law enforcement issue: Ann Althouse: Holder imagines that he can hide inside that “thoughtful” routine that Obama so often relies on, but it is utterly pathetic here. Either he knows damned well what he’s doing and he’s lying or he’s outrageously unqualified for his job. His evasive style is so similar to Obama’s that he makes Obama look worse. Dan Karipides at Wizbang isn’t buying it. He doesn’t believe Holder is this much of an amateur: Which unfortunately...

Graham vs. Holder at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Holder gets his a** handed to him (Video)

Here is outstanding video of Sen. Lindsey Graham today on Capitol Hill questioning Attorney General Eric Holder about why he has chosen to try the 9/11 Conspirators in civilian court. Graham put Holder on the spot (it gets good at the 2:00 mark of the video) by asking him where he would try Osama bin Laden if he were to be captured. Holder was left hemming and hawing, saying only "it would depend." Graham kept at Holder, asking whether bin Laden would be read "Miranda rights" if captured, to which Holder said he was not sure. Graham then said this...

The Nov. 12 story about Sen. Lindsey Graham found on Page 4A belonged on the front page in my opinion. ("Charleston County GOP censures U.S. Sen. Graham") Graham does not represent the policies of the Republican Party. He is a RINO, Republican In Name Only, who should exit the party like Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. I have written and called the senator often regarding his opinions and his voting record, but of course received no response. He doesn't seem to care what his constituents think or believe. Why I voted for this man I'll never know. He doesn't deserve to...

GOOSE CREEK -- U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham escaped another censure Monday after his chief of staff promised a meeting with disgruntled Berkeley County Republicans. The Charleston County Republican Party's executive committee passed a resolution last week censuring Graham for departing from their values. They were unhappy that Graham is siding with Democrats who believe in global warming for an energy bill, that he supported the federal bank bailout and that he favors granting amnesty for illegal aliens and that he called those who disagree with him on the issue bigots. Berkeley County Republicans showed up at their executive committee meeting...

There are few organizations in the United States as steeped in tradition as the military. And one of the oldest customs is the giving of "challenge coins," privately made medallions stamped with a unit or service emblem. The ritual reportedly started during World War I, when new aviators were given coins from officers upon joining a squadron. According to one tale, a pilot was saved from execution in France after proving his identity with his coin. In a memorial ceremony this week, President Obama placed the commander in chief's coin in front of the photos of the 13 soldiers slain...

WASHINGTON (CNN) - An energy advocacy group is launching another television ad in South Carolina taking aim at Sen. Lindsey Graham for his support of energy legislation that would include a cap-and-trade program. The 30-second spot is the latest salvo in an ongoing campaign against the Republican by the American Energy Alliance, a group funded in part by oil and gas companies that has spent roughly $375,000 over the last month knocking Graham on South Carolina's radio and TV airwaves. The newest ad comes one week after Graham was censured by the Charleston County Republican Party for supporting the legislation,...

Dis gustin' Cease all those donations to Joe Wilson.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s public support is collapsing in South Carolina – driven by a wholesale revolt among the GOP electorate and a steady erosion of his support amongst independents. Already consistently loathed by a solid third of GOP voters, Graham’s recent leftward bent – including his co-authoring of a controversia"Cap & Tax" proposal supported by President Barack Obama and liberal Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) – has him locked in a "terminal free fall," according one prominent Republican consultant. "A chunk of the GOP has always detested him but in the last month a dam has broken," said the consultant,...

CLEMSON — While political supporters of Sen. Lindsey Graham continue to be widespread, the criticism he’s facing now may only get worse down the line, especially in 2014 when he’s up for re-election. David Woodard, a political scientist at Clemson University, said times now are different, and voters aren’t crazy about moderates. “Moderates generally don’t do well in S.C.,” Woodard said. “The electorate here likes people who are more ideological and willing to ‘take a stand.’ Look at Jim DeMint, he is waltzing to re-election without any opponent, and is likely to win overwhelmingly. He is perceived as ‘strong’ while...

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who led an effort last week to prevent the Obama Administration from doing just what it did today in directing prosecution of the alleged Sept. 11 plotters into federal court, says he's keeping mum about that decision for now at the request of the White House. "I have been asked by the White House to withhold comment about today’s Guantanamo decision until I can meet face-to-face with the President after he returns from Asia," Graham said in a statement released by his office. "As our Commander in Chief, I will honor his request. I look forward...

Senator Lindsey Graham’s leadership on climate change is a bold example of true conservatism that his fellow Republicans in Congress should follow, Republicans for Environmental Protection, a national grassroots organization, said today. "We are very pleased with the New York Times op-ed that Senator Graham co-authored with Senator Kerry. The most important thing that Congress must do to address climate change is to put a price on carbon emissions. That can only happen if there is conservative Republican input and buy-in. Thanks to Senator Graham’s leadership, the odds for passing an effective, balanced bill have improved greatly," David Jenkins, REP...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is pushing back against home-state conservative critics who have sought to censure the independent-minded lawmaker, arguing that he will not allow the criticism to block his efforts to find common ground with others in the Senate. The Charleston County Republican Party this week formally censured Graham over his repeated efforts to work across the aisle on the economy, climate change and immigration. The county party also asked the state party to rescind a resolution commending Graham. Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop issued a statement defending the Senator’s legislative work and his track record on conservative issues. “Senator...

With local Republicans trying to censure Lindsey Graham over his apostasy on, in particular, energy and climate issues, the state's highest-profile conservative is standing by him.

I realize this is old news by now...but we really need to follow up and show our support when GOP officials take this kind of action against a big-government Republican. Please go to http://www.charlestongop.org/ and send Chairwoman Bennett a note of support. We've also linked to her e-mail at removerinos.com . I have a feeling that the same tidal wave that's going to wash the Dems out of office is also going to be sweeping a bunch of RINOs out to sea.....

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Republican leaders in a South Carolina county have censured their own U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for working with Democrats on a climate bill and other legislation. The Republican has often worked with Democrats in Congress, but Charleston County Chairwoman Lin Bennett says his work on climate legislation is the last straw. The party resolution passed Monday says Graham has weakened the Republican brand. Bennett expects a similar resolution to be introduced at the state GOP convention next year.

Lindsey Graham on Foxnews Greta explains that if a Health Care bill is passed in the Senate, when it goes to conference it only needs 50 votes, hello public option...(Video from Greta)...

Last week, FITS published an in-depth report about how liberal special interests were the real driving force behind a new “conservative” advertising campaign aimed at protecting embattled U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. The massive radio and television blitz – which features RINO State Sen. John Courson as its spokesman – has been bombarding the state’s airwaves all week. The ads portray Graham as “fighting to protect South Carolina,” of course they conveniently neglect to mention that the climate change legislation he is currently drafting with President Barack Obama and Democratic Sen. John Kerry is likely to significantly raise South Carolinians’ power...

WASHINGTON — When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be — ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill. They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests. "Our goal is to create a vision that not only will...

WASHINGTON -- House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., both sons of the segregated South, grew up in parts of South Carolina that were much farther apart than the mere 175 miles between them. Thursday, the two men - a black Democrat and a white Republican - will share an honor that the Jim Crow laws of their youth would have prohibited. The Columbia Urban League will present to Clyburn and Graham its annual Whitney M. Young Award in recognition of their efforts to advance race relations in South Carolina.

TOP 10 LINDSEY GRAHAM QUOTES 10) "It's not about how to get back to fiscal discipline or how you relate to the U.N. It's how you relate to Americans who tell you to go to hell politically." 9) "The green economy is coming." 8) "If I make [McCain's] day better by being someone he can talk to, confide in, have a good laugh with, I am honored." 7) "Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party as far as I can tell. He's aligned with cynicism." 6) "We're not going to build this party around libertarian ideas." 5) "Raising money...

Even as a Senate global-warming bill remained in limbo with Democrats refusing to delay a committee vote until an economic analysis was completed, hopes rose for a potential bipartisan compromise. The Senate, meanwhile, appears to be moving away from the bill, authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., which would require a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 and would have the government sell the right to emit carbon dioxide. Even as Boxer conducted an unusual one-sided hearing on her bill in the Environment and Public Works Committee, Kerry, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and...

The morning after Republicans lost an upstate New York House seat, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned that conservative activists will bring destruction to the Republican Party if they drive out moderate candidates across the country. “To those people who are pursuing purity, you’ll become a club not a party,” Graham told POLITICO in the Capitol Wednesday. “Those people who are trying to embrace conservatism in a thoughtful way that fits the region and the state and the district are going to do well. Conservativism is an asset. Blind ideology is not.” Graham, who has sparred with his party’s right wing...

Earlier this month, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stirred up a tempest when they announced that they could overcome their political differences and agree on the critical need for a national policy that addresses the threat of climate change and moves the United States toward energy independence. Since the publication of their opinion piece, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)” in the New York Times, pundits and policy experts alike have declared the Senators’ announcement a “game-changer” and possible tipping point that could lead to the passage of a bipartisan climate change bill — maybe even...

Lindsey Graham's behavior is so outrageous and arrogant that he must be planning on making his exit from the Senate by his next election. There have been ads on South Carolina radio supporting his recent initiatives to impose ruinous energy taxes (cap n trade) on US citizens. This radio ad was funded by the Truman Project, which turns out to be a Center for American Progress (John Podesta) effort, which is just a front for Van Jones style Marxism. So Graham has well and truly gone over to the Dark Side.

When it comes to the thorny issue of Guantanamo, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is the closest thing President Barack Obama has to an ally on the Republican side of the aisle. But with the White House’s drive for Congressional approval to close the prison stalled for nearly six months now, Graham is sounding increasingly restless and is even opening a battle with the administration that could be politically damaging to Democrats. “I’m a bit frustrated. The interaction I was hoping for has kind of come to a standstill,” Graham complained in an interview with POLITICO. “Some of the things being...