My goodness, what a stressful life a Senator has. Pity poor, poor Lindsey Graham.
[Friday] night on the Senate floor, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) complained that it had been a “week from hell” due to having to work on “big issues.” He then grumbled that he had been too busy “stopping some bad ideas” and therefore had no time “to think about START.” Nevermind that the New START treaty was completed in April, giving Graham and his staff eight months to “think about” the treaty.
Perhaps Senator Graham should step into the shoes of one of the nation's million plus 99ers to get some perspective on what "hell" really is. But really, can you expect a United States Senator to actually take the opportunity the past seven months have afforded to learn about a critical arms reduction treaty? Given that would require real work, I suppose not. He even went on "Face the Nation" to air his grievances.
But sounding vexed during the show, Graham seemed not only chafed by the Senate voting down a Republican effort to amend the preamble of the treaty; he also linked the START treaty to his resentment over how the current lame-duck session of Congress has turned out.
Graham exclaimed how hard it was to pass a bipartisan compromise over extending the Bush era tax cuts, and expressed his disappointment over repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning openly gay service members.
"If you want to have a chance of passing START, you better start over and do it in the next Congress, because this lame duck has been poisoned," Graham told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer.
"The last two weeks have been an absolutely excruciating exercise. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' a controversial topic - some say the civil rights issue of our generation, others say battlefield effectiveness - was passed in the lame-duck session without one amendment being offered," Graham said.
Give him a mile of compromise on tax cuts for the wealthy and he repays you with obstructing a treaty. Graham's whining notwithstanding, Sen. Richard Lugar predicts Reid will get the necessary 67 votes to ratify the treaty, but only if the GOP breaks rank on a filibuster. The Senate will go into closed session this afternoon at 2:00 to talk it out.