|  Jeff Sessions still ♥ Grover Norquist -- hunters, fishermen and other outdoorsmen, not so much.
Even as his GOP colleagues are declaring their independence from Grover Norquist and his no new revenues ever, no matter what pledge ... "I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country," U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during an appearance Sunday on Fox News."I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., told a Georgia television station last week. ... Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is still pledging allegiance to St. Grover instead of Old Glory or the US Constitution. "I signed it, and I absolutely believe we don’t have to raise taxes now," Sessions said during an appearance today on Fox News.
The latest casualty of Sessions' worship at Norquist's no new revenue, ever altar is the bipartisan Sportsmen's Heritage Act introduced by Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D). Tester's bill was a collection of bills from both Republicans and Democrats and would have allowed more hunting (especially bowhunting) and fishing on federal land.
At its root, though, the Sportsmen's Act is about improving habitat and increasing access for hunters and fishermen on public land by reauthorizing the Federal Lands Transaction Facilitation Act and requiring that 1.5 percent from the annual Land and Water Conservation Fund is set aside specifically to secure easements and purchase in-holdings on existing public lands with access-restricted acreage.
Sessions raised a budget-related point of order to kill the bill because it "contained Democratic language" and would have appropriated $14 million in new money. The Sportsmen's Act combined more than a dozen bipartisan bills aimed at expanding access to federal land for hunters and fishermen. Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, said he supports most of the Sportsmen’s bill, but said it contains Democratic language that appropriates new money, and urged his colleagues not to support it for that reason.
Sessions actually cited Democratic language as a reason to kill legislation supported by hunters, fishermen, conservationists and even the NRA. Yes, Alabama, bipartisanship is truly dead. Jeff Sessions killed it. |
