One key thing is he is saying that the immigration bill is not ready - by asking how he is supposed to write something by Monday. This suggests one of two things - Schumer is really going off on his own, which risks losing Graham or even if he keeps him giving credibility to the RW talking point that Republicans are really shut out of the process OR (more likely) this is a political story with little real back up.
It could have been pushed by the reported Obama call to Scott Brown to try to get him to support it or it might simply be the political press likes the story of Kerry vs Schumer - especially where Schumer looks like he is winning. I really hate that way of looking at this - both of these are necessary pieces of legislation. Both could be political hot buttons in November.
It might come down to which Reid sees more chance of passing. Neither have an "easy" 60 votes - so, like with health care, the few still on the fence - on either bill - are likely trying to get something if they move to be one of the last votes. We are hearing more of that on climate change, I think, because it is further along. It also means we are indirectly hearing more rumors of what it contains. As the three Senators are holding the details close and have said that they are still negotiating details, it is likely the rumors are from Senators (and their staff) that the three are negotiating with. This also suggests that all information not sourced to the three might be framed by agendas of the leakers.
Now, Schumer needs to sell his bill too. I have heard almost nothing of any details. This could mean that Schumer has been able to convince people not to talk or it could mean that they are not yet doing the negotiations to get the final votes needed.
It might also come down to which, even in defeat, puts the Democrats in the best position. Here, I think climate change wins. If through Kerry's and Graham's heroic efforts they still come up short and find no path to getting 60 votes, it will be defeated. But that would lead to passing an energy only bill with as many amendments to help with climate change as possible. That and the EPA and the states and regions(without a federal climate change bill, there likely are enough Democrats to filibuster any amendment to stop the EPA or to stop state regulatory efforts ) could do whatever they can do.
If they do immigration, they risk having the Republicans run on them not having an energy policy as well on appealing to people opposed to a path to citizenship. I wonder if the goal is to do climate change and selection of the SCJ and to make it clear that immigration is the next big thing and they are seriously working on it in a bipartisan way. The question is whether this is enough for Hispanics, who feel they were promised this being worked on. (It is easy as a dispassionate observer to point out that given the economic situation in the first year, it was not the time to deal with it yet.)
I think Boxer has it right here in your link:
"Both immigration and climate have been important issues for Boxer, who is chairwoman of the Environment and Public Work Committee. But she declined to say which bill she’d prefer be taken up first. “Sixty is the key for me. Where do we get to sixty. They’re both so critical for the economy. We have to do more than one thing folks,” she said. “The more we get done the more we do.”
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36220.html#ixzz0lvhShUByHere is another article that says the same thing about Graham, where they seem to have cornered the Senators to speak about what is happening behind the scenes.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/93943-climate-leaders-push-back-on-immigration
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