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Roundtable on Democrats and Guantanamo

By Special Report With Bret Baier

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NEIL ABERCROMBIE, (D) HAWAII: We're not here today providing an alternative to the activities now taking place in the energy committee, which have essentially stalled, stalled to the point that the president himself had to come to Capitol Hill today to speak with the Energy Committee members to see if they can advance what is, at best, a peripheral aspect of dealing with the whole question of dealing with alternative energy and climate change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: The president didn't actually go to Capitol Hill. House Democrats, many of them, went to the White House, the president trying to quell a revolt over climate change legislation, and made an adjustment, had to back off the centerpiece of his plan, a tax on 100 percent of emissions beginning in 2012.

Then you have the Gitmo issue. You have Representative David Obey saying "I personally favor what the administration is doing on Guantanamo Bay, but there's not a concrete program. And, basically, we're not going to give the administration money to close Gitmo until there is a program.

So what about this? Is it a problem?

We're back with the problem - Juan?

WILLIAMS: What you're seeing is, this is a very interesting moment in terms of Washington politics. These aren't Republicans that are bucking the president. These are Democrats.

And I think you are seeing now Democrats, especially Democrats with regional interests that are at variance from the administration policy, becoming louder voices.

But, you know, Obey is interesting one. He is also saying that when it comes to Afghanistan, he gives the president about a year. On Gitmo, he's demanding, and I think this is extremely rational, I don't know how you can disagree with it, give me a plan for how you are going to go about closing Guantanamo Bay. Are you are going to bring those people to the United States? Is that what you're suggesting? Let's have a discussion.

And the Obama administration doesn't have a plan. Therefore, he is going to be an obstacle, and he's a fellow Democrat.

EASTON: I think he has got a problem both on the left and the right, or center of his party. On the left, on the Gitmo issue, he doesn't have a plan. The lefty blogs now are raising concerns about whether he is really going to close Gitmo when he said he was going to close it.

Secondly, he did this other - made this other decision last week where he said - where the word was that he is possibly going to turn to military commissions to prosecute some of these prisoners, which is - just really sent the left ballistic.

And on the center side, I mean it was no secret that this cap and trade was going to be a problem, and the Senate already resisted it.

And I thought it was kind of a strange decision on the White House's part to punt this, once again, to take a major policy like this and punt it to the two most liberal members of the House, Ed Markey and Henry Waxman, and let them - and liberal coast members, not rust belt people. And they didn't bring those people into the process.

BAIER: If you want to hear what Charles has to say on this topic, stay tuned. You may you noticed the panel segments are a little different tonight. We're making room, more room for the panel. We're starting earlier, continuing our discussions.

More on this topic after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Continuing our discussion about the administration working with House democrat and getting some pushback. We're back with the panel - Charles?

KRAUTHAMMER: I'm happy, I'm even honored to inaugurate the extra panel segment.

On Guantanamo, it isn't often that in Washington you get to actually witness poetic, but this is a perfect example. Obama has grandstanded on this for a year and a half. He basked in the applause. He's in Europe, he attacks Guantanamo. He promises he will close it. And of course, he loves the warm reception.

The problem was it was never an issue of geography. It was always an issue of policy and principle. What do you do with Khalid Sheik Mohammed, whom cannot release, no ally will take, who you cannot have in federal court because he was not read his Miranda rights, but that you're going to have to hold onto.

And the reason there's all of this anger and pushback in Congress is because he is going to have to end up on American soil. That's inevitable.

I would say, you know, unless the British will give us St. Helena, or the Italians will give us Elba, and I think he may seriously end up on a Hawaiian island. I'm serious about this - perhaps a leper colony, one of those evacuated leper colonies.

You want to have them outside the contiguous 48 in a place in which if he escapes, he actually has to paddle, and where you are going to have, as Nina indicated, military commissions.

You cannot have him in federal court. And it's nice to see Obama have to eat crow on the commissions, because there is no other way to try him in which he is not going to end up released as innocent.

BAIER: Maybe Alcatraz, in the House speaker's backyard.

KRAUTHAMMER: Excellent, in San Francisco. And the view is excellent, I am told.

EASTON: And it's not far away from the ACLU offices if he needed some assistance -

KRAUTHAMMER: There are sharks in the water offshore, as well.

BAIER: I know you wanted to circle around to cap and trade.

EASTON: Well, just again, this is one of those cases, just like Charles is talking about with Gitmo, where leading and governing is so much more difficult and complex than actually running for president.

And in this place, cap and trade is a situation where you're going to be reorganizing the entire energy economy. It's huge, and there's going to be a lot of losers as well as winners.

And we focused on some of those - the regional players who are going to be hurt, the factories, the consumers, and so on.

But I think what hasn't been focused on enough yet, and what will come into focus, is that it will have a broader impact of hurt on people in that in order to ease the pain, they will have to spend more money in subsidies both to consumers and factories, and that is going to mean it's going be more expensive.

And that raises the prospect of tax hikes down the road.

And, I think, again, these are very politically dangerous waters to walk into.

And I thought it is interesting that Chris Van Hollen, the congressman who is running the political campaign for the Democratic House members, sees the political costs in some of this. And he's one of the people that was resisting raising -

WILLIAMS: That's only if it does not get through in the Senate.

And so -

BAIER: Does it get through? Quickly.

WILLIAMS: I don't know it at this point. But what you are seeing is you are seeding the field in the House. And that's why Henry Waxman is upset with Chris Van Hollen.

But, again, it's all among Democrats.

KRAUTHAMMER: It doesn't have a chance in the Senate.

 

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