International FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 Political quake could doom Obama immigration hopes

WASHINGTON: President rejected Wednesday the notion that the shock election defeat of a top Republican leader had effectively dashed his hopes of passing a new legacy enhanc- ing immigration bill. Obama hurriedly regrouped following the sudden eclipse of House Majority Leader in a primary election, in which his neophyte opponent blasted him as a favor- ing “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. There has been little love lost between Cantor and Obama-but the Republican chieftain had been seen as open to some limited reform of a system that has left 12 million illegal immigrants in lim- bo. Now, few political observers believe Republicans facing tough primary fights for their party nominations or tight mid-term elec- tion races in November, will welcome tricky votes on a reform drive reviled by conservatives. But Obama, speaking to an audience of wealthy Democratic donors in Massachusetts, begged to differ. “It is interesting to listen to the pundits and the analysts,” Obama said. “Some of the con- ventional wisdom talks about the politics of immigration reform (being) impossible now. “I fundamentally reject that. I will tell the speaker of the House that he needs to reject it,” said Obama, rea- soning that Cantor lost because he failed to show sufficient leader- ship on immigration. “We need to get immigration reform done.” The Senate has already passed a bill to further secure US borders, GLEN ALLEN: College economics professor and Republican candidate for Congress David Brat (right) poses on a motor- reform visa procedures and offer an eventual path to citizenship to cycle with members of Heaven’s Saints motorcycle ministry Randy “Zippo” Breen (left) and Tanner “Clear Coat” illegal immigrants. Mansfield at the Golden Corral during a campaign stop in Glen Allen, . — AFP But the House has yet to act, with Republican leaders loath to expose their rank-and-file to the fury of conservative primary vot- ers. The stunning primary defeat of Cantor in his Virginia congres- ‘redesigning’ reactor sional district by college professor Dave Brat, a hero of the radical conservative Tea Party faction, ranked as one of the biggest elec- toral upsets in decades. Brookings Institution senior fellow Audrey to cut plutonium capacity Singer said that hopes of passing immigration reform were previ- ously “slim” and “this might be the nail in the coffin.” Immigration does not tell the whole story of Cantor’s demise-he had apparently West worried Arak could yield plutonium for bombs lost touch with his district-but the perception that it did him in may be enough. DUBAI: Iran is “busy redesigning” a planned last November that was geared to buy time extension is possible under the terms of the research reactor to sharply cut its potential for negotiations on a comprehensive accord. talks, experts believe both Iran and the pow- Busted hopes output of plutonium - a possible nuclear After the latest round of talks in Vienna in ers may face domestic political pressures to Busted hopes of reform are not just bad news for Obama, who bomb fuel, a senior Iranian official said in May, a diplomat from one of the powers said toughen their terms during this extra time desperately needs a triumph to flesh out a thin second term. In comments that seemed to address a thorny Iran had appeared to row back on its previ- period, further clouding the outlook for a recent presidential elections, Republicans have slumped among issue in negotiations with big powers. The ous openness to address Western fears breakthrough. The next round of negotia- Hispanic voters - for whom immigration reform is an article of faith. future of the Arak plant is among several about the nuclear weapons potential of Arak. tions will be held in the Austrian capital Many political professionals believe the party will never recapture sticking points that Iran and six world powers Iran has since dismissed as “ridiculous” one Vienna on June 16-20. the White House without repairing ties to the fast-growing com- need to resolve if they are to reach a deal by mooted solution to such worries. munity. In 2012, Obama beat Republican Mitt Romney by 71 per- late July on limiting the country’s disputed But the head of Iran’s atomic energy Grounds for optimism cent to 27 percent among Hispanics, who made the difference in nuclear program in exchange for an end to organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, appeared to In April, Princeton University experts said some key swing states. But the recent political lesson is that any sanctions. return to a more conciliatory stance in com- that Arak’s annual plutonium production Republican who touches immigration reform is burned- The main stumbling block is the permissi- ments to the official IRNA news agency late could be lowered to less than 1 kg - well Governor Rick Perry stumbled on the issue and saw his presidential ble scope of uranium enrichment in Iran. The on Wednesday. The amount of plutonium below the roughly 8 kg needed for an atomic campaign crumble in 2012. A possible Republican presidential can- lack of progress in bridging negotiating gaps the reactor will be able to yield will be bomb - if Iran changed the way Arak is didate in 2016, Senator Marco Rubio, has struggled to rebuild his has left the self-imposed July 20 deadline for reduced to less than 1 kg (2.2 pounds) from fuelled and lowered its power capacity. fortunes after championing Senate immigration reform last year. a long-term settlement looking increasingly 9-10 kg (20-22 pounds) annually in its origi- However, Iran expert Ali Vaez said the major Pressure was already piling on Obama Wednesday to use his unrealistic, and Iran has said a six-month nal design, he said. Western experts say 9-10 powers and Israel - Iran’s arch foe - “remain own power to reshape immigration laws. The president has extension of the talks may be necessary. The kg would be enough for 1-2 nuclear bombs concerned that Iran could suddenly revert to protested to supporters angry at the high rate of deportations that West is worried that Arak, once operational, and that Arak’s capacity should be scaled the original design and build a reprocessing could provide a supply of plutonium - one of back. “We are currently busy redesigning facility” needed to extract plutonium from he simply cannot rewrite the law. But activists say he could dictate two materials, along with highly enriched that reactor to arrange for that alteration,” spent reactor fuel. who is thrown out-putting people who are not criminals at the uranium, that can trigger a nuclear explo- Salehi was quoted by IRNA as saying. After “That would be a lengthy but hard-to- bottom of the list. So far, he has held off from unilateral moves, to sion. Iran says the 40-megawatt Arak reactor talks with senior US officials earlier this week, stop process,” Vaez, of the International Crisis give House Republican Speaker a chance to navigate is intended to produce isotopes for cancer Iran questioned the feasibility of the July Group think-tank, said in a report. Heavy- the narrow path through his support base for a vote on reform. He and other medical treatments. It agreed to deadline for a permanent accord that would water reactors like Arak, fuelled by natural may also fear an explosive political backlash that could jeopardize halt installation work at Arak under a six- minimize the risk of a wider Middle East war uranium, are seen as especially suitable for hopes of reform in future presidencies. — AFP month interim deal struck with the powers over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. While an yielding plutonium. —Reuters Political split outgrows the voting booth in US

WASHINGTON: Political polarization in America has gesting the ideological stalemates that have become Democrats. Those differences in visibility are partly due broken out of the voting booth. A new survey from the more common in Washington and statehouses around to the Democratic hold on the White House, according Pew Research Center finds Americans are divided by the country are likely to continue. A third of those who to Pew Research Center Vice President Michael Dimock. ideology and partisanship not only when they cast bal- say they regularly vote in primaries have all-or-nothing “Levels of alarm about the direction of the nation, and lots, but also in choosing where to live, where to get ideological views, as do 41 percent who say they have about the ‘threat’ the other party poses to the country, their news and with whom to associate. And peaceful donated money to a campaign. are substantially higher on the right than on the left coexistence is increasingly difficult. According to the And among partisans, ideological purity is now the right now, and at least in part this reflects the fact that poll, the share of Americans who hold across-the-board standard. Majorities in both parties hold either uniform- Barack Obama is in the White House,” Dimock said. conservative or liberal views has doubled in the last ly liberal (on the Democratic side) or conservative But Democrats have expressed their share of distrust decade, from 10 percent in 2004 to 21 percent today. (among the GOP) views. The shift toward ideological in the past, he noted in an email. “Democrats felt pretty Only 39 percent of Americans have an even mix of lib- purity has been more visible among Republicans due to passionately about George W Bush and the GOP in his eral and conservative positions, down from 49 percent the popularity of the tea party, seen most recently this second term,” he said. The survey used a battery of 10 10 years ago. week in House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s loss to a questions on issues such as regulation of business, use The numbers of ideological purists are larger among tea party-based challenger in Virginia, but the survey of the military, the environment and immigration to the politically engaged than the general public, sug- found it’s happening in nearly equal measure among assess ideological leanings. —AP