most of maine s environmental policies to be the person running maine s environmental agent circumstances the agency that implements those policies, the person in charge had been the lobbyist for a texas-based group of four chemical companies that make flame retardants. before he was elected those were set to be blocked in maine as carcinogens. but their lobbyist got put in charge of environmental protection for the state so the plan to get rid of the flame retardants got shelved. she was also the lobbyists for these companies wanting to block the recycling laws. she was their lobbyist against the state s recycling laws. and then when paul lepage put her in charge, she recommended eliminating those programs. the most incredible is about this lake. when full it s the fifth largest fresh water state in the state of maine. it is lovely except when it s not because florida power and
on a dysfunctional federal debate. you re an expert on the intricacies on washington. i don t think i m an expert on anything. state and localities need to lead the way. one of the things we find over and over again is you create the reality and it acclimates people to fact that this can work. new york city is a perfect position to create that. cities like san francisco and new haven, connecticut have had the local i.d., it s worked well. it s helped drive down crime in new haven, connecticut. because more and more people engage the police because they were part of the system of working with government. so a lot of good effects here. i think, ron, the argument for immigration reform seems fairly water-tight to me. that s just me. and we talk about immigration reform happening at the national level. certainly it seems like it s moving in that direction and yet this weekend you had bob menendez saying we don t have 60 votes for immigration reform. you have this open letter from num
european american majority and a clear one at that. tanton was unavailable for comment due to health problems. beck, who once worked as an editor for tanten, strongly denies any racial motivations. there s no better investigative reporter in this country than michael isikoff. he joins me now. mike, fascinating. we spend so much time talking about the nra and their lobbying power on guns this tells a story about immigration. numbers usa, acts in some ways a lot like the nra. they grade members of congress on how they vote every matter that touches on immigration. they run attack ads to those members who don t, who might deviate from the line. right now they ve got a $200,000 buy against lindsay graham in south carolina. who is worried about a primary. i did talk to graham s office yesterday. graham s comment is they can spend all the money they want. i m not backing down. look, they ve been very influential in the past.
with more foreign workers at the expense of our own americans? reporter: beck is the president of numbers usa, a grassroots lobby that ehelped kill president george w. bush s push for immigration reform in 2007. it s now launching attack ads, targeting reform backers like south carolina s lindsey graham. who demanded graham to end amnesty. amnesty, not me? he s got a message. you need to get your affairs in order and go back home. it s a position mitt romney picked up during last year s election. if people don t get work here, they re going to self-deport. beck takes credit for that. we were jumping on that bandwagon. i think the phrase is not the best phrase. reporter: it was the phrase you used. and it s fine. reporter: beck and numbers usa are the spearhead of a closely aligned network of groups with names like fair and the center for immigration studies that has spent over $100
actually offset is one of the standalone bills, possibly attached to something less comfortable, is a pathway to citizenship for undocumenteds. and that s when groups such as the ones you re talking about, numbers usa, et cetera, really have a shot of really polarizing the right wing of the party to ensure that type of legislation does not pass. well, we look forward to hearing what they come up with in the days ahead. victoria defrancesco soto and maria teresa soto. thank you, martin. and we ll be right back. we make our coffee with it. but we rarely tap its true potential and just let it be itself. flowing freely into clean lakes, clear streams and along more fresh water coast line than any other state in the country. come realize water s true potential. dive in-to the waters of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org.