Posted on 02/25/2015 9:41:16 AM PST by NormsRevenge
To no ones surprise, President Barack Obama issued a veto this week. Until now, Obama has had very little need of this authority; this is only the third of his entire presidency. For the first six years of his time in the White House, Democrats controlled the Senate, and Harry Reid made sure that Republican initiatives never reached his desk by blocking them from floor votes, ..
That changed last November, when Democrats suffered their second consecutive midterm blowout and lost control of the Senate. Reid lost the ability to control the floor, and with that most of his ability to stop the Republican legislative agenda from proceeding at least that without some Democratic support.
...
That makes the veto Obama issued even more instructive. Obama killed a bill that would have forced the authorization of the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to bring crude from Alberta tar sands in Canada to refiners on the Gulf coast. The project would create 40,000 jobs in construction and pipefitting over the two years it would take to finish it.
For that reason, unions strongly backed the Keystone XL project, while environmentalists bitterly opposed it. Both of those are important constituencies for the Democratic Party, and the tension was reflected in the votes on the bill in both chambers. Twenty-nine House Democrats joined all but one of the House Republicans in passing the bill 270-152, while nine Senate Democrats joined all 53 GOP Senators for a 62-36 passage in the upper chamber.
The bipartisan nature of the vote represented, and perhaps underrepresented, the broad approval of Keystone XL among the American electorate. A CNN poll in January showed that 57 percent of Americans wanted it approved, while only 28 percent opposed it.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Well, if you can’t build a pipeline you move it by rail. Fortunately, flaming rail car wrecks never happen.
Obama protecting the business interests of Warren Buffett, while mollifying the drooling, left wing environmentalists. A “twofer” for Obama.
Environmentalist the world over agree that it is better to have crude oil burn in rail cars or run from rail cars in to rivers and streams than to have that crude oil refined and have it be burned in an internal combustion engine.
How did this column slip by the Yahoo editors?
Is there any chance at all the unions will hold the Dims responsible for this stab in the back?
Nawwww
The GOP has done an absolutely amateurish job of messaging.
Obama grabs the headlines with proactive immigration and environmental actions, and all the GOP congress can do is get into internecine arguments and fumble the shutdown.
Obama’s poll numbers are rising, and all McConnell and Boehner have been able to do is solidify the American people’s impression of the GOP as a bunch of hypocrites and fools.
Conservatives came out and delivered a landslide in 2014. Given the results of the new Republican congress this year, I see no reason for conservatives to vote for Republicans again in 2016. What would be the point other than to further entrench the GOPe?
Further evidence that Rudy was right — Obama does not like America.
The problem with the pipeline is that it displaces oil brought in by ship. OPEC oil, for instance.
ME TO!!!
I have to say that it is a double-edged sword.
Crony capitalists have done really well during the Obama regime. But that’s always been the “Chicago Way”
Since 2009, the rich have grown richer than any similar time frame in American history. By a large margin. The middle class has been hurt worse than any time in history.
And the amazing part is that the MSM will easily convince the victims that it’s caused by Republicans.
Of course. Read UK papers, or Canadian papers for the truth. Our press/media is our enemy.
I read last week in USAToday that:
“Republicans talked a lot about ‘drill baby drill’ but it was Obama that made it happen”
Of course, Obama did nothing but obstruct any drilling.
Our little US Rep tried to tell us at the townhall meeting last week that usually on pending legislation the President’s aide sends a letter to the congress telling the that either he is leaning toward vetoing the bill or is definitely vetoing the bill. Since they had received no letter on the Keystone bill he felt like Obama may not veto it. We just sat there in a WTF? moment.
After the townhall Mr. GG2 went up to one of our reps aides and told her to pass along to our Rep that the reason OMuslim was going to veto the pipeline had zero to do with the environmentalists or US politics and everything to do with a guy named T Sawyer who is building his own pipeline through Canada ending up at Victoria so it can be loaded on tankers heading straight for China. Mr. Sawyer gave Obutts campaign about $12million and God only knows how much the ChiComs sent in in illegal foreign donations. so of course Barry was going to veto the Keystone pipeline.
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