Posted on 12/17/2011 5:03:37 AM PST by tobyhill
Senate Democrats accepted a provision Friday forcing a decision in two months on the Keystone XL oil pipeline as part of the must-pass payroll tax cut package, leaving the White House on the brink of a meltdown with environmental groups.
"It's bulls-," said Sierra Club President Michael Brune. "This is no way to run a government. We've got Republicans in Congress who are willing to hold the entire government hostage simply to give a Christmas present to industry."
GOP and Democratic sources told POLITICO that the White House swallowed the House Republican-written pipeline rider in order to get a deal to extend the tax holiday, jobless benefits and the Medicare reimbursement rate into February.
For greens, the fact that the Keystone pipeline was back on the table five weeks after Obama had seemingly punted it until 2013 is causing considerable heartburn with an administration that hasn't been as green as they once wished.
Their initial win looked even better because it came just days after thousands circled the White House at a weekend protest that drew celebrity faces like actor Mark Ruffalo. But now Obama's environmental allies again face the question of whether to withhold support for his reelection campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Until an iron clad order is issued authorizing the go ahead on the pipeline and declaring there will be no future efforts to stop it, nothing has happened.
So long as there is a Sierra Club, a World Wild life fund America is in trouble.
Obama will weasel out of this trap. He will continue to delay. It is not in his nature to actually make a decision.
“...We’ve got Republicans in Congress who are
willing to hold the entire government hostage...”
-
Congress is not some abstract agency or entity.
It is “we, the people”.
Obama may try to delay using the courts but the GOP can use the delay to tell Americans that Obama doesn't want jobs and then it would get done as soon as the GOP takes over.
Oooh, ooh, ooh! Let me make the decision for them!
Ska-rew those communists!
We've got Republicans in Congress who are willing to hold the entire government hostage simply to give a Christmas present to industry."
No MORON, it's simply restoring some of the birthright back to the American people.
You and your ilk should be treated as subversive organizations and taken out on racketeering charges or massive class action lawsuits.
So, this says everything gets a two-month extension - pipleine decision, unemployment compensation, payroll tac holiday, and medicare reimbursement - at which time another vote is forced? (I refuse to say “kick the can down the road” because Obama and Boehner use the stupid expression all the time).
How long are we going to govern like this? just until the next Congress takes office with a new Senate majority in 2013? If that happens, but the Democrats retain the executive, we are in the same situation of a threat of government shutdown, because we won’t have enough votes to override a presidential veto.
The provision is a nice little kick to the shins for Great Leader.
This link is to a map of existing crude oil pipelines in the US.
http://www.pipeline101.com/Overview/crude-pl.html
The link below shows a map of all the pipelines in the US. It resemebles the veins and arteries at the back of your eye.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USgas.jpg
The point is that one more pipeline will do no more harm than the several thousand already here. But it will produce thousands of jobs and help lower gas prices.
Apparently you are not a party to the latest information.
Our president, in addition to being credentialed as Harvard Law Review, is a genius 4PL logistician. He will decide on all matters of the movement of goods and services for the American people.
Because I remember the fight over the Alaska pipeline to Prudoe Bay and the greenies said all kinds of terrible things would happen but not one in the past 30 years have occurred. In fact we hear now that the caribou herds have grown and use the pipeline as a winter windbreak of sorts.
Seriously, what is their bitch except to hold up progress and jobs?
I've heard that, but no one seems to be able to prove it.
God knows we need this badly, but if he kills it at least we'd have a campaign issue that ends his presidency.
So, who do these Environmentalists think they are?
I don’t recall seeing any discussion relative to this question: Why not build refineries near the supply source, rather than a new major pipeline to carry crude clear across the country?
It seems to some that the notion of building refineries in the northern tier would be a better option from a couple of perspectives.
First, strategic defense. Why keep the national refinery capacity bottled up on the southern coastal areas when establishing a new refinery ‘region’ would better secure the nation’s overall refining capacity?
Second, quash the greenies’ whining. If there is no pipeline, they can move on to the next whining issue on their list.
Third,establishing NEW refineries would take advantage of the latest technical innovations in the industry without having to accommodate a retro-fit into an existing refinery structure.
I don't believe this nimrod and his family are living the cave dwelling subsistence his policies would force on everyone else. Plenty of creature comforts and "industry" in his life, I'll wager.
MGD works with a consultant who teaches part time at a prestigious engineering college, who said he overheard some dweeby kid bemoaning that greed is the "oil that lubricates capitalism".
I told him that had I heard that nonsense, I would have marched straight over to this loser and demanded he fork over his phone, Ipod ,laptop, and the keys to his car and then we could talk about greedy capitalists.
“”GOP and Democratic sources told POLITICO that the White House swallowed the House Republican-written pipeline rider in order to get a deal to extend the tax holiday, jobless benefits and the Medicare reimbursement rate into February.””
I agree that how you interpreted the above seems sound, but I think the above statement is just poorly written. None of it makes sense.
I don’t think the extension applies to the subject of the legislation as why would the payroll tax and unemployment extension be for only two months?
On the other hand, I don’t think Congress has to approve the pipeline, do they? From everything I’ve heard, it’s up to the Secretary of State to approve the project.
So in two months, what happens? More finagling on unemployment and payroll tax extension or a vote (?) on the pipeline?
I hardly know my own name anymore with all the shenanigans coming out of DC. We can count on only one thing - it’s never going to be on the up and up!! Never for what’s good for the country - no matter who is in charge...
-——The point is-——
I would argue the point is much different. The point is all those spidery pipelines must be curtailed. The point is to decrease or eliminate all the pipelines to eliminate the flow of oil. The point is renewable energy must prevail over oil.
The point is that the addition of one more large crude oil pipeline adds to the problem and exacerbates the energy related pollution rather than reduce it.
Of course, that is not my point. That is the point of the envirowackos at the Sierra club who are bent on destroying America as it exists and transforming it to some utopian pristineness of some prior eon.
My point is that we must go on offense and destroy or cripple the Sierra club and prevent their meddling in the very life of the country. That will not happen because we lack the will
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.