Republicans to Act After Obama Refuses to Approve Keystone Jobs Project
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, January 12, 2012, 4:46 AM
The Keystone Pipeline project was expected to create tens of thousands of high paying jobs in the oil industry. The project itself would create 20,000 construction jobs.
But it was just a big pipe dream.
(Bob McCarty)
Barack Obama refused to approve the project in 2011 despite the fact that gas prices hit a record high last year under his failed leadership.
Repbublicans are now working on a plan to take the reins of approval from the president.
Reuters reported:
Congressional Republicans, who are urging President Barack Obama to give a permit to the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline project, are working on a plan to take the reins of approval from the president should the White House say no.
Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, a state counting on TransCanada Corp’s pipeline to help move its newfound bounty of shale oil, is drafting contingency legislation that would see Congress green-light the project, an aide told Reuters.
After delaying the $7 billion project past the November 2012 election, Obama was compelled by Congress to decide by February 21 on whether to approve the pipeline that would sharply boost the flow of oil from Canada’s oil sands.
Should Obama reject the pipeline, Senate Republicans would look at a bill that would force the go-ahead for work to begin, said Ryan Bernstein, an energy adviser to Hoeven, citing the powers given to Congress in the Constitution to regulate commerce with foreign nations.
“We believe that express authority in the Constitution gives Congress the ability to approve and move forward on such a project,” Bernstein said in an interview.
The State Department, which has long held authority to oversee permits for cross-border pipelines, did not have immediate comment on the Republican plan on Wednesday.
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Published May 23, 2012 at 4:57 am - 67 Comments
SSBN 627(B) commented:
Are those darn Canadians not using enough union labor? Is that the problem? Or is it that shale oil from Canada doesn’t assist the inner-city-urban-ghetto green boondoggle?
gitmo4us commented:
Imagine that, someone is finally reading the constitution and using it for what the intended purpose is.
P. Aaron commented:
I am usually one who savors every single day but November couldn’t get here fast enough for me!
RB commented:
Drill baby, drill!
Drill here. Drill now.
Pump baby, pump.
If you voted for O, I don’t want to hear one gripe–not even a grumble!–about the price of gasoline.
S commented:
I think this is where the age old adage comes into play
“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission”
RedBeard commented:
Republicans with spines? Will wonders never cease?
Canadian commented:
Just so you know Canadians pay MORE in Taxes when it comes to filling up then you EVER want to see here
Militant Conservative commented:
Now this is a good fight. President has to defend
His pathetic position. Tell America how this is not
Good for her and her people.
#1AMERICAN commented:
“We believe that express authority in the Constitution gives Congress the ability to approve and move forward on such a project,” Bernstein said in an interview.
——————————————————–
the POS kenyan illegal will do everything in his power to stop that if congress tries…just watch…he hates capitalism and hates america with a passion
Larkin commented:
And what of the obstructionist senate?
How many bills has the House sent up in the last year that have languished in Reid’s dark hole?
bg commented:
++
OT..
January 2nd, 2012
Ron Paul’s Soros Defense Plan
[It was recently observed that Ron Paul was to the left of Obama on national security and the best evidence for that statement can be found when one year ago Ron Paul joined forces with Barney Frank on a proposal to gut national defense via a panel of experts, quite a few of whom were tied to George Soros.
In July 2010, Barney Frank and Ron Paul co-authored a Huffington Post article rolling out their Sustainable Defense Task Force. The Task Force “consisting of experts on military expenditures that span the ideological spectrum” would recommend a trillion dollars in defense cuts. The experts, however, didn’t quite “span the ideological spectrum” — more like float under it.
The panel of experts who would decide how to best gut national defense featured such independent thinkers as William D. Hartung of the New America Foundation. Hartung’s main expertise was appearing in “Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire.”
Then there was Lawrence J. Kolb of the Center for American Progress and Miriam Pemberton of the Institute for Policy Studies. If you want to know what the Center, the Foundation and the Institute all have in common, it’s Hungarian and smells like stale cabbage and the death of nations.
The rather creepy Institute for Policy Studies issued a paper proposing that Obama act as king and rule through executive orders. The New American Foundation is not only backed by Soros but has his son on its leadership council. The Center for American Progress is run by the co-chair of Obama’s transition team and is, for all intents and purposes, the think tank of the White House. All three are Soros funded.]
January 3, 2012
Barney Frank defense-cuts ally Ron Paul has a “Soros defense plan”
[Ron Paul proposed to put a bunch of Soros funded think tank experts in charge of dismantling the US military. Think about that for a moment. And then think about it again. Ron Paul supporters can see conspiracies in a glass of water, can they see anything wrong with this picture? Can they see anything wrong with having a man from a group that was investigated for its Communist ties in the driver's seat on national defense?]
==
bg commented:
++
keep telling you, Obama & Paul are two sides of the same coin..
==
just-saying commented:
I thought the two-month payroll tax bill was passed with the provision that Keystone would go forward. [It's so hard to keep track of all the promises/deals...]
.
Kingslayor commented:
I can’t see how anyone in their right mind could vote for that idiot anyway!!! Do they really pay any attention to what he says? One minute he’ll say something that makes halfway sense, and the next he’ll say something totally off the wall!!!
StrangernFiction commented:
[It's so hard to keep track of all the promises/deals...]
I’ll fill you in. You are getting screwed.
Holder's AK-47s kill Mexicans commented:
This is a tremendous opportunity for republicans. Tremendous.
Any law, regulation, or agency that stands in the way – guess what – it was created by congress and can be eliminated by congress.
Yes, congress must act – sound familiar? Any executive branch agency touting any regulation it created as a bar to the pipeline should be on the chopping block. We must remove the power of unelected bureaucrats who stifle job creation.
End of story. Republicans, get some backbone.
Mark1957 commented:
Just tie it to the debt ceiling increase and dare Obozo to veto that. After all, we know that the repubs will give Obozo more money, the only question is what will we get in return.
olm commented:
It’s about time they did something.
King Obama has been running things unchecked for too long.
The pathetic bunch of Republican candidates for president appear to be doing everyting in their power to give Obama a second term, at least someone seems to see how wrong this all is and is going back to the Constitution to fix it.
Btw, the left doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the Constitution. Expose that and Republicans just might win some elections.
bg commented:
++
StrangernFiction #15 January 12, 2012 at 8:20 am
re: [You are getting screwed.]
kudos, that is the bottom line, but still feel
the need to make two minor corrections..
WE ARE GETTING ROYALLY SCREWED..
==
dmacleo commented:
#13
the provision was that obama would make a decision, not that the decision needed to be yes.
IOW cowards took the easy way out again and accepted a “I’ll promise to look at it again” statement.
Valerie commented:
David Brooks has written an op-ed from the New York Times, “Where are the Liberals?” that is quite revealing.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/53270412-82/government-liberalism-liberals-americans.html.csp
Mr. Brooks lurks at Gateway Pundit, Legal Insurrection, or Pajamas Media.
He has identified a key issue for the upcoming campaign, and it is the venality exhibited by the Democratic Party at the national level.
He does not yet have a good counter to the issue.
And the question he asks deserves a forthright answer. Where are the Liberals?
They are right here. http://www.teaparty-platform.com/
Real Liberals think that brown-skinned people are perfectly capable of arranging their own lives. Real Liberals respect working people, want them to succeed, and know that getting out of their way is the best way to guarantee their success.
Real Liberals hate thievery, although they can forgive small thefts (such as food) for great reason (such as hunger). Misuse of the government, to guarantee an investment return on the part of already-wealthy people, is venal, and Liberals hate venality.
Mr. Brooks is right. He can’t see the Liberals any more, because the Democratic Party at the national level has been in control and run them off. They didn’t die, though. They’re right here.
Those of you who are Republicans, take heart, and look for candidates for Senate and the House.
donh commented:
Republicans will go to the matt for a rich energy interest that wants to build a pipeline. They will go to the matt for TARP bailing out Wall Street banks….but when it comes to helping the millions of small business simplify their bookeeping by locking down the payroll tax cut for a longer term…they let that slide. They quit and cave in on a host of very popular issues in which there is no money in it for them…like cutting spending. …and for President the establishment is shoving top down a rich corporate raider rather than lift up a genuinely popular figure who will get the job done for the American people.
Obamas regulation destroy jobs commented:
Finally? Finally the republicans are doing something??? Can they not blockade the democrats?
Boehner has to go what wimp—where are the champions????!!!! They should FIGHT for the country besides just sending memos—fight, fight dammit FIGHT!!!!!! We cannot let communists take over our WH!!! BLOCK everything friggin thing they do bring them to t heir knees use clause to protect the Constitution–impeach, investigate, inquire…keep them running!!!!! Geez…..now they want us all to have a internet ID??? Hail to the KING!
bigL commented:
nope, the congress will NOT do this. They have no guts.
bg commented:
++
Valerie #21 January 12, 2012 at 8:59 am
[Given the circumstances, this should be a golden age of liberalism. Yet the percentage of Americans who call themselves liberals is either flat or in decline. There are now two conservatives in this country for every liberal. Over the past 40 years, liberalism has been astonishingly incapable at expanding its market share.]
aah, posted about that at length several years back, and
albeit not a good thing in this case, we are catching up..
catching up to Europe’s decline..
[It was widely anticipated by political activists and observers alike that
liberal parties would assume an important role on the political scenes
of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) which emerged after 1989. After
all, liberalism offered an unambiguous alternative to the shortcomings
of Communism: free market instead of central planning, parliamentary
democracy instead of one-party government, freedom and individualism
instead of collectivism.]
probably won’t be able to relocate all the articles i posted, as
my files had more or less gone poof, as well as the changes
in the net making it about impossible (well, for this comp ilit
anyways)..
bit more here & here..
==
bg commented:
++
imho,
John & Robert F. Kennedy were more Republican
than the so called leadership we have today..
and btw, Tubba Ted was no Jack or Bobby..
==
MikeSopes commented:
Good thing Perry is ready to drill, baby!
Mutnodjmet commented:
Relate to Eco-Tyranny: We Had to Destroy the Fish in Order to Save ThemPG&E operates the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, located near San Luis Obispo is due for a permit to extend its life for another twenty years of delivering electricity to California. Recently, an undersea fault line was discovered in the oceans off San Luis Obispo. In order to get a permit, PG&E must conduct a seismic survey as required by state law. Meanwhile, fishermen in the area are very concerned. Presumably, the seismic study is to ensure that the environment in the area is protected, including the fish in the bay, however, the seismic study is likely to kill many fish. Unconfirmed rumor is that fishermen are being offered serious coin to offset the loss of income if the tests are carried out.
STL Tix commented:
Believe it when it happens people, this is the same bunch of people that promised us we wouldn’t have to rely on CFL’s for our light. We were told it was a done deal that January 2012 would guarantee our old 100w. bulb …
Maybe when the RINO’s (That means ALL of the Republicrats in DC) grow a pair the country MAY have a chance
Powder is dry
Valerie commented:
#25 January 12, 2012 at 9:47 am
bg commented:
“[Given the circumstances, this should be a golden age of liberalism. Yet the percentage of Americans who call themselves liberals is either flat or in decline. There are now two conservatives in this country for every liberal. Over the past 40 years, liberalism has been astonishingly incapable at expanding its market share.]”
Ha! Most of the “conservatives” I know are busy trying to preserve core Liberal values.
8675309 commented:
On December 11, 2009, it was reported that Warren Buffet took full control of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. Formerly he owned a percentage of the road. Why did he think that it’s profitability would improve so dramatically? Warren is a large Obama donor. The BNSF RR is the only RR to serve the entire length of the route from Canada to the refineries in the gulf. That would be the only way to ship oil to the refineries if, for some reason, the Keystone Pipline was cancelled, which Obama has done. All of the environmental issues in Nebraska were resolved. Never the less, the pipeline was cancelled.
bg commented:
++
Valerie #31 January 12, 2012 at 10:41 am
aah yes, irony strikes again..
==
mamagriz68 commented:
I hear Sen. Ron Johnson is planning a series of bills that will force the Dems to vote and show their true colors on key issues. This should be plenty helpful to the GOP nominee and everyone down the ticket come November. It’s nice to see more and more backbone being shone in DC. Still not nearly enough though.
Patty commented:
Better than nothing. Congress has a lower opinion than Obama. This may give them a jump.
Problem is Obama and Holder. Yes, Holder will find a way around everything. He needs to be locked up. Hopefully, before the Feb. 21 deadline.
bg commented:
++
mamagriz68 #36 January 12, 2012 at 11:27 am
yeah, one would think so, but that’s been the Reps standard
mantra for several years now, how have we been doin’.. /s/
Obama may be an empty sui, but Congress is an empty hall..
==
bg commented:
++
oh dip re: #39 January 12, 2012 at 12:28 pm bg
should have said “echo chamber”, but both fit..
==
Paddy commented:
The fact that the State Department is the lead agency for the environmental assessment, cost benefit analysis, etc, is troubling. How is this project any different than a large commercial transaction that involves land uses that are governed by state laws?
I am not aware of any State Department expertise in fields such as petroleum related geology and engineering and pipeline design and construction. Most certainly, everyone in the White House is clueless in these areas of expertise.
The Keystone Pipeline denial is part of Obama’s grand strategy to obliterate the fossil fuel industries with regulatory and permitting burdens that allow costly and useless renewable energy sources.
I am not aware of any renewables that can fuel planes, trains, ships, trucks and cars other than ethanol and related biofuels, none of which are neither efficient nor cost effective. Moreover, corn ethanol and other biofuel production is the source of wealth destroying global food inflation.
Impeachment seems to be more justified every day. I doubt that we can wait to the next elections.
bg commented:
++
OT..
“a tyranny of the Elite”
==
befuddled commented:
What is this record high gas prices you speak of? I never heard a peep from the MSM about it. Is this another Republican smear campaign against our beloved President, Kim Jung IL Obama?
gwhh commented:
OK, after I see the GOP make Berry approve the pipeline or do it without him, i will consider this more than election year talk and blister!
befuddled commented:
Maybe we need to hand out shovels to all the teacher unions and tell them to do something productive with their time other than gouge the tax payers. Once the teacher unions get involved, Obama and the rest of his senate buddies will get off their rumps to get this thing moving.