President Barack Obama will veto the Keystone XL bill if Congress passes a measure green-lighting the oil pipeline, White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced on Tuesday.
The pipeline is currently in a final phase of review from the State Department, which has already concluded that it would have a minimal impact on the environment. But the State Department also assessed that the pipeline would create about 42,000 jobs directly and indirectly during the construction period -- but just 50 permanent jobs.
The White House reviewed the text of the bill to authorize the pipeline on Monday, Earnest said.
Obama's objection to the legislation, Earnest said, is not based on the merits of the project so much as the idea Congress was trying to take the decision out of the hands of the executive branch.
"The President has been pretty clear that he does not think that circumventing a well-established process for evaluating these projects is the right thing for Congress to do," Earnest said.
Can I just tell you how much I am enjoying this second half of his second term President Obama?
Kind of like to vote for him again if I could.
Good for him! That pipeline project is a very bad idea. Someone paid big bucks to congressmen to push it through.
ReplyDeleteWell let's hope this new slew of Democratic women help him out.
ReplyDeleteHistoric: House Swears In 65 Democratic Women, Largest Caucus In American History
How many of us knew that a historic moment for women just happened in this country? Probably not a lot, because we are all currently fed up with all the hoopla surrounding the new GOP Senate and their showdown with President Obama that is about to begin.
But let’s just forget about the old, white, crusty men for a minute and focus on the real backbone of our nation: women.
According to the Democratic Party’s Facebook account, Tuesday saw the swearing in of 65 Democratic women in the House of Representatives, the most women in a caucus in American history.
With 65 women in the House and 14 in the Senate, Democratic women make up 79 members of Congress, 18 percent. Almost 1 out of 5 members. This something to celebrate, but there is still much more work to be done.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/06/congressional-women-make-history/
Me too!~This is going to be a very interesting two years. The GOP has no idea how to govern...they have spent six years trying to defeat everything that would help America. Now they are 'in charge' but they are still toddlers throwing tantrums. Can hardly wait for Ernst to make Boehner 'squeal.' These chumps will turn on each other in a heartbeat, because none of them will ever dare compromise. Go, President Obama! Pave the way for the next Democratic Congress and President. We're with you!
ReplyDeleteWe will get a big YES for the pipeline from the new, youngest female in the House, Elise Stephanic (R-NY), because she will do whatever Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers tell her to do. They got her elected. They own her.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear -- Obama will veto the bill, because it is up to the executive branch to approve, and it's unlikely the Senate can scramble 67 votes to overturn his veto. He still gets to make the decision, and is waiting for the results of the Nebraska study.
ReplyDeleteSome Democratic Senators have come up with some amendments to the Senate bill, including one that states the oil cannot be shipped overseas, that ALL the jobs must be American jobs, and some other amendments that the GOP won't like one bit. Interesting to see if those amendments will be added.....
Excuse me. Let's make it even less likely Congress will override the veto. It takes a 2/3's+ vote of BOTH houses to override!
DeleteHistorically, Congress has overridden less than 10% of the presidential vetoes.
Hopefully, congress will not be able to override a veto against the Keystone pipeline. In the amendment requiring all the jobs to be American jobs, they better be specific about which American country the jobs will be in. Canada and Mexico are North American countries along with the USA.
DeleteProceed, Mr. President!
ReplyDeleteThe big problem with the pipeline is that oil leaks DO NOT HAVE to be reported in the US. Rachel Maddow searched out those happenings and gave us information on her program last year about the number of "incidents/accidents" presently still at issue in our country.
ReplyDeleteMany of those (hundreds she show cased) have never been cleaned up and people are still suffering with the damage and losses.No other coverage has brought that to light and no news source I am aware of carried information from Rachel's broadcast or from any other source.
Sanitized news efforts by Kochs, or GOP keeping it under raps?
I'm not torn, but this guy makes some very good points. I'm completely an Obamacrat.
ReplyDeleteTorn Between Two Presidents
...But for all the time liberals have spent criticizing Obama for compromises and missed opportunities, a fair accounting seems to put Clinton far behind Obama when it comes to accomplishing liberal goals.
...In many significant areas, Obama has already succeeded where Clinton failed. Clinton's health care reform never even got to a vote in Congress; Obama passed his. Clinton tried to allow gays to serve in the military, and the result of the ensuing firestorm was the abominable "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, not to mention the Defense of Marriage Act, which Clinton signed. Obama undid DADT and stopped defending DOMA, which was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court. Was that because times had changed, and the space was open for Obama to make the moves Clinton wished he could have? Of course. But the fact remains that the Clinton presidency was regressive on gay rights in many ways, while the Obama presidency saw unprecedented progress.
For every significant liberal achievement of the Clinton presidency, you can find a move to the right. He raised taxes on the wealthy and created the Children's Health Insurance Program—but also enacted punitive welfare reform and amped up the War on Drugs. He signed the Family and Medical Leave Act—and pushed hard for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). If you look at any list of achievements compiled by Clinton advocates (see here, for example), most of the items come down to "the economy was really good." Indeed it was, and the improvement in Americans' welfare because of the 1990s boom was enormous. But Clinton didn't create it. And many of Clinton's liberal accomplishments that seemed momentous at the time, like the Brady Law and Motor Voter, didn't turn out to have the sweeping effects people hoped for. It isn't easy to come up with too many lasting, consequential liberal reforms that Clinton enacted.
I point all this out not to argue that the Clinton presidency was some kind of disaster for liberalism. But from the liberal's perspective, reminding ourselves of that era makes Barack Obama look better than he often gets credit for, even if there's still plenty for which one can criticize him. Health care reform, gay rights, the 2009 stimulus, financial reform, his increasingly aggressive actions on climate change—all are areas where Obama surpassed Clinton when it came to putting liberal priorities and principles into action.
http://www.prospect.org/article/torn-between-two-presidents
And here he is on fire!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym7ALGy4Bjk&feature=channel&list=UL
O/T but check out Crooks and Liars for New GOP Congress Launches First Missile At Social Security. Yes, the GOP will go there. Comments include interesting remarks about votes for progressives as opposed to "Rs with a D after their name".
ReplyDeleteThe GOP are sneaky little bastards and the President and his Democratic allies better be very alert and vigilant to their nasty tactics...case in point:
ReplyDeleteDems Decry Sneak Attack On Social Security
Democrats and Social Security advocates are accusing House Republicans of launching a sneak attack on disability insurance on the very first day of the new Congress.
The House on Tuesday passed legislation laying out parliamentary rules for the year. The bill included a little-noticed provision blocking Congress from shifting funds to prevent a 2016 shortfall in Social Security's disability insurance program.
The Social Security Administration's actuaries have projected that the disability insurance program's trust fund will run out of money next year, resulting in a 20 percent benefit reduction for nearly 11 million Americans. Since last year, Social Security advocates have been calling on lawmakers to shift funds from the retirement program to make up the difference -- something Congress has done 11 times since the 1950s.
Democratic aides said the Social Security provision was added to the broader rules package by surprise late Monday night.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/06/social-security-disability_n_6426380.html
Fuckwads!
DeleteWhite House: Obama Will Veto Obamacare Work-Hour Change
ReplyDeleteOh dear. There goes Obama, ruining the Republicans' fun for them:
The House is expected to vote Wednesday on the bill that would increase the work week definition from 30 hours to 40 hours under Obamacare.
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/01/white-house-obama-will-veto-obamacare-work
Republicans in Congress are nothing more than assholes. Thank god we have President Obama in the White House protecting Americans.
DeleteVote Repubicans out of office in 2016! Don't trust one of them anywhere in our country.
He is dead serious about stopping these fuckwads:
ReplyDelete...the GOP's plan to redefine the work week as 40 hours would strip an estimated 1 million workers of employer-sponsored health insurance and increase the deficit by $74 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-veto-threat-obamacare-30-hour-work-week
most insurances cover IF you work a minimum of 32 hours per week. Forcing the issue to 40 hours once again hits the most vulnerable of the working slave force.
DeleteAnother reason to veto it.
ReplyDeletehttp://boldnebraska.org/rosebud-sioux-tribe-house-vote-in-favor-of-keystone-xl-pipeline-an-act-of-war/
It would be an 'act of war' to the Indian tribes. We have treated them so badly and it's heartening to see President Obama state he will veto the Keystone Pipeline.
DeleteEven if it were built, it would not benefit America! Canada would benefit - they would just use our land to run the pipeline through. Then the oil would be sold on the open market.
The Republican-controlled Senate is now proposing a gas tax increase that would be used to help make up for shortfalls in highway budgets. The proposed increase would add 12 cents per gallon to the price, regardless of the price at the pump.
ReplyDeleteThe proposal is under consideration, thanks to incoming Republican leader of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, a huge proponent of the Keystone XL pipeline project.
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/01/republicans-work-ensure-affordable-gas
So here's my question. When PBO threatens a veto, do you think that the GOP will still send the bill to him and force the issue, or do you think his threat will stop the process? If he keeps threatening vetoes without having to actually veto things, then his record on using the veto is still the lowest in the history of presidents. Just wonderin'. And for the record, I don't believe he is just blowing smoke, he WILL veto things he says he will veto, he IS a man of his word when it comes to standing strong.
ReplyDeleteCongress voted over 50 times to repeal ACA, knowing that the Senate would not sign onto the bill and that it would surely face a veto. They do it to please their supporters.
DeleteAnonymous8:38 AM
DeleteCongress voted over 50 times to repeal ACA, knowing that the Senate would not sign onto the bill and that it would surely face a veto. They do it to please their supporters.
-------------------------------
They do indeed. Remember when the incoming republican-controlled House held an ACA/Obamacare repeal vote specifically for the newbies "who hadn't had a chance to vote against the bill" when it was being passed, specifically so they could go home and brag that they had voted "against Obamacare"?
Congress will send him Bills to sign, but will attach Amendments to them that will make it difficult for him to veto. The topic to the Bill will be in the top section with amendments on the bottom - that is how I mentally picture it.
DeleteI'm sure when they do it, that President Obama will verbally discuss their continued obstruction, telling us what the Amendments are attached to the specific Bill.
I also hear they want to cut SS by 20% and squash affordable health care. Yet millions of Fox/AM hate radio old folks who depend on SS and need affordable health care would vote for them again in an instance. The stupid, it burns and burns and burns. Their bodies are now aged; their minds were always mush.
ReplyDeleteand the GOP will overide the veto....
ReplyDelete8:54 AM You are too stupid for words, the GOP needs 67 votes to override the veto. Where will they get them?
DeleteNope, they can't. they don't have the votes to do it, so you're dead wrong.
DeleteRepublicans On Defense Over Defunding Homeland Security After Paris Terrorist Attack
ReplyDeleteJust hours after Republicans filed their first action to defund parts of homeland security in order to stop President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform, a terrorist attack in Paris has them running away from themselves again.
In the wake of the Paris magazine attacks that have reportedly killed 12 people including journalists and police, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is backing away from Republican threats to defund Homeland Security as their way to defeat President Obama’s executive actions on immigration reform.
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/01/07/awkward-moment-republicans-defund-homeland-security-obama.html
Obama Drops The Veto Hammer On Republican Plan To Take Healthcare Away From Millions
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/01/07/obama-veto-40-hour-work-week.html
I detest the Republicans in the U.S. Congress! They get their asses nailed every time they try to do something unbeneficial to Americans or just plain out and out obstruction against President Obama.
DeleteI so wish we could vote for President Obama AGAIN as he is doing one hell of a job against these jerks! Keep that pen handy, President Obama! VETO is going to be the name of the political game this session.
And, Republicans are going to lose big time in 2016. And, today McConnell is saying they (Republicans) provided the recent economic recovery - taking away the credit of it from President Obama! What fuckers!
They are racists (black, brown and Asians), want to further reduce taxes for the top 1%, cut out benefits for the poor, increase taxes for the middle class, defund the Affordable Care Act, etc.
There's not a one amongst any of our congresscritters who would say yes to this if the pipeline was running through their property and threatened their property, their health, their water supply and that of their loved ones (Let me qualify that: Their actual lived-on-on-a-daily-basis property).
ReplyDeleteI am stunned that in 2015 we are still talking about building pipelines (and my grandad helped weld pipelines in Alaska in the early 70s).
We need energy, yes, but there has got to be a better, cleaner, safer way to get the stuff extracted, produced, and distributed.
We don't need the relatively few jobs this will create at the expense of so many of our fellow citizens' lives, livelihoods and well-being.
I must remember to call or e-mail (or even *gasp*) write my Fed. representatives letting them know my opinion.
Everyone please do the same and tell your friends to do so as well. Send them a direct link to the Rep. or Sen. e-mail.
I get to write a letter to Marco Rubio! Whoppee! I am actually curious as to why the heck - exactly - he would vote for it. My guess is less an actual reason that it will help America and more that it will help Marco Rubio be elected to something in the future.
MarvinM
AIn't that great? Putting tens (if not hundreds) of thousand of Americans at risk, and all because of your pol
O/T "balls to the wall"
ReplyDeletePalin on Varney yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcI_yr0vbfM
The Canadian Government should have kept this pipeline in their own territory. How in the world it wound up being more sensible to detour it all the way across the height of the US rather than take it to a Canadian port I will never know, but you can bet money had a role in it and still does.
ReplyDeleteThis too: the Native peoples in this country are spitting mad at the prospect of this pipeline going across their land.
M from MD
There was a meteorologist on television speaking with a Geologist. Texas had a flurry of about forty earth quakes with un countable aftershocks and the Geologist made it crystal clear. Fracking is to blame, pumping water under pressure is causing shifts deep underground. These shifts have a highly technical term, they're called "Earthquakes", and the pipeline work is less than one twelfth done. Odd that where there isn't fracking, earthquakes aren't happening. They interviewed a farmer who leased the use of his farmland. He gets compensated and continually paid for not raising corn, while the oil company sends him monthly checks of about three grand. They "sealed" his well, and the meat from his cattle can't be used, his family has to buy water to drink, wash clothes in, take baths, and cook. He's pissing and moaning if he knew then what he knows now, and the fracking company has a ten year lease, signed by him.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has a lot of money to invest, buy up hotels w/water filters. in the fracking areas, because they gotta live somewhere while they screw us all in perpetuity.
Go POTUS! Do whatever you can do legally to stop them, make laws, veto everything, keep sending bills back to be re worded. Stall, stomp your feet and watch their heads explode.
Well old turtle head McConnell, said the prez had better not veto the pipeline b/c of ALL the JOBS it will create and this is the republican's effort to create MORE JOBS!!!
ReplyDeleteGosh he really must think we are stupid, 50 jobs is really going to turn unemployment around.
We already learned here in MI what a crappy job this company does maintaining their pipeline. Now they are running commercials telling us the Kalamazoo river is cleaner than before the spill !!!