 |
| The Keystone XL Pipeline |
On
Tuesday in the Lame-duck session of Congress, the Keystone XL Pipeline project was
debated and put to a vote in the Senate
floor. The Republican led House passed the bill last week. The vote fell short in the Senate and
therefore will not reach President Obama’s desk for his signature. There has been rampant speculation the
president would have vetoed the legislation had it reached his desk. The Republicans are have a CANNIPTION. They just can’t seem to understand WHY they
were unable to get the 60 votes they needed to avoid the bill being filibustered. While the minority party in the Senate, the
filibuster became the Weapon of Mass OBSTRUCTION in the hands of the Republicans. They’re not handling being the OBSTRUCTEE
very well. Republicans are sure to take
another vote on Keystone once the new Congress is convened and they will be the
majority in the Senate and in the House.
From all indications, President Obama will veto the bill should it reach
his desk. You have to wonder why so many
Republicans favor Keystone. Their
support CAN’T be about jobs. The
project would only NET 35 new jobs upon completion. Conversely, the American Jobs Act was proposed in 2011
and it was buried under an avalanche in the House under the stewardship of
Speaker of the House John Boehner. That bill’s foundation was
infrastructure
upgrades and new infrastructure projects and would have created 1.9
MILLION jobs. Why so much
attention and urgency given to a bill that would create 35 permanent jobs over a
bill that would create 1.9 MILLION jobs? Congress SHOULD HAVE voted on the American
Jobs Act instead of Keystone XL.
 |
| Speaker of the House John Boehner |
As
a dedicated progressive, I am suspect of ANY legislation proposed by
Republicans. Their legislation typically
is not diversity friendly and it geared to benefit a “select few” as opposed
to the masses. Their base has let it be
known THEY want THEIR country back. The country belongs to THEM and the rest of us
are “takers” and interlopers.
Republicans opposed ANY regulations whatsoever – EXCEPT
when it comes to a woman’s reproductive rights and in that area, they seemingly
don’t RUN OUT of regulations.
They oppose raising the minimum wage, national healthcare, equal pay for
equal work, organized labor, extended unemployment benefits and have given
birth to voter suppression efforts in many states around the country. Basically, their politics are MEAN
SPIRITED. So it is easy to see
why most progressives are suspect of any legislation Republicans propose. Keystone XL is no different. They’re all IN for a project that
will benefit only 35 people long term. President
Obama discussed some salient facts about Keystone XL:
By
the way, none of the points President Obama raised has been disputed. Not ONE.
Yet, Congress wasted time voting on a bill that had no chance of
becoming law, even if it HAD reached the president’s desk. Conversely,
John Boehner would not even let a vote on the American Jobs Act to come to the
House floor. Not only that, Boehner
denied President Obama’s request to deliver the proposal to Congress on the day
he asked for because a Republican debate was at the same time and that “more
time was needed” to secure the House for the president’s visit. This was unprecedented. (The blatant disrespect President Obama has
received during his tenure is outright repulsive) Never mind the fact
it would create 1.9 MILLION jobs. Never
mind the fact it would mean upgrades to the country’s aging and crumbling
infrastructure. America’s highways and
bridges are in disrepair. According to a report in The Atlantic’s City
Lab (U.S. Cities Face a Looming Bridge Crisis), there are 70,000
deficient bridges in America. SEVENTY THOUSAND.
In the American Society of Civil Engineers infrastructure report
(2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure – Drinking Water), it was revealed there are 240,000 water main breaks a
year in America. The quality of America’s
drinking water graded out at a D. Our
country’s infrastructure is dilapidated and hanging on by a thread. Repairing and upgrading it should be
Washington’s highest priority. The
American Jobs Act certainly be a good beginning. Here are some of the components of the bill:
- Cutting and suspending $245 billion worth of payroll taxes for
qualifying employers and 160 million medium to low income employees.
- Spending $62 billion for a Pathways Back to Work Program for expanding
opportunities for low-income youth and adults.
1. $49 billion - Extending unemployment benefits
for up to 6 million long-term beneficiaries.
2. $8 billion - Jobs tax credit for the long term unemployed.
3. $5 billion - Pathways back to work fund.
- Spending $50 billion on both new & pre-existing infrastructure
projects.
- Spending $35 billion in additional funding to protect the jobs of
teachers, police officers, and firefighters
- Spending $30 billion to modernize at least 35,000 public schools and
community colleges.
- Spending $15 billion on a program that would hire construction workers
to help rehabilitate and refurbishing hundreds of thousands of foreclosed
homes and businesses.
- Creating the National
Infrastructure Bank (capitalized with $10 billion), originally
proposed in 2007, to help fund infrastructure via private and public
capital.
- Creating a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public
safety, while expanding accessibility to high-speed wireless services.
- Prohibiting discrimination in hiring against persons who are
unemployed because of their status as unemployed persons.
- Loosening regulations on small businesses that wish to raise capital, including through crowdfunding, while retaining investor protections.
As
you can see, the bill was both citizen and business friendly. If the Republicans were committed to creating
jobs for the American people, WHAT was there NOT to like in this bill? Simple answer: It was Barack Obama’s idea and
it was proposed in 2001 – one year before the 2012 Presidential election and
they were not about to gift wrap Obama a winning piece of legislation he could
hang his hat on. They were determined to
defeat Barack Obama even if it meant sabotaging the economy, compromising the
safety of those driving on faulty bridges and roadways and inflicting pain upon
the unemployed. Again, MEAN
SPIRITED
politics. What this really is for
Republicans is a chance to strong arm President Obama into signing a bill into
law he clearly does not favor and, equally important to them, to hand
environmentalist who oppose Keystone a humiliating defeat.
Environmentalist
strongly oppose Keystone XL and for good reason. They fear the escalation of greenhouse
emissions because the oil would be extracted from oil sands instead of conventional oil extraction. The primary fear is an oil spill or oil
leakage into the Ogallala Aquifer that spans eight states and supplies drinking
water to 2 million people. A massive
spill, leakage or the unthinkable – a CATACLYSMIC accident along the lines
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Remember this scene:
Eleven
people were killed when the oil rig exploded and 4.9 million barrels of crude
oil leaked into the waters of the Gulf. There
WAS
and IS
no WAY
to clean up all the oil that spewed into the Gulf. The effect that accident had on the ecology
in general, wildlife, the economy and the people in and around the Gulf is
incalculable. No reasonable person can
blame environmentalist for resisting Keystone XL. The risk it would have on the drinking water
alone would be enough for concern let alone the risk of an accident due to
human error. Environmentalists KNOW
Republicans staunchly oppose regulations of any kind and they would undoubtedly
become unglued at the mention of regulating Keystone. Several environmental groups have filed suit
to block Keystone. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Nebraska Resources Council and Friends of the Earth have all filed suit in federal court in Nebraska.
There have been several lawsuits filed since against Keystone. Native Americans – the people who already WERE in North America before it was “discovered” by a genocidal sadist by the name of Christopher Columbus – have also been vehemently opposed to Keystone XL. One tribe, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, went so far to say Keystone’s approval by Congress was “an act of war”. (As Sioux Tribe Calls Keystone XL an "Act of War", TransCanada Hires PR Firm to Probe Critics) To say Keystone XL has a lot of detractors and has been polarizing would be GROSS understatements. To say Keystone XL has a lot of detractors and has been polarizing would be GROSS understatements.
The battle for Keystone is far from over. The Republicans
will reload with the majority in the new Congress in January 2015 and will try
to pass it through the Senate. Should it
pass, it will almost certainly be vetoed by President Obama. That is when the real political games will
begin. The Republicans will then attach
Keystone to spending bills the president has to sign in order to keep the
country operating. News flash to
Republicans: Barack Obama has NOTHING … ZERO … to lose. He is now liberated to enact HIS
agenda for the last two years of his administration. If you Republicans want something done you
will have to move in HIS direction. I know many conservatives cringe at that very
thought BUT it is very TRUE. Why would he sign off on a project that will
only net 35 permanent jobs when it is completed when you Republicans have
ignored HIS bill that would create 1.9 million jobs and that’s been on
the table for three years? Like it or
not, President Obama is in the driver’s seat on this one.
Congress
SHOULD
HAVE voted on the American Jobs Act instead of Keystone XL.
Peace,
peace.
Craig
Riggins
Facebook:
The Riggins Report
Twitter:
@CraigRiggins
Comments
Post a Comment