Obama Chooses Political Payback for Washington Pals Over Keystone Jobs for People Desperate for Work
Obama’s Campaign to Keep His Own Job is in Full Swing as He Chooses Keeping Washington Friends Happy Over Creating Jobs
- President Obama made his opposition to the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline official on Wednesday by blocking approval of the project, ignoring the countless workers urgently in need of immediate jobs.
- Sadly, the decision to block immediate Keystone jobs appears to be part of a deliberate Democrat strategy to “explicitly abandon” the “working class” in 2012. Despite aggressive appeals even from normally Democrat-allied local labor unions to approve Keystone as a way to create much-needed jobs, Obama once again made a cold calculation and chose to side with Washington political allies.
- The Keystone decision marks the increasing importance of political payback in Obama’s choices. It’s not the first time and, if the Keystone decision is any indication, it won’t be the last.
President Obama made his opposition to the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline official on Wednesday by blocking approval of the project, ignoring the countless workers urgently in need of immediate jobs:
“OBAMA REJECTS KEYSTONE PIPELINE, BLAMES GOP FOR ‘ARBITRARY’ DEADLINES”: (Ben Geman, “Obama Rejects Keystone Pipeline, Blames GOP for ‘Arbitrary’ Deadline,” The Hill, 1/18/2012)
LABOR UNIONS HAD SLAMMED OBAMA FOR CREATING HARMFUL UNCERTAINTY THROUGH HIS EXTENSIVE DELAYS ON KEYSTONE DECISION:“Further delays in the permitting process, a process that is in its 32nd month, could have detrimental consequences and puts at risk the billions of dollars in private sector to be made into America’s energy infrastructure. Each week that goes by in the State Department’s permitting process of Keystone XL, furthers the sense of uncertainty that private sector companies have when facing investment, construction and material and employment priorities.” (Labor Unions letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 4/13/2011)
A SLAP IN THE FACE TO OBAMA’S JOBS COUNCIL? REJECTION COMES AFTER JOBS COUNCIL PLEADS FOR MORE AMERICAN ENERGY PROJECTS: “‘[W]e should allow more access to oil, natural gas and coal opportunities on federal lands,’ states the year-end report released Tuesday by the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness… ” (Andrew Restuccia, “Obama’s jobs council report says ‘Drill,’” The Hill’s E2 Wire Blog, 1/17/2012)
OBAMA YESTERDAY WARNED HIS JOBS COUNCIL: “OBVIOUSLY THIS YEAR IS AN ELECTION YEAR”: (“Obama Tells His Jobs Council He Will ‘Push as Hard as Possible’ But ‘Obviously this Year is an Election Year,’” Real Clear Politics, 1/18/2012)
KEYSTONE PROJECT PROJECTED TO CREATE MORE THAN 20,000 “SHOVEL-READY” JOBS: (Editorial, “Keystone Cop-Out,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/11/2011)
LONG-TERM JOBS IMPACT: UP TO 130,000 JOBS: “Many of those 20,000 jobs on the construction of the pipeline would have been filled by skilled union members. Eventually, the completed pipeline was expected to result in as many as 130,000 jobs, many of them on the upper Texas Coast, where the heavy oil would be refined into 700,000 barrels of oil daily.” (Editorial, “Keystone Pipeline is the Wrong Call,” The Houston Chronicle, 11/11/2011)
Sadly, the decision to block immediate Keystone jobs appears to be part of a deliberate Democrat strategy to “explicitly abandon” the “working class” in 2012. Despite aggressive appeals even from normally Democrat-allied local labor unions to approve Keystone as a way to create much-needed jobs, Obama once again made a cold calculation and chose to side with Washington political allies:
DEMOCRATS INTEND TO “EXPLICITLY ABANDON” THE “WORKING CLASS” IN 2012: (Thomas B. Edsall, “The Future of the Obama Coalition,” The New York Times, 11/27/2011)
KEYSTONE HAS BROAD SUPPORT FROM UNIONS: “The pipeline has the support of many Republicans in Congress and also major labor unions like the Teamsters, Laborers’ International Union of North America and segments of the AFL-CIO.” (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL LABOR COALITION: “RMELC firmly believes that the Keystone XL pipeline project is in our country’s national interest because there are no substantial environmental concerns that should prevent construction of this critical infrastructure project and this pipeline project will directly create at least 20,000 high-wattage jobs, spur significant economic growth, improve our national security and provide a long-term, stable energy supply to the United States.” (Rocky Mountain Environmental Labor Coalition letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 9/6/2011)
COALITION OF FOUR LABOR UNIONS: “All four of our International Unions – the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Laborers’ International Union of North America – have executed a project labor agreement to build the Keystone XL Pipeline … By facilitating this project, you have the power to pave a path to better days and raise the standard of living for working men and women in the construction, manufacturing and transportation industries. … An independent review of the Keystone XL’s potential economic impact finds that during the construction period the pipeline will stimulate $20 billion in new spending for the U.S. economy, spur the creation of 118,000 jobsand generate more than $585 million in state and local taxes for the states along the pipeline route. When Keystone XL is operational, the states along the pipeline route are expected to receive an additional $5.2 billion in property taxes during the operating life of the pipeline, according to the analysis. That kind of renewed, tangible prosperity is the kind of change the American worker can believe in.”(Labor Unions letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 10/22/2010)
OMAHA FEDERATION OF LABOR, AFL-CIO: “The proposed Keystone crude oil pipeline stands to create good-paying jobs and economic stimulus to Nebraska and the United States. … In 2009, Laborers Local 1140, Operating Engineers Local 571, and Teamsters Local 554 helped construct the Keystone Pipeline through eastern Nebraska. The work came at a time when we were facing significant reductions in other construction work. This project created job that sustained Nebraska working families at a very difficult time. … As President of the Nebraska and Southwest Iowa Building Construction Trades in Omaha, I am pleased at the jobs this project will bring. As a Nebraskan, I am pleased with the economic stimulus and the benefits for our state.” (Omaha Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO letter, 9/9/2010)
The Keystone decision marks the increasing importance of political payback in Obama’s choices. It’s not the first time and, if the Keystone decision is any indication, it won’t be the last:
A PATTERN OF POLITICAL PAYBACK:
OBAMA GAVE “EMBATTLED” EPA A HUG WHILE GIVING WORKERS THE COLD SHOULDER: “On a day when Republican presidential candidates stumped for votes in New Hampshire, President Obama paid a visit Tuesday afternoon to the employees of the embattled Environmental Protection Agency, which has been the target of GOP disdain.” (David Nakamura, “Obama Gives Embattled EPA a Pep Talk,” The Washington Post, 1/10/2012)
HOW IS EPA “EMBATTLED” WHEN OBAMA LETS EPA BUREAUCRATS HAVE THE REGULATIONS THEY WANT, DESTROYING 183,000 JOBS A YEAR, 1.65 MILLION JOBS DESTROYED THROUGH 2020?: (“EPA Finalizes New Rule That Will Hurt American Economy,” American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, 12/21/2011)
LIKE CLOCKWORK: DEMOCRATS’ GREEN BASE REJOICES OVER EPA’S JOB-DESTROYING DECISION: “Environmentalists rallied so hard for the Obama administration on Wednesday, you’d think power plants were shooting cotton candy from their smokestacks.” (Erica Martinson, “EPA Power Plant Rule Has Greens Pro-Obama,” Politico, 12/22/2011)
WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF BILL DALEY, BROUGHT ON TO MEND FENCES WITH JOB CREATORS, RECENTLY ANNOUNCED HIS RESIGNATION: (Christi Parsons, “William Daley to Step Down as Obama’s Chief of Staff,” Los Angeles Times, 1/9/2012)
GREENS REJOICE, “SAY ‘GOOD RIDDANCE’ TO DALEY”: “Bill Daley left plenty of fingerprints on energy policy during his yearlong stint in the White House, but environmentalists will remember him most for undercutting EPA’s attempts to set tough new air pollution limits.
“The outgoing White House chief of staff, who announced his departure Monday, is seen as the person to blame for successfully urging President Barack Obama last summer to halt the ozone standards.
“Daley’s views became clear, greens say, during an August meeting with the American Lung Association and other public health officials. There, Obama’s top West Wing aide doubted the quality of their polling data and cited industry concerns about job losses connected to a tougher EPA rule.” (Darren Samuelsohn, “Greens Say ‘Good Riddance’ to Daley,” Politico, 1/9/2012)
OBAMA SABOTAGE KEYSTONE PROJECT AGAIN FOR POLITICAL REASONS: “And he might ruin that by killing the pipeline to please his rich green supporters who think you can power a modern economy with windmills, solar cells and switchgrass. But at least now he’ll have to decide before the election, and if Mr. Obama kills the pipeline he might doom a Democratic Senator or two.” (Editorial, “A Payroll Tax Deal,” The Wall Street Journal, 12/23/2011)
GREEN GROUPS THREATENED TO ABANDON OBAMA IF HE APPROVED KEYSTONE: “Environmental groups have been protesting the pipeline that would run from Alberta oil sands to Texas refineries, and there have been rumblings that greens would abandon Obama next fall if he approved it.” (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)
OBAMA’S “GREEN” PROGRAM THAT FUNDED NOW-BANKRUPT SOLYNDRA “INFUSED WITH POLITICS AT EVERY LEVEL”: “Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama’s green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials.
“The records, some previously unreported, show that when warned that financial disaster might lie ahead, the administration remained steadfast in its support for Solyndra.” (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “Solyndra: Politics Infused Obama Energy Programs,” The Washington Post, 12/25/2011)