All Of A Sudden Democrats Want To Approve The Keystone Pipeline

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Rob Port:

For years now Democrats have stymied the build-out of oil pipelines, most notably the Keystone XL pipeline which, far from being unique, would add to thousands of miles of already existing Keystone pipelines in Canada and the United States. The State Department, under President Obama, has refused to sign off on the part of the pipeline which would cross the U.S./Canadian border, and in Congress Democrats have used their majority in the Senate to stymie attempts to overrule Obama through legislation.

But now, suddenly, Democrats seem to be on board with the Keystone pipeline (or they’re at least considering it). Not so much because they’ve finally recognized that the pipeline would be good for our economy, and good for trade relations with our neighbors to the north, and good for ending the rail backlogs that are hurting agriculture across the midwest ( and which contributed to an ugly propane shortage last winter). Rather, Democrats seem to be suddenly on board with Keystone because they have something to gain politically:

A senior Senate Democratic aide said in an interview that a Keystone approval vote in the lame duck session is under consideration but no decision has been made.

Another congressional aide said the measure to approve TransCanada’s pipeline could come as an amendment to a must-pass defense authorization bill.

Adam Jentleson, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesman, did not confirm the possible vote, which was first reported by Bloomberg.

Aides say a vote on the pipeline would be intended to bolster Landrieu, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Landrieu, seeking a fourth six-year term, faces Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy in a run-off election on Dec. 6 after neither of them won more than 50 percent of the vote last week. Landrieu is one of a handful of congressional Democrats who have long supported of the pipeline.

Politically speaking, this might be a good move for Democrats. They’ve already lost the Senate, so they don’t stand to be hurt much by rankling their base of left-wing environmental activists, and North Dakota Senator John Hoeven seems confident that he’ll have the votes to pass a Keystone bill anyway in the new Republican-controlled Senate. So instead of remaining obstinate to the end, a bit of pragmatism in the last remaining weeks of the Senate majority might just help them keep their minority one seat larger than it would have been otherwise.

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The stupid voters described by the Democrats fail to realize that the Keystone XL pipe line is essential to distributing the light crude from N Dakota and Montana.

It just proves the point.. Democracy and Democratic ‘thinking’ is by far NOT ‘Indivudual thinking’ …

Under (King) Obama, it’s ‘My way or the highway’ ….

Democrats ‘feared’ going against what King Obama wants…wanted…
And yet we will hear the stupid arguments from Democrats that it’s the Republicans Fault…

What a laugh. The Democrats are too stupid to realize that they’ve been replaced by their beloved tyrant 0Muslim.
Pucker-up Dems; 0Muslim is turning his rump on you.

Randy is 100% correct. The high volatility crude from the Bakken formation needs to be blended for safety purposes. Lac Megantique anyone? That was N Dakota crude on the loose. The train derailment outside of Casselton (N Dakota) could have killed dozens of Americans. This will continue.
Calgary handles about 75% of the rail traffic in Canada. That’s over 800k tanker cars where many come from Montana and the Dakotas. These trains are very slow and tie up traffic in the city.
Houston produces most of the top plastics resins in the world. It will become the world juggernaut!

Once Mary reached the top level [of the escalator] and stepped off, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of the Democratic Party’s most influential campaign strategists, spotted her and walked quickly in her direction.

Schumer, smiling, asked Landrieu to step aside for a private conversation. She shook her head and moved briskly toward the elevator.

Basically, Mary is trying to beat a Republican by becoming one!
Top-spending green groups have said they won’t be coming to Landrieu’s aid anymore.
Well, who can blame them?
She’s running to make the Keystone pipeline a reality before Canada sends its oil another way.

Democrats are scrapping a multimillion dollar ad buy, liberal groups aren’t jumping in to help her campaign and national political staffers haven’t moved down en masse to help get out the vote.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/mary-landrieu-louisiana-runoff-2014-bill-cassidy-112668.html#ixzz3IuP5zwxt

This pipeline ploy is a last-ditch effort.
It helps her opponent as much as it helps her.