Texas Hold Em' and Keystone XL

 

 

 

"Only an idiot would think this job creating, energy enhancing project would be bad for America"

Well it had to come down to this. We have done the good, the bad and now the ugly. People, for the most part, are just plain FED UP with the phony politics relating to the Keystone pipeline. This project had broad based support from every clear thinking American, regardless of party. However, our President, who thinks he is STILL on the campaign trail, is acting like a marionette dancing on strings manipulated by the "Greenies".

Well Congress has finally had enough. They have heard the call to "grow a pair" from enough people by now. The Senate in particular, has become the battleground for the Keystone Pipeline. The Senate Minority Leader wants to include the Keystone in the Energy Bill which has all kinds of goodies for the "Greenies". Having the Keystone as part of the bill will put our President in a tough spot - sign the bill, thereby allowing the project to go forward, or veto it, killing the entire bill. Right now it looks like Harry Reid is going to save the President the agony of that tough choice by not allowing the bill to move forward with the Keystone Pipeline included.

So where does that leave John (or Jane) Q. Public? As with most things related to this Administration - in "nowhereville". Washington will be blamed for its dysfunction, Republicans will be blamed for being intransigent, and of course the Koch Brothers will be blamed by Harry Reid - just because they are.

I have never, in all my adult life, seen such timidity shown by people who are supposed to lead us. This is not a tough call - not one bit. The amount of crude being shipped from Canada and North Dakota keeps increasing. That is a fact. Our economy needs plentiful and affordable energy to keep progressing. That is a fact. New, non-petro based fuels are in our future, but are years or decades away from being viable. That is also a fact. The transportation of oil products using rail is more costly and riskier than using pipe lines. And, yes, that is really a fact.

It will be interesting to see how this game of Texas Hold Em' is going to play out in our Emerald City. With President Bystander sitting up in the cheap seats, all the action is going to take place in the Well of the Senate. With the phone and pen close by, our President could put and end this charade by approving the project this morning. However, those marionette strings would have to be loosened up quite a bit to do so.