Thursday, March 12, 2015

Two Would Have Been Better Than Zero

Obama vetoed the Keystone XL recently.  It's a bit maddening that this pipeline gets so much attention.  After all, a pipeline is a safer way to transport oil than by rail, boat or truck (all of which can tip over fairly easily) and the environmental impact is fairly minimal compared to all the other pipelines extracting tar sands.  Furthermore, only approximately 35 jobs are expected to be permanent after the pipeline is constructed, and the oil isn't expected to have a big impact on the US market.  So why did this turn into such a bitter fight?  Wait, the Koch brothers own a significant share in this?  Now I'm starting to see....

Either way, we've wasted enough time on it.  Instead of vetoing it, Obama could have given Republicans their pipeline in return for the removal of a rider from a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security that also included a highly politicized rider attacking his immigration order a few months ago.

We could have seen 2 bills pass instead of 0.  Trading one bill that doesn't matter for a bill that would have kept DHS funded and helped improve the lives of honest and hardworking immigrants would have been a pretty good deal in my opinion.

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