http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/02/obama-about-veto-gops-keystone-bill
[I'm not a U.S. citizen, but U.S. federal politics baffles me
frequently, and at the moment, pretty much completely.
The Republican party controls both houses of Congress, the House of
Representatives and the Senate, but the President is a Democrat. Having
put more powers in the White House and implicitly reducing the powers of
Congress during the George W. Bush years, it appears to me the
Republicans are now proceeding to shoot themselves in the foot,
repeatedly. With control of both houses, they cannot agree on a budget
bill, which leaves the Department of Homeland Security - presumably a
Republican favoured department - in budget limbo. This has led to
finger-pointing by the two Republican majority house leaders at each
other. Seriously? Aren't these two rich, white guys supposed to be on
the same team?
The first bill they actually managed to get through both houses (taking
almost 2 months because it was apparently a priority for both House
leaders) was a non-starter to circumvent existing procedure on approval
of an international pipeline, which they knew would be vetoed - not
because of the President's supposed antipathy to the project - but
because it would usurp the power of the State Department.
As I understand it, approval of the trans-border pipeline would be
considered a treaty in international law, and the authority to enter
into treaties on behalf of the U.S. falls to the President, per the U.S.
Constitution. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_Clause) So, what
the Republicans wanted to do was effectively amend the U.S. Constitution
via the back door in favour of a foreign oil company. Seriously? They
see that as a winning strategy with the U.S. electorate?
Per reports, in his first six years in the White House, Obama has used
the Presidential veto just 3 times - the least of any President in
modern times.
Today, the FCC apparently ruled in favour of 'net neutrality', a move
lauded by citizen's groups, and seen as a blow to several large
corporations noted for financing Republicans. The ruling is reported to
be along party lines - Democrats for, Republicans opposed.
While the U.S. mainstream media has labelled Obama a 'lame duck'
President in his final two years because the Republicans - by virtue of
having majorities in both Houses - are now 'the government'. Perhaps it
is my lack of understanding, but so far, it seems to me it is Congress
which is flapping about like a couple of lame ducks, and the White House
which seems to have a recognizable strategy and to be playing from a
strong hand.
Numbers from the U.S. economy look like Obama inherited about the worst
situation in U.S. history, other than perhaps FDR, and in 6 years, it
appears federal policy - contrary to Republican austerians - is paying
off big in job creation and economic growth. (For comparable case
studies in the same period on the disasters of the austerians, consider
Wisconsin and Canada today. Seems to me, if the Republicans wanted to
be taken seriously for the 2016 elections, they would be working to show
they can accomplish something positive for voters in the next 18 months,
rather than proving they are inept.
Oh, and I almost giggled when I read the story that Mitch McConnell was
baffled by the idea that Democrats in the Senate would would now start
using the same tactics which the Republicans had used until December
2014 when they were in the minority to stall and kill legislation. Wow,
he really did not expect that? And he's the Senate majority leader?!
It just seems bizarre to me, and given we have a government in Canada
now which would be pretty much aligned with the Tea Party, we know bizarre.]
We knew this was coming: About a month after the Senate narrowly passed
a bill to force President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL
pipeline, the president vetoed the bill Tuesday afternoon, hours after
the White House said he would do so "without drama or fanfare or delay."
From the AP:
The contentious legislation arrived at the White House on Tuesday
morning from Capitol Hill, where Republicans pushed the bill quickly
through both chambers in their first burst of activity since taking full
control of Congress....
The move sends the politically charged issue back to Congress,
where Republicans have yet to show they can muster the two-thirds
majority in both chambers needed to override Obama's veto. Sen. John
Hoeven, the bill's chief GOP sponsor, said Republicans are about four
votes short in the Senate and need about 11 more in the House.
The veto, which the White House has long promised on this or any other
Keystone-approval bill, is the first one in the last five years. It
essentially blocks what Republican leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell
(Ky.) have called a top priority of this congressional session.
Obama's beef with the bill isn't necessarily with the pipeline itself.
Instead, the president wants the approval process to go through the
State Department, which normally has jurisdiction over international
infrastructure projects.
In his memo to the Senate, the president said: "Because this act of
Congress conflicts with established executive branch procedures and cuts
short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national
interest—including our security, safety, and environment—it has earned
my veto."
The administration still hasn't indicated whether it will approve the
pipeline, even though there aren't any more bureaucratic hurdles to
clear. Early this month, the window for government agencies to weigh in
closed. The most significant comment came from the Environmental
Protection Agency, which said that if oil prices go much lower than they
are, moving oil from Canada by truck or train could become too
expensive. So a green-light for the pipeline would lead to greater
greenhouse gas emissions than if it were not approved.
The final question now is whether the president agrees.
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