President Obama’s delay of the Keystone XL Pipeline continues to be a millstone around his neck. A recent Gallup Poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly approve of the Keystone project by a margin of 59 to 29. The most recent vote in the House was on Wednesday and 69 democrats voted with republicans for approval of the pipeline. The measure passed 293 to 127 which is a veto proof majority. I suspect that Obama’s strategy is to make approval of the pipeline his October surprise. This is clearly a losing issue for the Regime. The republicans need to keep bringing it up until it passes both houses or Obama throws in the towel.
“The president has put his feet in cement in opposition to the Keystone oil pipeline. But on Capitol Hill, more and more Democrats are joining Republicans to force approval of the pipeline, whether Obama wants it or not.
The latest action happened Wednesday, when the House passed a measure to move the pipeline forward. Before the vote, Obama issued a veto threat. The House approved the pipeline anyway — by a veto-proof majority, 293 to 127. Sixty-nine Democrats abandoned the president to vote with Republicans. That’s a lot of defections.
When the House voted on the pipeline in July of last year, 47 Democrats broke with the president. Now that it’s an election year and the number is up to 69, look for Republicans to hold more pipeline votes before November. GOP leaders expect even more Democrats to join them.
Then there is the Senate. Democrats are using the filibuster to stop the pipeline, which means 60 votes are required to pass it. (Some Democrats who bitterly opposed the filibuster when Republicans used it against Obama initiatives are notably silent these days.) In a vote last month, 11 Senate Democrats stood up against Obama to vote in favor of the pipeline. Add those 11 to the Republicans’ 47 votes, and the pro-pipeline forces are just a couple of votes away from breaking Harry Reid’s filibuster.”
Byron York’s entire article can be found here.
Tags: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden
