LA Times: Obama should agree to Keystone XL as sign of bipartisanship [View all]

[DetlefK]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-gop-congress-assessment-20150215-story.html#page=1

Excerpts:
"When Republicans swept into power last November, they promised a new era of productivity and discipline that would break four years of gridlock. "America's New Congress," they called it.

But far from striking a bold contrast with the last two terms of stalemate, congressional Republicans have quickly run into familiar obstacles, including partisan paralysis and party infighting."

...

""To the president I would say this: Do the right thing, sign this bill and help us create more jobs," House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said in brief remarks before affixing his signature to the legislation."

...

"Even the Keystone bill was passed only after an exhaustive process in the Senate. During the course of the debate, more amendments were discussed and dispensed with than in the entire previous year when Democrats were in charge.

In the meantime, however, gas prices plummeted, leaving some analysts to question whether the pipeline project would still pencil out.

"Is it the most important piece of legislation facing the nation? No. But it is an opportunity for us to prove that we're able to work with each other and govern, and it is a good test of whether or not the president is interested in doing that as well," said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.)."

...

"Even when Republicans have been able to stick to their shared priorities — approval of the Keystone legislation, for example — they are running into the power of the White House veto threat."


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Those poor Republicans! They are just trying to overcome the partisan paralysis that has plagued Washington D.C. for years! Okay, the Keystone XL pipeline is neither urgent nor economically sound, but Obama should just sign off on that damn thing to show his goodwill towards the Republicans!