The Keystone pipeline will NOT create 20,000 new jobs
“Millions of Americans are desperate for jobs, and no single project promises more of them than the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, which would run from Canada to the Gulf Coast…. As the largest shovel-ready infrastructure project in the U.S., Keystone XL was expected to create 20,000 new jobs right away.”
– U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar and
Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell
And that, of course, is false, and Lugar and McConnell have good reason to know it is false. The Keystone XL Pipeline, the centerpiece of the latest standoff in Washington, will not produce 20,000 shovel-ready jobs. Even TransCanada, the company pushing the pipeline’s construction, now acknowledges that it is false.
The number that the company likes to throw around is now 13,000 direct construction jobs, but that too is misleading. When challenged, the company acknowledges that it is counting what you might call “job years.” In other words, TransCanada believes the project will produce 6,500 jobs that last for two years.
Six thousand five hundred jobs is a far cry from 20,000. And even the 6,500-job estimate is much too high. According to an independent assessment by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the project would produce between 2,500 and 4,650 construction jobs, and could even end up costing the country jobs, for reasons that we’ll get to below.
TransCanada is basing its job estimates on a report that it commissioned from the Perryman Group. However, the Perryman Group has refused to release important data behind its estimate, claiming it to be proprietary information. The folks at Cornell nevertheless took what data Perryman did make available and found several major, fundamental flaws in its approach.
For example, a $1 billion portion of the Keystone XL pipeline has already been built and is up and operating. The Perryman study nonetheless pretends that section of the project is still on the drawing boards and, when built, will provide thousands of new jobs.
In addition, Keystone supporters ignore the fact that large quantities of Canadian tar-sands oil are already being imported into the United States and are being refined and used in the American Midwest. As the Cornell study points out:
“According to TransCanada, KXL will increase the price of heavy crude oil in the Midwest by almost $2 to $4 billion annually, and escalating for several years. It will do this by diverting major volumes of tar sands oil now supplying the Midwest refineries, so it can be sold at higher prices to the Gulf Coast and export markets. As a result, consumers in the Midwest could be paying 10 to 20 cents more per gallon for gasoline and diesel fuel, adding up to $5 billion to the annual US fuel bill.”
As the Cornell study concludes, those higher fuel prices for the Midwest could cost that region thousands of jobs. So while the pipeline construction would certainly help the Canadian tar-sands investors — many of them Chinese — get a higher price for their product by moving it to the Gulf, it could prove to be a wash or even a net negative in terms of jobs for American workers.
As the Cornell study concludes:
“It is unfortunate that the numbers generated by TransCanada, the industry, and the Perryman study have been subject to so little scrutiny, because they clearly inflate the projections for the numbers of direct, indirect, and long-term induced jobs that KXL might expect to create. What is being offered by the proponents is advocacy to build support for KXL, rather than serious research aimed to inform public debate and responsible decision making. By repeating inflated numbers, the supporters of KXL approval are doing an injustice to the American public in that expectations are raised for jobs that simply cannot be met. These numbers — hundreds of thousands of jobs! — then get packaged as if KXL were a major jobs program capable of registering some kind of significant impact on unemployment levels and the overall economy. This is plainly untrue.”
– Jay Bookman
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
804 comments Add your comment
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:25 pm
Obama is agnostic, more like antagonistic, toward jobs
FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real)
December 14th, 2011
3:25 pm
I think it’s time for Senator Franken to release a new edition of “Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right”
Adam
December 14th, 2011
3:26 pm
That Black guy: Context, man.
md
December 14th, 2011
3:26 pm
Adam and a few others…….there is a difference between “probability” and “possibility”…..but one would be wise to understand that both are in play.
RB from Gwinnett
December 14th, 2011
3:26 pm
“Sure it is, we all are evidence of evolution.”
Sorry, but no, we’re not. Evolution requires a change in the DNA to a more advanced species. Your example is no differnt than a german shepard mating with a poodle. The offspring look different from the parents, but they’re still dogs. The DNA hasn’t changed.
Next?
That Black guy
December 14th, 2011
3:26 pm
Adam
December 14th, 2011
2:18 pm
Well no, but for the record putting “Bush” or “rich” on a bingo card doesn’t really qualify
Why?
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:26 pm
Let my people work Obama!
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
3:26 pm
“how do you know I wasn’t a test tube baby?”
You developed in a test tube? IT’S A MIRACLE!
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:27 pm
Looks like Dingy Harry Reid can’t pass the payroll tax cut.
Most incompetent guy to ever run the Senate.
RB from Gwinnett
December 14th, 2011
3:27 pm
Did somebody mention fossil fuels? Do you still think all that oil we’re pumping out of the ground is just a bunch of decayed dinosaurs? Sure must have been alot of them to produce all that oil, right? Funny we don’t find more skeletal remains….
Matti's Practicality
December 14th, 2011
3:28 pm
md,
I don’t know that, but I choose to see you in the best possible light, whenever possible. It’s just as easy to look for the best in somebody as it is see the worst, don’t you think?
Butch Cassidy
December 14th, 2011
3:28 pm
Just to clarify, Why can’t the pipeline initiative be a separate bill that can be reviewd and passed AFTER the payroll tax and unemployment extension? Did Transcanada demand an answer by the end of the week or what?
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
3:28 pm
“Evolution requires a change in the DNA to a more advanced species”
No, it doesn’t. All “evolution” means, in that sense, is a different species. Different is not necessarily “more advanced”
TBone
December 14th, 2011
3:29 pm
I think you need to back off the economic discussions for awhile. There will be no 20,000 shovel ready jobs but I bet there will be that many total jobs. Consider this: a plywood mill goes out of business and some 300 employees are let go. Is that the extent of the loss? Hell no; there are trucks, saws, fuel, food and even landowners that create the support system for this endeavor to succeed. Will there be a ripple effect through the community; you’re damned right.
Mad Max
December 14th, 2011
3:29 pm
Adam @ 3:05 – When did teacher payrolls for a locality become a national responsibility. Local governments and school districts have a method of funding through their own tax structure. If the local citizens do not want to pay for their teachers, firefighters, police why should those jobs be subsidized by the rest of the country?
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:29 pm
FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real)
December 14th, 2011
3:25 pm
I think it’s time for Senator Franken to release a new edition of “Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Left”
Al Franken is doing an autobiography? Would anyone even read it?
Talking Head
December 14th, 2011
3:31 pm
“Sure it is, we all are evidence of evolution.”
Sorry, but no, we’re not. Evolution requires a change in the DNA to a more advanced species. Your example is no differnt than a german shepard mating with a poodle. The offspring look different from the parents, but they’re still dogs. The DNA hasn’t changed.”
What I was saying is that we are all examples of evolution. How do you know that evolution isn’t occuring now or in the past? How do you know that evolution isn’t apart of intelligent design?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…(big bang)…why couldn’t this have been the start of intelligent design?
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:31 pm
Tbone,
Not just that but local merchants, restaurants, etc. are affected by job losses and or gains. As I stated earlier I find it curious that Jay did not mention the number of indirect jobs that would be created or affected in a positive way by 13,000 or 20,000 new jobs.
md
December 14th, 2011
3:31 pm
“It’s just as easy to look for the best in somebody as it is see the worst, don’t you think?”
If that’s the case, you would of painted mommy in a much better light…..I’m sure she enjoys the pleasures of life just as much as the next woman.
md
December 14th, 2011
3:33 pm
“You developed in a test tube? IT’S A MIRACLE!”
Never said that…….but the test tube part nullified the Daddy/Mommy love scene assumption……
HDB
December 14th, 2011
3:34 pm
saywhat?
December 14th, 2011
3:05 pm
Too many people aren’t getting their information from CLOSER sources; here’s what came from Omaha (worth repeating!)
LINCOLN, Neb. — TransCanada said it will voluntarily reroute the proposed Keystone XL pipeline around the Sand Hills. It’s a deal Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman supports.
Now, Nebraska lawmakers are putting together the first pieces of the compromise. The deal comes in two parts:
The first — which directly affects the Keystone XL pipeline — would allow Nebraska’s State Department of Environmental Quality to work with the U.S. State Department to determine an alternate route around the Sand Hills. The governor would have to sign off on the new route, but in the end, it possibly avoids additional delays.
“The most important objection was to move the route. So if we can expedite the supplemental environmental impact statement and get moving on construction of the pipeline, we’re all for that,” Heineman said.
The second part deals with future pipelines. Lawmakers advanced LB1, which would give siting authority to the Public Service Commission.
“This is probably one of the best outcomes that could have come out of it. But I’m a bit reserved in the fact that we have properly looked at what this is going to cost,” Sen. Bob Krist said.
Read more: http://www.ketv.com/news/29779079/detail.html#ixzz1gXis1v25
Now…what has to be done is the environmental impact study in Nebraska….and approval from the State Department. In the attempt to “fast track” this, the GOP is trying to AVOID the environmental study!! Even Nebraska’s Governor wants to know the FULL impact on his state! The Ogallala Aquafer feeds the entire state of Nebraska; what would they do if a major spill contaminated their primary source of water???
TaxPayer
December 14th, 2011
3:34 pm
Uh Oh. I check back in to find Jay calling out the Republicans for their misleading ways yet again. Have the Republican posters blown their gaskets many times over already. Well, at least they will create a minimum of 20,000 jobs manufacturinmg fainting couches for them. We’re Doomed! DOOMED, I say!
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:34 pm
Butch
Stockbroker. That’s a good honest trade (as opposed to government contractor) in my book as long as honestly executed.
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
3:35 pm
“but the test tube part nullified the Daddy/Mommy love scene assumption……”
The physical part, sure, but not the emotional part and not the development part.
That Black guy
December 14th, 2011
3:35 pm
jewcowboy
December 14th, 2011
2:27 pm
“Got any bingo cards for Koch, Fox, Bush, rich, and the other strawmen that get flung about like monkey poo?”
Yeah…we should never speak of Bush again. He never existed. That’s at least the mantra of the Republican Party would love to get forget he ever existed
I disagree. We should talk about Bush, Cheney, Carter, Gore and all the other pizz poor politicians. If we don’t talk about them we run the risk of repeating them to our own peril.
I just think the dirversion “Well Bush …” sounds just as stupid as the diversion “Well Obama …” when they have nothing to do with the discussion at hand.
AmVet
December 14th, 2011
3:36 pm
150 years on and these globally cooled non-scientists still cannot grasp what bright men four or five generations ago did.
On the Origin of Species is considered by historians and philosophers of science to be one of the most important ideas that the human mind has ever produced.
It is the very basis for a number of modern sciences and he is considered the father of modern biology.
And reading insanely uninformed and woefully uneducated bloggers, who have not spent a lifetime studying these matters and taking meticulous notes, in some childish attempt to rationally challenge the basic premise of his work is, well………laughable does not even begin to describe it.
jewcowboy
December 14th, 2011
3:37 pm
Talking Head,
God is the universe.
Mad Max
December 14th, 2011
3:37 pm
Butch – because politics is made up of compromises. Obama wants the payroll tax to buy votes of the average Joe and wants to hold up the pipeline to buy votes from the treehuggers. The Republicans want to create jobs that will increase tax revenues to buy their votes. It’s just a matter of what side you sit on. Both sides are pandering to get votes. Those who think the government should get out of the way are on one side and those who think the government should be in charge if everything are on the other. The Republicans are giving him his biggest candy bar and asking him to compromise on the other. And to the 6500+ people (not including the ripple effect) that would get the jobs, it is important.
Butch Cassidy
December 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
Thulsa Doom – “As I stated earlier I find it curious that Jay did not mention the number of indirect jobs that would be created or affected in a positive way by 13,000 or 20,000 new jobs.”
It’s good to know that the people on the Right are so deeply concerned about job creation in the 3 states with the lowest unemployment in the country.
1 NORTH DAKOTA 3.5
2 NEBRASKA 4.2
3 SOUTH DAKOTA 4.5
What’s the next mission, ensuring that the Southwest has plenty of sand?
Scooter
December 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
Well color me shocked that a politician would stretch the truth to fit their political objective.
I mean really? It is done by both sides consistently and I would think people would mature enough to see that. Once seen, it seems petty to harp on the practice by one party while supporting or ignoring that of the other party. I guess juveniles live in the political fringes.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
Butch. And kudos on the lucky sperm club too
And if it starts with a B instead of an M, congrats on that too
I made my own “trust fund”.
HDB
December 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
For those who complain about the possibility of a Presidential VETO on this bill….note this from the New York Times today:
“When Republicans took over the House last year, they pledged to “end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with ‘must-pass’ legislation.” If any of them wonder why the popularity of Congress is at an all-time low, they need only flip through their violation of that pledge on virtually every page of this legislation. ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/opinion/the-insidious-fine-print-in-the-spending-bill.html?_r=1&hp
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
Butch Cassidy
December 14th, 2011
3:28 pm
Just to clarify, Why can’t the pipeline initiative be a separate bill that can be reviewd and passed AFTER the payroll tax and unemployment extension? Did Transcanada demand an answer by the end of the week or what?
I suspect its because the Republicans demand jobs for our people and this is a way of forcing the president’s hand. As to environmental studies I believe the pipeline environmental study has been going on 3 years now. That’s a lotta time just to study something.
As for the jobs bills they get passed in the house only to die in the Democrat controlled senate. More of Harry Reid and the Dems playing games with America’s future.
Speaker John A. Boehner produced a card listing the “forgotten 15” jobs bills that have passed the House but not the Senate. The Ohio Republican gave the card to members, telling them to carry it with them, hold it up at events at home, and flash it during interviews to remind Americans that Republicans are doing everything they can to address the employment situation.
The Democratic strategy is to set up Republicans as a foil for their 2012 re-election bids. Even though the congressional approval rating is down in the single-digits, Mr. Reid wants to draw a distinction between his party and the GOP by only bringing up bills that Republicans will oppose so his caucus can send out accusatory press releases.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/1/dead-end-senate/
RB from Gwinnett
December 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…(big bang)…why couldn’t this have been the start of intelligent design?”
Sure it’s possible. If God is capable of creating us, I’m sure the rest of that was a piece of cake for him.
Speaking of the big bang theory….doesn’t it seem odd all of the plantary pieces from the explosion of a single rock are all round? And isn’t it more odd they have different compositions even though they supposedly came from the same rock? And have different atmospheres?
Kinda makes you wonder if that theory has any merit at all doesn’t it?
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
3:42 pm
“buy votes from the treehuggers”
“create jobs that will increase tax revenues”
“government should get out of the way”
“the government should be in charge if everything”
Got most of the talk-radio talking points in there.
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
3:42 pm
“doesn’t it seem odd all of the plantary pieces from the explosion of a single rock are all round”
Nope, since the big bang was not a “rock” originated event
FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real)
December 14th, 2011
3:43 pm
Thulsa Doom – I probably would not read Franken’s autobiography but I am entertained by his satire.
Adam
December 14th, 2011
3:44 pm
Mad Max: When did teacher payrolls for a locality become a national responsibility.
It isn’t. Still, it’s nice that SOMEONE is trying to help when the chips are down locally.
jewcowboy
December 14th, 2011
3:46 pm
Why are discussing this pipeline anyway. The Republicans told me in 2010 in their Pledge to America, they would “end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with ‘must-pass’ legislation to circumvent the will of the American people. Instead, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time.”
So all this is just academic. The GOP wouldn’t renege on their Pledge to America. Would they?
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
House bill requires unemployment recipients to pursue a GED if they don’t have one to keep getting benefits
And Obama is against education now too…..
What’s not to love about this bill? Other than the deficit creating tax cut.
HDB
December 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
The pipeline compromise was noted as of November 15; to do an environmental impact study on the NEW proposed route may take a year!! Note my 3:34……..
As per your 3:40….note my 3:40 also…………..
saywhat?
December 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
RB- Did Adam and Eve have navels?
Adam
December 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
jewcowboy: Technicality. One man’s “must pass” is another man’s “must NEVER EVER PASS OMG IT WOULD MAKE A BLACK MAN LOOK GOOD NOOOOOO”
Ross Perot
December 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
This will NEVER be more than a war game i’m sure.
http://technorati.com/politics/article/iranian-war-games-strait-of-hormuz/
Maybe we should re-consider the pipeline…
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:48 pm
HDB,
Harry Reid is the problem. Read the part about the popular bi-partisan bill past last week in the house with support from both dems and repubs.
Harry Reid is determined to do nothing productive this year. The Senate majority leader has made it his mission to block votes on bipartisan legislation originating in the Republican-controlled House while bringing Democratic bills to the floor that are designed to fail. It’s a dead-end road paved with intentions to re-elect President Obama.
Last week, the House passed a strongly bipartisan bill which would prevent a job-killing 3 percent withholding tax on all government contractors from going into effect. Even though the White House supports the measure, Mr. Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has chosen instead to bring another “small bite” from the president’s failed American Jobs Act to the floor. He wants to hike taxes on business owners so he can blow $60 billion in more stimulus for bike paths, choo-choo trains and bus stops.
Mr. Reid can’t even round up all the Democrats behind his partisan plan, but he continues to drag his feet on items that could pass because the last thing he wants to do is adopt legislation that gives the GOP the chance to take some credit with the public.
The Senate has not been this inactive in at least a quarter-century. As of Tuesday, the Senate had held 194 votes for the year, 54 fewer than at this time last year.
Butch Cassidy
December 14th, 2011
3:48 pm
jewcowboy -”So all this is just academic. The GOP wouldn’t renege on their Pledge to America. Would they?”
They had their fingers crossed when they made the pledge. So legally they aren’t required to follow it.
ragnar danneskjold
December 14th, 2011
3:49 pm
The new pipeline ought to be built, not because it is a jobs program, but because the free market sees that as a way to deliver a product at a market price. The bizarre aspect of it all is that the leftists would prohibit the free market from working. One has to wonder why.
Perhaps it is to keep the cost of gasoline higher than necessary.
Perhaps it is to keep the US dependent on foreign oil.
Perhaps it is to protect the investments of those overlords pushing uneconomic alternative energy sources, such as wind or solar.
Perhaps it is just to show the mere people who runs this place.
By any measure it should show a thinking moderate one additional reason to vote against the democrats.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:49 pm
Obama. Let America work!
Ross Perot
December 14th, 2011
3:49 pm
Why are discussing this pipeline anyway. The Republicans told me in 2010 in their Pledge to America, they would “end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with ‘must-pass’ legislation to circumvent the will of the American people. Instead, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time.”
And Obama promised the most transparent government ever. And we believe politicians every time…
saywhat?
December 14th, 2011
3:49 pm
“So all this is just academic. The GOP wouldn’t renege on their Pledge to America. Would they?”
No more than Newt would renege on his pledge to be faithful in marriage.
Adam
December 14th, 2011
3:50 pm
House bill requires unemployment recipients to pursue a GED if they don’t have one to keep getting benefits
That would be a good one ONLY if the bill also proposes to pay for all the expenses involved. I’m sure they’re minimal. So go for it. And make sure it says “high school graduates and those who already have GEDs are exempted.”
Mad Max
December 14th, 2011
3:50 pm
Kammie – refute them if you can – Both parties are buying votes, they just go about it different ways while we are on pace to run up another trillion in debt this year with no slackening in sight. When does it all stop – when debt gets to 60 cents on the dollar – what happens if interest rates rise when we get there? And before you trot out the Bush ran it up too arguement, I give you a movie title – Dumb and Dumber.
JV
December 14th, 2011
3:51 pm
“We found ourselves in a hole that I didn’t dig, but I have dug, dug and dug to try to get out of that hole.”
– Harry Reid
saywhat?
December 14th, 2011
3:51 pm
ragnar @ 3:49
Or perhaps it is because we prefer our food without a daily allowance of benzene.
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
3:51 pm
They had their fingers crossed when they made the pledge. So legally they aren’t required to follow it.
But…but…but…they pinky-sweared.
Adam
December 14th, 2011
3:51 pm
Ross Perot: Name an administration that was MORE transparent.
barking frog
December 14th, 2011
3:51 pm
saywhat, adam and eve did not have navels or any other kind of orange.
jewcowboy
December 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
“Advance Legislative Issues One at a Time
We will end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with “must-pass” legislation to circumvent the will of the American people. Instead, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time.”
I see it right there at the bottom of the GOP.gov, so surely they are not including an unrelated pipeline in legislation about payroll taxes.
http://www.gop.gov/pledge/readthebill#body
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
HDB,
They’ve already been studying the environmental impact of the pipeline since 2008. The final report will be issued but they’ve been doing it awhile now.
http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf?Open
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
3:55 pm
“But…but…but…they pinky-sweared.”
I regret to inform you that the photo you saw of that pledge has proven to have been photoshopped
Mad Max
December 14th, 2011
3:55 pm
Adam – glad to hear that you don’t think it’s our responsibility. Again, I ask why should people in Roswell Ga (who passed a sales tax to fund education) pay the local taxes for people in timbuktu wh didn’t raise their taxes?
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:55 pm
Ragnar indeed
Though jobs should be a consideration too
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
3:57 pm
Kammie – refute them if you can…
Never said I would, sport.
I’m merely pointing out your linguistic games.
Your sitting on Frank Luntz’ knee with his hand in your back, and I can’t even see his lips move.
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:57 pm
“That would be a good one ONLY if the bill also proposes to pay for all the expenses involved. I’m sure they’re minimal. So go for it.”- Adam
Is there anything that Adam doesn’t want the gubment to pay for? Go ahead and get your Christmas wish list ready to give Santa or rather the gubment.
jewcowboy
December 14th, 2011
3:57 pm
Kamchak,
“But…but…but…they pinky-sweared”
Does that make them socialists or gay?
Jm
December 14th, 2011
3:57 pm
Jays right. It won’t create 20,000 jobs.
It will create more than that.
HDB
December 14th, 2011
3:59 pm
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
From what I’ve read…that was on the ORIGINAL route…..but what about the NEW routing?? That study hasn’t been done yet! The Governor is trying to get that expedited……..
Jm
December 14th, 2011
4:00 pm
China just slapped a tax of 10% on all cars entering China from the US
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
4:00 pm
“It will create more than that”
Well! That settles THAT. Now what will we have to talk about?
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
4:00 pm
Does that make them socialists or gay?
Neither, it makes them tween girls.
RB from Gwinnett
December 14th, 2011
4:00 pm
“RB- Did Adam and Eve have navels?”
The Bible indicates there was a tree in the garden with fruit they weren’t allowed to eat, but it doesn’t specify if it was a delicious variety of oranges!!
Matti's Practicality
December 14th, 2011
4:02 pm
jewcowboy,
Now, now… I’m sure that the 2010 House GOP were every bit as sincere with their “Pledge to America” as they were with the Gingrick-led “Contract with America.” The key is: listen to what they TELL us, not what they actually do. (Hence, American Idol and other such nonsense from the Fox Distraction Network. Anything to keep Americans from reading the newspaper or watching their representatives “at work” on C-SPAN!)
Thulsa Doom
December 14th, 2011
4:02 pm
HDB,
Well I guess that just changes everything. Another year just to study the new route. And to think liberals don’t understand what CEOs or cons are talking about when we speak of stifling regulation and red tape. Unreal.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
4:04 pm
University of Michigan study says obama’s new cafe standards will result in bigger cars, not better fuel economy
Obama is dumb
Old Timer
December 14th, 2011
4:05 pm
Let those 500 people starve and let’s buy oil from terrorists instead?
I’m amazed that people still don’t get it: Producing more U.S. or Canadian oil won’t increase our supply by one quart. You see, oil is a world commodity. It’s sold on an open world market. If Japan outbids U.S. buyers, then Japan gets the oil, absent a law requiring our oil producers to give the U.S. preference—and Republicans would hate that constraint. Those oil companies don’t give a hoot in he!! who buys their oil. There’s no patriotism in profit. And since we have less of the world’s oil reserves than other countries, all we’ll be doing by increasing production in North America is exhausting our reserves more quickly, not increasing our own oil supply. Oil, you see, doesn’t know whether it’s produced by terrorists or by pacifists.
Please stop writing and thinking like 8th graders.
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
4:07 pm
There’s no patriotism in profit.
Thirty years of phlogiston economists insist otherwise.
Butch Cassidy
December 14th, 2011
4:08 pm
Old Timer – “Please stop writing and thinking like 8th graders.”
What, and break tradition?
That Black guy
December 14th, 2011
4:08 pm
Adam
December 14th, 2011
3:03 pm
“health bill and near trillion dollar stimulus were rammed down the throats of the American people.”
But the $5T over 10 years worth of war? we can forget about all THAT
Adam, where did you get the $5T war cost? Do you have a link?
Logical Dude
December 14th, 2011
4:08 pm
I notice a couple of things:
a) pipeline has plans to be built over an aquifer
b) aquifer is water and we dont’ want to pollute water – especially an isolated aquifer like this one
c) people like to see more jobs, especially related to the pipeline.
Another solution!!!!
You see, if you add 500 miles of pipeline to put in AROUND the aquifer, you generate even MORE jobs.
Man, why can’t all solutions be this easy? You SAVE THE WATER and CREATE MORE JOBS. all at the same time!
Too bad this isn’t my day job.
Ross Perot
December 14th, 2011
4:08 pm
Adam: Reagan and Bush 1 for starters. The only green about Odonor’s jobs are the cash flowing in, routed from taxpayers to sham business recipients in return for cash you Odonor ostrich.
Scott Denson
December 14th, 2011
4:10 pm
Why did the president delay the pipeline until after the election. That would be like delaying implementation of healthcare reform until after the election. OOPS!
Jm
December 14th, 2011
4:11 pm
Old timer’s twisted logic is an example of all that is wrong with liberal thinking
Increasing supply won’t increase supply? Ok. If you’re a liberal.
Adam
December 14th, 2011
4:12 pm
Ross Perot: You’re joking if you think Bush 1 and Reagan were more transparent administrations.
AmVet
December 14th, 2011
4:12 pm
There’s no patriotism in profit.
And to that point, why I would LOVE to tear down that giant American flag at 10 Wall Street and give it to real patriots, instead of letting those criminals who hide behind it keep it up there…
Matti's Practicality
December 14th, 2011
4:12 pm
Old Timer,
Wait.. you mean, if we drill more oil from the Gulf of Mexico, it won’t be piped directly into Mom & Pop gas stations in small towns and rural areas (where “real” ‘mericans live), where only good, true American citizens can buy gas for $1.50/gallon if they flash their GOP or NRA membership cards? WHO KNEW?
Adam
December 14th, 2011
4:13 pm
Sorry, It’s not $5T it’s more like $1.29T so far, according to one account.
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
4:16 pm
DOT pulls plug on $1 billion I-75/I-575 project
I ’spect we’re gonna get a transportation thread soon.
Matti's Practicality
December 14th, 2011
4:17 pm
jm thinks reality is “twisted logic.” That may be so, jm, but we don’t fill our tanks on the logic we want, we fill our tanks on the logic we have. Increasing our U.S. domestic oil production to its maximum levels would not impact the price of oil per barrel, nor the price of gas per gallon for us. I know you want it to be so, and you can sit on Santa’s lap and ask him to make it so, but it just ain’t so. Bless your heart!
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
4:17 pm
“Increasing supply won’t increase supply? Ok. If you’re a liberal”
Yep. Because “liberals” are capable of understanding that if you turn the tap on here, there’s NOTHING to stop other oil producers from turning THEIR taps off.
Erwin's cat
December 14th, 2011
4:17 pm
science doesn’t prove or disprove the existence of a god….nor has it proved or disproved the “theory” of evolution, then there’s that pesky 2nd law of thermodynamics
Adam
December 14th, 2011
4:18 pm
Hmm, and $5T according to another source: http://gooznews.com/?p=3154
Quite a big difference…. makes me wonder if anyone knows the real answer.
Adam
December 14th, 2011
4:21 pm
science doesn’t prove or disprove the existence of a god….nor has it proved or disproved the “theory” of evolution
The difference is that science CAN’T prove or disprove the existence of god because that is NOT something that the scientific method can be applied to. However, the Theory of evolution (click the link for why your use of scare quotes is absurd) attempts to disprove the idea of evolution, and has not done so yet. Further evidence only leads to more of a possibility of it being correct.
Kamchak
December 14th, 2011
4:22 pm
Only by opening the box, can we determine if the cat has decayed.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
4:22 pm
I hope for the sake of our country that there are smarter liberals out there, somewhere, than the ones on this blog……
getalife
December 14th, 2011
4:24 pm
How about a nice I will not break the law bill?
We have to look at their stock purchases now with zero trust in government.
Nice job cantor.
Welcome home troops.
carlosgvv
December 14th, 2011
4:24 pm
Old Timer – “There’s no patriotism in profit”
These are the truest words I’ve read all day. Big Business moguls will make profit any way and every way they can and have a zero amount of patriotism. They also totally own the Republican Party.
Jm
December 14th, 2011
4:24 pm
Jay. Did Obama sign that bad defense authorization bill that trampels on our rights?
I expect obama will sign it. He doesn’t mind using drones on Americans.
Erwin's cat
December 14th, 2011
4:25 pm
the “scare” quotes were to highlight that evolution is just a “theory”
Doggone/GA
December 14th, 2011
4:27 pm
“evolution is just a “theory”
Evolution is not “just a theory” it’s a “scientific theory” – there’s a BIG difference
Brosephus
December 14th, 2011
4:30 pm
Old timer’s twisted logic is an example of all that is wrong with liberal thinking
Increasing supply won’t increase supply? Ok. If you’re a liberal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RjXY_-PUbo