Missouri Dem congressman: Obama might cave on Keystone XL veto threat

According to a Democratic congressman from Missouri, President Obama might walk back from his vow to veto a payroll tax-exension bill tied to building the Keystone XL pipeline, which Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) told me in a conference call could add up to 100,000 jobs.

The Hill has more:

"I think [Obama] is serious, but at the end, it may be here's an opportunity to get a deal and get what I want and go home," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). "Consider the fact that in previous debates like this, before the end of the summer, the president never said,
'I will veto [the pipeline deal],' so I don’t know the strategy in the White House right now, but I’ve got to say that the president is serious, but I think in politics everybody understands you have to get the best deal you can."

Earlier this year the administration said it would delay its review of the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would bring crude from Alberta's oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries, until after the 2012 election.

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We'll see who is more important to Obama. The unions--many of these new jobs will be union positions--or his Hollywood environmentalist donors.

Related post:


Report from the bloggers' conference call with Sen. Barrasso on building the Keystone XL pipeline and jobs

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