UPDATED
And that didn’t take long…as this breaking news update just came in from Politico:
President Barack Obama today vetoed a bill that would have forced the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, escalating his clash with the Republican Congress over an $8 billion project that has become a symbolic struggle over jobs and economic development versus the environment.
For more Keystone coverage, read here: http://politi.co/1w57ZZ3
INITIAL POST
The self-defeating work of Big Labor should be on full display later this week, as President Obama’s spokesman promises a quick veto of legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline.
Fox News: IN SLAP TO UNIONS, OBAMA TO CAN BIPARTISAN KEYSTONE BILL
“The Senate will send the Keystone XL pipeline bill to President Obama on Tuesday, senior congressional sources tell Fox News. … The House passed a final version of the bill about two weeks ago, but the sources told Fox New that leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress intentionally waited to send it to the White House. They purportedly wanted Congress, which last week was on break, to be in session if and when the president vetoes the bill so they can draw more attention to the issue.”
The Hill: Obama will quickly veto Keystone bill
The White House signaled Monday that Obama would make quick work of rejecting the legislation.
“I would anticipate, as we’ve been saying for years, that the president will veto that legislation, and he will, so I would not anticipate a lot of drama or fanfare around it,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
“I wouldn’t anticipate a lengthy delay” on a veto, he added, hinting at a quick rejection of the bill.
Politico’s Morning Energy: HOW THE KEYSTONE SAGA ENDS – FIVE NOT-SO-EASY PIECES
President Barack Obama plans to veto Congress’ Keystone XL pipeline bill soon after he gets it Tuesday – yet that’s just the beginning of the unpredictable next phase in the project’s journey through the Washington wringer, Elana Schor reports. A veto could doom the congressional push for Keystone, since Republicans lack the votes for an override. But the White House and State Department still must decide the larger question of whether to allow construction of the $8 billion Canada-to-Texas heavy-oil pipeline, and that means – you guessed it – lots o’ cash. Supporters and opponents will be making a final push in a lobbying feud that has already devoured years and tens of millions of dollars. Elana, our Keystone Nostradamus, breaks it down with titles that sound like Secret Service nicknames – The Safe Bet, The Split Decision, Hillary’s Nightmare, The Curveball and The One-Two Punch: http://politico.pro/1Lxei00
Aside from Keystone, Senate Democrats (including Montana Senator Jon Tester) voted once again to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Politico Breaking News Update Monday Afternoon: Democrats filibuster DHS bill again
Senate Democrats have filibustered the GOP-backed funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security for the fourth time, with the legislation failing to clear a 47-46 vote tonight.
That leaves Congress until midnight Friday to find a way to keep DHS from shutting down, while Republicans try to register their disapproval of President Barack Obama’s actions on immigration.
From the NRSC’s “Morning Business:”
Senate Democrats continue to play politics with national security as the National Journal reports that they continued to block legislation that would fully fund the DHS. After Democrats blocked funding legislation for the fourth time, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a new bill that ditches DHS funding and targets only immigration. … With just four days left to find consensus, the Senate voted for a fourth time Monday night on a House-passed bill that fully funded DHS, but rolled back President Obama’s orders on immigration. The bill was again blocked. But there may now be the early signs of a way forward: After that vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a new bill unrelated to DHS funding that, as McConnell described it, would only block funding for Obama’s immigration actions.
Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Speaker Boehner wrote an op-ed for USA Today asking President Obama for the rationale behind his veto of the pro-jobs Keystone XL Pipeline. Tuesday, as promised, the new Congress is sending the White House legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline. This project will support tens of thousands of American jobs. It will bolster the nation’s infrastructure and energy security. And it enjoys a broad base of support from Republicans and Democrats, labor unions and small business owners, not to mention an overwhelming majority of Americans. Keystone is a no-brainer in every way, but the White House says the president will veto this jobs bill. Americans deserve to know why, and what a veto would mean.
The Hill: What do we have to show for government subsidies of wind power?
For the past 23 years, the federal government has subsidized wind power with tens of billions of taxpayer dollars through the Production Tax Credit (PTC). What do we have to show for it? Wind energy only supplied 1.6 percent of total U.S. energy in 2014. Now the Department of Energy wants to reach a ridiculous goal of 20 percent wind energy by 2030. The fledgling wind industry has no hope of reaching that goal on its own, and the government wants to stick the American taxpayer with the bill to sustain an industry that can’t sustain itself.
That was an excerpt of a guest opinion column by Randy Simmons, the director of the Institute for Political Economy and professor of political economy at Utah State University.
The Daily Signal: High-Profile Dispute Between Farm, Green Group Yields Property Rights Bill
After clashing with a non-profit land trust over the terms and conditions of a conservation easement that sits on her property, Martha Boneta saw no alternative to litigation.
That’s because the Piedmont Environmental Council, which serves as a co-holder of the easement, had overstepped its authority to the point where it was trespassing across her property without any meaningful oversight, Boneta alleged in an interview with The Daily Signal.
But thanks to new legislation that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is set to sign into law, property owners can ask the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation to step in and mediate disputes with land trusts like the PEC.