Obama Leans Backwards (Updated: Romney Slams Obama's XL Decision) Update: Perry Responds

The NRCC put this video out a couple of weeks ago, as it turns out, a couple of weeks too soon.

It mocks this MSNBC Rachel Maddow ad, in which she uses the Hoover Dam to illustrate her belief that America should still come together as a nation to do great things.

Apparently Maddow has never heard of the snail darter and the dune sagebrush lizard. Her fellow progressives have, and have used them as showstoppers on projects similar to the Hoover Dam.

Can there be a clearer example of the emptiness of Maddow’s ad, than the decision by the administration that she supports, to kill the XL Keystone pipeline? Is there a more obvious example out there of this president’s intentionally halting real progress in the name of leftist “progress,” than this decision?

Update: The first GOP candidate out of the gate with a reaction to the XL scuttle — Romney.

Boston, MA – Mitt Romney today made the following statement on President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline:

“President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is as shocking as it is revealing. It shows a President who once again has put politics ahead of sound policy. If Americans want to understand why unemployment in the United States has been stuck above 8 percent for the longest stretch since the Great Depression, decisions like this one are the place to begin. By declaring that the Keystone pipeline is not in the ‘national interest,’ the President demonstrates a lack of seriousness about bringing down unemployment, restoring economic growth, and achieving energy independence. He seems to have confused the national interest with his own interest in pleasing the environmentalists in his political base.”

Update: The Perry camp just released this response to the president’s XL decision.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s decision to reject the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline:

“President Obama has decided to pander to his left-wing base and environmental radicals at the expense of American jobs and our national energy security. He chose Chinese energy security over American energy security. As Iran threatens to choke off the world’s energy supply, the decision to turn down a viable energy source from Canada is simply short-sighted.

“This decision not only goes against common sense, but against the recommendation made yesterday by his own Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which recommended permitting of new pipelines.

“With record fuel prices and staggering job losses under Obama, you would think he would put aside political posturing and give the American economy a much-needed shot in the arm. President Obama should have chosen jobs and energy security over political appeasement. He is wrong.”