And he’s succeeding, if you want to call it that: Gallup reports that unemployment is up to 9.1%. Gas prices just keep rising. Mission accomplished, champ!
Now, about the lobbying. I don’t recall any prior point in American history when a president did so much to get in the way of job creation and increasing our oil supply. So Barack Obama is setting another new precedent.
President Barack Obama is intervening in a Senate fight over the Keystone XL oil pipeline and personally lobbying Democrats to reject an amendment calling for its construction, according to several sources familiar with the talks.
The White House lobbying effort, including phone calls from the president to Democrats, signals that the vote could be close when it heads to the floor Thursday. The president is trying to defeat an amendment that would give election-year fodder to his Republican critics who have accused him of blocking a job-creating energy project at a time of high gas prices.
Obama is very worried. He wants higher energy prices, he made that clear enough before 52% made the mistake of electing him. But he’s worried now that the Senate Democrats could vote to undo his scuttling of the XL Pipeline. If they do that, they might crack on other issues on which the president’s position is also unpopular. ObamaCare might be the next casualty — it’s an unpopular, freedom killing budget buster. Plus, a president who can’t corral his own party isn’t in much of a position to win re-election no matter who his opponent is.
At any rate, this line in the Politico’s story is amusing.
The president has accused Republicans of playing politics with the pipeline, which is strongly opposed by the environmental community.
And he’s not playing politics, placating the environmental community by trying to push the pipeline decision past the elections? Politico, you’re gonna need cleverer writers.
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