Landrieu Seeks 60th Vote on Keystone Approval/NBC

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

The Not As Bad wing of the party earns its keep with the paymasters.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/landrieu-seeks-60th-vote-keystone-approval-n250786

With a key Senate vote set for Tuesday night, supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline are scrambling for one more vote to move forward with a measure authorizing the oil transportation project.

The measure, aggressively backed by endangered Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu, needs 60 votes to advance Tuesday evening. So far, 59 senators – including all Republicans – have publicly said they’ll back the bill.

Landrieu pushed for the vote during the lame duck session of Congress after her re-election race in Louisiana advanced to a December 6 runoff. Because the Keystone project is popular in their home state, Landrieu and GOP challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy have jostled for credit for supporting the bill.

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, another chief backer of the bill, predicted Monday that “we’ll get there” by picking up several more supporters before the vote set for 6:15pm ET Tuesday.

[still_one]

1. I hope someone calls me and asks me to donate to Landrieu so I can tell them NO WAY

[kysrsoze]

2. Fuck that oil company stooge. I hope she doesn't get it.

[handmade34]

3. I encourage everyone to call their Senators!

!!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. I look forward to seeing the Party run a better candidate

to unseat Landrieu's opponent at the end of his term as a Senator.

[HERVEPA]

6. HER term as Senator ends shortly. She has no chance in the recall election.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. That's why I'm hoping the party

will run a better candidate in six years' time, to unseat this fellow who will be replacing her.

[HERVEPA]

10. Sorry. Misunderstoofd your post. I guess because the "his" wasn't mentioned in it. :-)

[HappyMe]

5. I hope she doesn't get it.

[belzabubba333]

7. she's is gonna get this passed then get votedf out of office

maybe this party's tent is too big

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

9. The tent isn't too big. It's simply moved too far to the right.

It no longer covers many of the folks on the left. The tent didn't expand, it merely moved who it covers.

[Bandit]

12. I think our tent got stitched to the Republican tent a while back

They seem to be the same tent anymore.

[Marr]

11. This is all so nonsensical. Their own bullshit narratives don't even align.

The Democrats aren't going filibuster anything anyway-- especially not with corporate toadies like Landrieu in the ranks. But even that shouldn't really matter, because there is, I'm told, a solidly pro-working class President in the White House who has a veto pen.

This is all bullshit. It's a means of passing a piece of unpopular, Koch-sucking legislation with political cover, and that's all.

[woo me with science]

13. ^^^^^^ This is the correct answer. ^^^^^^

[karynnj]

14. I think you are wrong on nearly all counts

1) The Democrats ARE filibustering it - hopefully successfully. They do that by getting at least 41 votes. 60 votes are needed to break the filibuster. At this point, Durbin said Landrieu has only 59 -- and he is working to keep it there.

2) The Kestone pipeline is unfortunately popular - polls show 60 plus percent favoring it. This is because the lies on cheaper gas, lots of jobs, and being able to buy less from the ME have gotten more support than the environment. Consider that environmental issues have always split Democratic interest groups - half the unions support it, for example.

I hope that it is filibustered - even though if they now have 59 votes, they likely have 60 next year. (I assume that at least Harkin/Ernst will be a no to yes).

[Marr]

15. They aren't filibustering this bill-- they're trying to pass it.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/17/politics/landrieu-senate-keystone-vote/

We're watching a bit of theater. They're trying to have it five different ways for campaign ads, but I guarantee you they'll get their 60th vote.

[karynnj]

19. Landrieu etc ARE trying to pass it, the Senate liberals (including Durbin) are filibustering it

A filibuster at this point is done by rejecting a cloture vote. It looks really close - and that is because the Republicans are unified behind it and only 15 Democrats are need out of the 55 (including independents that caucus with us). My Senators - Leahy and Sanders are both against the pipeline - anyone here with Senators playing with the idea of voting with Landrieu need to call.

[pampango]

22. "... but I guarantee you they'll get their 60th vote." Maybe, maybe not. n/t

[ctaylors6]

20. according to my math

Rs will gain at least 4 votes by next year:
Harkin No to Ernst Yes
Johnson No to Rounds Yes
Rockefeller No to Capito Yes
Udall No to Gardner Yes

Five of the Ds voting yes are being replaced by Rs so that's a wash. I think that's the 9 seat changes.

Btw, I'm including Landrieu losing in that analysis.

[karynnj]

21. I think you are totally correct -

I had tried to do the same thing - reaching the same depressing result.

However, as it is a new Congress, they have to start over - and again pass a bill in both Houses and send it to the President. From your calculation, they will still (in the Senate) fall short of over riding Obama's veto.

The longer this is pushed off, the less likely it happens as the economics of the pipeline change over time. One thing that actually makes it easier for the Obama administration to rule against it in its process is that the price of oil has fallen to the point where the cheaper pipeline transmission is key to the entire thing being economically viable. This means that they CAN and SHOULD count all the CO2 from extracting what otherwise would not be extracted.

I hope the 2nd term foot dragging on this BAD project is ultimately successful in killing it.

[moondust]

16. Nothing a great big Koch bribe can't fix.

So why all the fuss?

[pampango]

17. Reuters at 1:00 - Keystone XL chances dim in Senate as King says 'no'

Keystone XL supporters in the U.S. Senate faced tough odds for passing a bill to approve the oil pipeline from Canada on Tuesday after one lawmaker they hoped might be a "yes" said he would vote against the project.

"Congress is not – nor should it be – in the business of legislating the approval or disapproval of a construction project," Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, said in a news release.

With the 100-member Senate one vote short of the needed 60 to pass a version of a bill that sailed through the House of Representatives last week, supporters including Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu lobbied for more support.

Republican Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, who introduced the bill with Landrieu, was asked by reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday if there were enough votes to pass it. "I think so," he said. Hoeven told MSNBC the same thing earlier on Tuesday, adding: "We're at 59 votes confirmed. We've got a couple of maybes. I think there's one or two more that may join. So I think we have a good shot to get it."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/18/us-usa-keystone-idUSKCN0J20EQ20141118

[flamingdem]

18. What next?

This is good news but alas the XL is surely not dead yet.