Republicans need to lie. Republican voters want to believe the lie.
Using the Keystone pipeline as an example, we will examine the GOP need to lie and the conservative need to believe the lies. by Bill Schmalfeldt
(liberal)
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Like a shark needs to swim to stay alive, Republicans need to lie in order to exist. In order to justify their support of Republican candidates, the non-wealthy supporters of the Republican party need to believe the lies and will employ acrobatic contortions of logic in order to do so.
Let's use the recently killed Keystone Pipeline project as an example?
“President Obama is destroying tens of thousands of American jobs and shipping American energy security to the Chinese. There’s really just no other way to put it,” (House Speaker John) Boehner, R-Ohio, said.
Except, of course, he isn't doing either. Let's look at the jobs claim.
Tens of thousands of jobs destroyed? That would be just horrible. Except it’s not true. The federal government has estimated (and TransCanada concurs) that the project would create 6,000 to 6,500 temporary construction jobs at best, for two years.
Not "tens of thousands." Not permanent jobs. And this is from Trans Canada!
Shipping American energy security to the Chinese? As if we were going to somehow use these oil sands to decrease foreign dependence on oil? Another lie!
Again, Rosenthal.
As for selling our energy security to the Chinese, it’s hard to know what (the speaker) was talking about. The pipeline would provide crude oil for refineries on the Gulf Coast, but most of their output is destined for export, anyway.
“The Keystone Pipeline has been through three years and it’s passed every approval process as required by the law. Even the president’s own State Department has indicated that this thing ought to move forward,” Boehner said. “The Canadians are in conversations with the Chinese, and if we don’t build this pipeline to bring that Canadian oil and pick up the North Dakota oil and deliver it to our refineries in the Gulf Coast, that oil is gonna get shipped out to the Pacific Ocean and will be sold to the Chinese.”
“This is not good for our country,” he continued. “The president wants to put this off until it’s convenient for him to make a decision. That means after the next election. The fact is the American people are asking the question right now: Where are the jobs? The president’s got an opportunity to create 100,000 new jobs almost immediately. The president should say yes.”
1. Obama wanted to wait to thoroughly study the issue. The Republicans gave him sixty days, holding the payroll tax cut hostage in the process. Basically, what Obama said was, "If you can't wait for a thorough study, then the answer is now. Moving on?"
2. Again Boehner lies about where the oil from the oil sands was destined. It will go to China and elsewhere. That's why it was to be sent to refineries on the Gulf Coast. To be exported.
3. And again with the jobs lie. The lie that has been refuted by the very people who want to build the pipeline.
So, who is hurt the most by the President's decision to delay the project, if not kill it outright? Not the environment. Not these 27-kajillion immediate jobs that would appear out of nowhere. Certainly not the American motorist, as Trans-Canada itself estimates the project would raise gas prices in America by 15 cents a gallon.
No, the people getting hurt the most by the President's decision are the people who are heavily invested in the oil companies that would profit from this environmentally dangerous scheme to fool Americans into thinking that the Keystone pipeline would be a job-creator and our gas prices would go down, as well as our dependence on foreign oil... all of which have been proven to be untrue.
Shortly after the Keystone XL pipeline permit process started gaining steam in Canada and the American Midwest, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) began investing significantly in companies tied to the project. In addition, since 2008 a number of companies that stand to benefit from Keystone XL have donated thousands of dollars to Boehner since 2008. As approval has floundered, Boehner has used his clout as Speaker of the House to try to push the project through in the name of "jobs."
Right. That's the reason he wants Keystone to go through. The "jobs." Not because it would provide him with a personal financial windfall.
According to public financial disclosure statements published by the Center for Responsive Politics, in 2009 Boehner invested $15,001-$50,000 in each of a number of companies that stand to benefit from the Keystone project (documents for 2008-2010 provided for comparison).
Boehner Invested Between $15,001-$50,000 In BP In 2009. [Boehner 2009 Financial Disclosure, 5/14/10, via OpenSecrets.org]
But Boehner has to swim to stay alive. So he must lie. And he must lie to keep his campaign contributions flowing.
Boehner And His PAC Have Received At Least $55,000 From Koch Industries Since 2008. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12; OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
Koch Industries Is "Well Positioned To Benefit" From The Keystone XL Pipeline.Boehner And His PAC Have Received At Least $27,500 From Marathon Oil Since 2008. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12; OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
In 2007, Marathon Oil Purchased A Large Stake In The Athabasca Oil Sands Region.
Boehner Has Received At Least $25,000 From Chevron Corp. Since 2008. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
Boehner Has Received At Least $24,500 From Exxon Mobil Since 2008. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
Boehner Has Received At Least $10,000 From ConocoPhillips Since 2008. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
Boehner Has Received At Least $10,000 From BP Since 2008. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
Boehner Has Received At Least $7,500 From Occidental Petroleum Since 2008. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
Boehner Received $5,000 From Devon Energy During The 2010 Election Cycle. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
Boehner Received $2,500 From Emerson Electric During The 2010 Election Cycle. [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 1/18/12]
So, again, who is harmed by the decision to delay the Keystone pipeline that would not create nearly as many jobs as the Speaker claims, that would raise our gas prices and wind up with us relying even moreso on foreign energy?
Not you. Certainly not the American economy.
Could it be, JOHN BOEHNER who is feeling the pain?
(Maybe that's why he cries so easily.)
And until the next thing that happens to outrage the right wing (and aren't they outraged easily?), the Right Wing meme will be the Boehner lie. Good right wingers, getting their marching orders from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity will believe the lie even though the truth is self-evident and easy to see. The talking heads on the corporate-owned 24/7 media channels will "fairly" and "with balance" report both the Boehner lies without calling them lies and the actual truth without calling it truth. And the message will stick.
If only that horrible Obama had allowed that pipeline, we'd have more jobs than we know what to do with and Happy Days Would be Here Again!
Because that's how it works. It's easier to be stupid and ill-informed than it is to know the facts.
But still. What about the jobs? Boehner said the Republican congress is really, really trying.
Boehner was correct that at least 15 (that number was 30 yesterday -- ed.)measures have passed the House with bipartisan support and remain stuck in the Senate.
Whether they can be described as "jobs bills" relies on the theory that cutting taxes, budgets and regulations will stimulate the economy and thereby lead to more employment. That belief is at least arguable and we’re not ruling whether it’s right or wrong.
But again, knowing whether he is correct requires knowing which economic philosophy will work best in the long run. That is the lynch pin of this debate, and the reason we have not rated Boehner’s claim on the Truth-O-Meter.
See? Pass a bill calling for cutting taxes and regulations on the fat cats, call it a "jobs bill."
That’s roughly 69,000 more jobs than would be created by construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The figures, reviewed by the Center for American Progress, show that overall employment in oil and gas (extraction, field support, pipeline construction and transportation, and petroleum refineries) increased by 13% in the last two years.
The figures do not include categories such as gasoline stations, fuel dealers, asphalt paving, or lubrication production.
So, take your pick. The dour, miserable, pessimistic lies. Or the actual, optimistic, things are getting better truth.
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The views expressed
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