Obama #39;s new communications director is Russian media #39;s favorite punching bag
Obama #39;s new communications director is Russian media #39;s favorite punching bag President Obama announced Thursday that State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki will be the next White House ...
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Obama's new communications director is Russian media's favorite punching bag - Video
MidPoint | Alberto Gonzales discuss the Obama administration refusing to say radical Islam"
The former U.S. Attorney General and current Dean at Belmont University College of Law joins MidPoint to discuss the Obama administration refusing to say ra...
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MidPoint | Alberto Gonzales discuss the Obama administration refusing to say radical Islam" - Video
Obama's signature denying the Keystone bill kicks off what's expected to be a flurry of vetoes on measures that Republicans will send to the White House now they control both chambers of Congress. The President has already threatened to reject 13 GOP-sponsored pieces of legislation, including bills rolling back the Affordable Care Act and reversing his executive action on immigration.
SEE ALSO: Meet the pen Obama used to veto Keystone XL
On Keystone, it appears unlikely GOP lawmakers will be able to reverse Obama's veto. The threshold for overriding a President's veto is a two-thirds vote in each chamber of Congress.
After the President's official veto message was received in the Senate at about 3:30 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the veto override will happen no later than next Tuesday.
The measure, which passed the Republican controlled House and Senate earlier this month, would have bypassed an administration review of the oil pipeline project, which if completed would transport oil from tar sands in Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
Advocates -- including Republican leaders in Congress and the government of Canada -- say Keystone would create American jobs, but opponents argue the potential environmental risks aren't worth it.
The White House said they opposed the GOP-bill because it usurped the President's authority to approve or deny the creation of the pipeline, which was first proposed more than six years ago. Since then, the project has been the subject of administration review, including the current State Department analysis that's been underway for years.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday it was still a possibility that Obama approves the pipeline once the State Department review is complete, but didn't reveal a time line for that scenario.
Obama himself has downplayed the economic benefits of the pipeline, saying America's energy strategy should encompass more than a single project.
"Let's set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline," he said during January's State of the Union address.
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Obama rejects Keystone XL bill - CNN.com
Reports that President Obama agrees Iran should be free to make a nuclear bomb in about 10 years put the lie to his repeated vow never to allow an Iranian nuke. The broken promise is the international twin to his domestic whopper that you can keep your doctor.
You cant, but Iran can keep its enriched uranium, making this lie an even bigger bombshell. As in, bombs away.
It is impossible to overstate the potential catastrophe of the emerging deal. If the terms reported by the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal and others become final, it would mean the United States and leading UN powers give their blessing for the worlds largest sponsor of terrorism to have the ultimate weapon, effectively rewarding Iran for decades of criminal behavior and acts of war against America, Israel and others.
The deal also would launch a new round of nuclear proliferation among Arab states, with Saudi Arabia long promising to get a bomb if Iran does. Others fearful of Irans dominance are sure to follow, escalating the tit-for-tat patterns in the region into a nuclear nightmare.
In addition, an unbound Iranian nuclear industry and spreading enrichment technology make it likely that one or more of the Islamic terror groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, Boko Haram and Islamic State, is likely to get the bomb. And there is no doubt they would use it.
In short, the unfolding nuclear landscape presents the whole of mankind with unprecedented peril.
The terms of the developing agreement, as explained to reporters by negotiators, vindicates concerns that Obama would surrender to Iranian demands while claiming otherwise. He caved in with a deal that envisions a decade-long phase-out of restrictions, allowing Obama to say that there will be no bomb on his watch.
In reality, that is meaningless. The American stamp of approval for a nuclear Iran instantly reshapes geopolitical strategies.
Israel faces a new era of extreme risk, simultaneously in the cross hairs of a genocidal enemy and betrayed by its longest and closest ally. The betrayal continued even yesterday, with Secretary of State John Kerry blasting critics, presumably including Benjamin Netanyahu.
Anyone running around right now, jumping to say we dont like the deal, or this or that, doesnt know what the deal is, Kerry said in Senate testimony. There is no deal yet.
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Obamas chilling Iran nuke lie
Washington President Obama rejected a bill that would approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline Tuesday, issuing the third veto of his presidency to block a Republican-led effort to accomplish one of the GOP's top priorities.
Republicans lack the votes to override his veto, but the fight over Keystone is far from over and what happens next is anyones guess. Thats because Mr. Obamas veto did not reject the pipeline outright; rather, it allows the president to retain decisionmaking authority over the $8 billion project, which requires a green light from the State Department because it crosses the US-Canada border.
"[B]ecause this act of Congress conflictswith established executive branch procedures and cuts shortthorough consideration of issues that could bear on ournational interest -- including our security, safety, andenvironment -- it has earned my veto,"Obama wrote in his message to the Senate.
The president's final decision on the projects fate could be weeks or months away. In the meantime, the contentious years-long debate over a pipeline is likely to continue, despite concerns that Keystone XL distracts from more significant, long-term discussions about the future of US energy and the environment.
Republicans accuse Obama of needlessly delaying approval of the project, proposed six years ago by Canadian firm TransCanada. Keystone backers hoped the bill would force Obamas hand, but the White House promised a veto, saying the legislation circumvents a long-established review process. Obama says he will only approve the 1,179-mile pipeline if it doesnt exacerbate climate change. The president's promise has pleased environmentalists, who say Keystone which would carry 830,000 barrels of emissions-heavy oil sands a day would be an environmental disaster.
So what happens next? Obama has been quiet on the issue, but the State Department is undertaking its final analysis of determining if the pipeline is in the national interest, which could take weeks or months.
Theres incentive for Obama to make a decision sooner rather than later. Keystone could be a nightmare for fellow Democrat Hillary Clintons nascent presidential campaign, as Elana Schor writes in Politico, forcing her to reckon with a statement she made, as Secretary of State, that she was inclined to approve the project. Environmentalists are pressing Ms. Clinton to stake a position on the issue ahead of 2016, and an Obama decision could alleviate that pressure.
Obamas environmental legacy could depend on having a Democratic successor like Clinton. Congressional Republicans and GOP 2016 hopefuls are targeting long-term climate policies like his Clean Power Plan to cut US emissions 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
Regardless of the administrations ultimate decision, though, there are still a few hurdles along the pipelines path. TransCanada needs a construction permit to build through South Dakota, for example, and still faces opposition from some Nebraska landowners.
Meanwhile, the messaging battle between industry and environmentalists continues unabated.
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Obama vetoes Keystone XL bill, but pipeline saga is far from over