Yesterday in Chattanooga, President Obama made jokes about the jobs that can be created by the Keystone XL Pipeline – which has strong bipartisan support from unions, workers, businesses, and a clear majority of Americans.
“They keep on talking about this — an oil pipeline coming down from Canada that’s estimated to create about 50 permanent jobs — that’s not a jobs plan.” – President Obama, President Obama’s speech in Chattanooga, 7/30/2013
A few days prior, President Obama “chuckled” as he mocked those who knowingly say Keystone will create jobs: “Republicans have said that this would be a big jobs generator. There is no evidence that that’s true. And my hope would be that any reporter who is looking at the facts would take the time to confirm that the most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline — which might take a year or two — and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 [chuckles] jobs in a economy of 150 million working people.”
Today, PolitiFact, who did look into it, rated Obama’s claim as “False.”
Is President Obama really in a position to laugh at the creation of any jobs? The truth is that his own State Department said the Keystone Pipeline would support more than 42,000 jobs.
But whether Keystone would create one hundred, one thousand, or one-hundred thousand jobs, why would anyone mock them? At a time when job growth remains anemic, every single job is important.
Does Democrat Bruce Braley agree with President Obama that the Keystone Pipeline is a joke? Does Bruce Braley agree that passing up an opportunity to create tens of thousands of jobs is a laughing matter?
“Bruce Braley claims to be a moderate, but in Washington he just empowers the liberal Obama/Reid/Schumer/Pelosi anti-energy agenda which costs jobs in Iowa,” said NRSC Press Secretary Brook Hougesen. “Iowa workers, businesses and families have been crippled by the liberal agenda of more regulations, higher taxes, and the empowerment of bureaucrats at EPA that has crippled growth and created a mountain of uncertainty. Bruce Braley should have the courage to stand up to President Obama as he insults pro-energy states like Iowa by laughing off the Keystone Pipeline and the thousands of jobs that come with it.”
BACKGROUND:
The State Department Said The Keystone Pipeline Would Support 42,100 Jobs.(Brad Plumer, “State Dept: Keystone XL Would Have Small Impact On Climate, Tar Sands,” The Washington Post, 3/1/13)
Americans Support the Keystone XL Pipeline By Wide Margin. (National Journal, United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, 7/16/2013)
Labor Unions Strongly Support Construction Of The Keystone XL Jobs Project
PolitiFact Rates Obama Claims On Keystone As False
Obama said the Keystone XL pipeline might produce about 2,000 jobs during construction, based on the most reliable estimates. The White House provided no supporting evidence and the administration’s own State Department predicted that while the pipeline would produce few permanent jobs, the construction process itself would create nearly twice as many jobs as the president said. We rate the statement False. (PolitiFact, Obama says Keystone XL would mean “maybe 2,000 jobs”, 7/31/2013)
