Obama delaying Keystone pipeline to appease envelope stuffers, suggests McConnell

“The President started getting heat from the environmental activists he’s counting on to stuff envelopes next year, so he put off a decision until after the election,” said McConnell. “If this episode tells us anything, it’s that the President is clearly more concerned about getting himself reelected next year than getting somebody in Nebraska or Kansas or South Dakota or Missouri a job today.”

McConnell’s comments were part of a larger effort among Senate Republicans to pressure Obama to use a visit from Canada’s prime minister on Wednesday as an opportunity to reverse his decision on the pipeline, which they saw will create jobs. The proposed pipeline would carry oil from Canada to American refineries on the Gulf Coast.