Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy could best occupy their time with more constructive actions than forcing a vote on congress to approve the building of the pipeline. Everyone knows, especially those in Louisiana that Mary Landrieu has been a supporter of the oil and gas industry long before Cassidy was elected to congress. Every one also knows that Cassidy and republicans in general want to let the industry do what ever they want to do.
So why vote now, especially since the President said he would veto the bill if passed by congress. The answer is the Louisiana Senate race for congress. The bill failed and if passed would actually have no value on the election because the issue is phony. It is just another piece of evidence why congess has been so unworkable. If republicans wanted to be productive before going home they should have passed the Minimum Wage bill and the comprehensive Immigration reform bill passed by the U.S. Senate in June of 2013.
The Nebraska Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on the pipeline before the end of the year. Its possible their decision may contain facts that no one else has even thought about. This writer still supports Mary Landrieu's reelection and will vote for her in the run off election because of her overall record and the fact she has done more for Louisiana and the country than Cassidy or any other republican in congress. This writer also opposes the pipeline as explained in commentary here in "PolitiDose" dated 3/15/14, titled, "TransCanada's Pipeline: Another Polarizing Issue." Landrieu, Cassidy and other members of congress who have become the mouth piece for the oil and gas industry is also opposed by this writer. Let the industry justify their projects and actions themselves. In this case let the Canadian Oil Company who want to build the pipeline justify its construction. They have already testified before congress and failed to make their case.
Landrieu and Cassidy's actions before congress on the matter did nothing to distinguish either one in this writers judgement and the President has been a steady voice from the very beginning concerning the pipeline. Both would have been better off by supporting the President's position.
This commentary written by John Lucia
