From Gas to Groceries, High Energy Prices Under President Obama a "Hidden Tax Increase" On "Everyone and Everything"
Last night, a bipartisan, veto-proof majority of the House ignored President Obama’s veto threat and voted to require approval of the Keystone XL energy project. “The vote was 293 to 127, with 69 Democrats crossing the aisle to vote yes,” according to the New York Times. HuffPost Hill says the vote would prevent “the president from vetoing the Keystone pipeline…”
Keystone is an important part of Republicans’ “all of the above” American Energy Initiative. By threatening to veto this popular project (after he blocked, personally lobbied against, then tried to take credit for it), President Obama proved again he’s not serious about doing “all of the above” to create new jobs and address gas prices which have doubled on his watch.
But high prices at the pump aren’t the only consequence of the president’s anti-energy policies. As Speaker John Boehner said in hailing last night’s Keystone vote, “The higher energy prices go, the more we all pay for everything from gasoline to groceries...” Investor's Business Daily (IBD) explains:
“[R]ising oil prices made worse by restricted domestic supply have affected the cost of far more things than we realize. … When the railroads and trucks that deliver food to the supermarket pay more for diesel fuel, the added cost shows up when you pay for your groceries at checkout. ... Petroleum is used in agriculture to make fertilizers and pesticides, to run the tractors, threshers and other farm equipment used to raise our food. That food must also be transported via fossil fuel-consuming trucks and trains.”
IBD calls rising energy prices “a hidden tax increase on the middle class and the working poor — indeed, on everyone and everything.”
Keystone XL will help create tens of thousands of new American jobs, and will deliver energy from the upper Midwest and Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. With the large, veto-proof vote in favor of the project, the support of the state of Nebraska, and a new route submitted by the builder of the pipeline, President Obama is running out of excuses for blocking it. And with 64 percent disapproval of the way he’s handled gas prices, it’s clear the American people are running out of patience.