The Golden Rule Of Politics

We all know about the golden rule of politics: He who has the gold, makes the rules." And it's not much of a secret about who has the gold. On the right, we have the infamous Koch brothers. According to the liberals progressives moonbats, they are evil incarnate. They drown puppies and eat babies - or is it the other way around?

Evil Koch Brothers

On the left, of course, lurks the sinister George Soros, along with his sidekick Michael "the only good gun is a dead gun" Bloomberg. Between the two of them, they more than offset the Koch brothers' influence.

George Soros, heartthrob of the left

Michael Bloomberg - "What, me worry?"

Now there's a new player in the game, one I've never heard of. But he may have more of an impact on our country than any of the afore-mentioned rich dudes.

First, a little background.

As most of us know, obama is dithering about saying "yea" or "nay" on the Keystone pipeline. On the surface it's a no-brainer, for many reasons.

• It would create thousands of well-paying jobs.
• It would contribute to U.S. energy independence, while at the same time decreasing Putin's leverage over Europe (based on Russian energy exports flowing through Ukraine) and reducing the amount of dollars we give people who want to kill us in exchange for their oil.
• Approving the pipeline will cement our relations with Canada. Delaying it is pissing them off.
• The pipeline is going to get built one way or the other. It either comes through the U.S., with all lthe advantages outlined above, or it goes west through Canada to their Pacific coast. In that case the Chinese will be involved, with all the subsequent consequences that will entail.
• It won't harm the environment. Per a government review, the pipeline won't contribute to global warming. And it is safer to transfer oil through a pipeline than via rail, as is now the case.

So why is barry sitting on his thumb, delaying the go/no-go decision? Because that's what Tom Steyer wants him to do.

...Tom Steyer (here, here, and here), as well as the liberal donors and climate activists allied with him, is getting his way. They were always an influential constituency in the Democratic party, but became even more so a few months ago when Steyer pledged $50 million of his own money to Democrats in the midterms, to be matched by another $50 million from other donors. In a punishing year for Democrats, this was rare good news. Why mess it up by deciding Keystone on the merits?

Tom Steyer, self-deluded billionaire

For all the complaints about money in politics, it is unusual that a high-profile decision seems to have such a direct connection to one big-time donor. This isn’t sneaking a small but consequential provision into a 1,000-page bill in the dead of night. It is blocking a project in broad daylight that is important to a close ally (Canada), that will instantly create thousands of construction jobs, that will send a signal to Vladimir Putin that we are serious about developing energy resources, and that will have no net effect on global warming (as the latest State Department review established).

Needless to say, Steyer hasn’t received a fraction of the press coverage of the Koch brothers, whose funding of conservative groups has made them an obsession for the New York Times and other outlets. Steyer isn’t nearly as interesting — he’s just the guy with effective veto power over a major infrastructure project clearly in the national interest.

And the dems have the unmitigated gall to complain about money in politics...