Biden

Judge strikes down Nebraska law that allowed Keystone pipeline to proceed through state

A Nebraska judge on Wednesday struck down a law that allowed the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed through the state, a setback for the project that would carry oil from Canada to Texas refineries.
Lancaster County Judge Stephanie Stacy issued a ruling that invalidated Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman's approval of the route. Stacy agreed with opponents' arguments that a law passed in 2011 improperly allowed Heineman to give TransCanada eminent domain powers within the state. Stacy said the decision should have been made by the Nebraska Public Service Commission, which regulates pipelines and other utilities.
Heineman said Wednesday that state Attorney General Jon Bruning is appealing the ruling.
The ruling could cause more delays in finishing the pipeline. State officials who defended the law are likely to appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court. Nebraska lawmakers may have to pass a new pipeline-sitting law to allow the Public Service Commission to act.
If they do, it's not yet clear how long the five-member PSC might take on the issue or whether it would approve the pipeline. Staff members were still reviewing the ruling Wednesday, said Angela Melton, the commission's attorney.
A spokesman for pipeline developer TransCanada said company officials were disappointed and disagreed with the decision, which came in a lawsuit filed by three Nebraska landowners who oppose the pipeline. The company planned to review the ruling before deciding how to proceed.
"TransCanada continues to believe strongly in Keystone XL and the benefits it would provide to Americans — thousands of jobs and a secure supply of crude oil from a trusted neighbor in Canada," said spokesman Shawn Howard.
Dave Domina, the landowners' attorney, said in a statement that the ruling means TransCanada has "no approved route in Nebraska."
"TransCanada is not authorized to condemn the property against Nebraska landowners. The pipeline project is at standstill in this state," he said.
The Keystone XL would carry 830,000 barrels of oil daily from Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. In its latest environmental analysis, the U.S. State Department raised no major environmental objections to the $7 billion pipeline. Opponents disagree, saying the pipeline threatens ground- and surface water and would disrupt soil in the Nebraska Sandhills, a region of grass-covered dunes used as ranchland.
The Nebraska Legislature in 2011 gave Heineman the ability to approve the route after landowners complained that the pipeline posed a threat to the Sandhills. Heineman approved a new route that went around an area designated as the Sandhills, although opponents insist it still traverses the delicate soil.
Domina said the ruling means that the governor's office has no role to play in the pipeline, and decisions within the state must be made by the Public Service Commission. The commission was created in 1890s to prevent governors from granting political favors to railroad executives who wanted to expand through private property.
The decision on a federal permit still rests with President Obama.
Pipeline opponents called Wednesday's ruling a victory for landowners.
"TransCanada learned a hard lesson today: Never underestimate the power of family farmers and ranchers protecting their land and water," said Jane Kleeb, executive director of the anti-pipeline group Bold Nebraska.

House Republicans sign on to measure to stop presidential overreach

As President Obama's critics grow increasingly concerned about his use of executive power, they're also examining their options. 
In the House, more than 100 Republican members have signed on to the Stop This Overreaching President (STOP) Resolution. In it, Rep. Tom Rice, R-SC, lays out the ways in which he believes the president has violated his Article 2, Section 3 constitutional duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."
Rice points to the president's unilateral modifications to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), welfare-to-work requirements and immigration laws. 
If a majority of House members support the STOP resolution, it would authorize a civil lawsuit against Obama.  In the past, members have had a tough time launching lawsuits against a sitting president. 
Former Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio tried to sue both President George W. Bush and Obama. Both times, a federal judge turned away his lawsuits.
Georgetown University law professor Nicholas Rosenkranz has doubts that the current effort will be successful, but grasps the motivation.  "I quite understand their frustration," he says, adding, "The president has taken a lot of actions that seem a bit more like writing law or rewriting law - rather than taking care that it be faithfully executed." 
Rosenkranz says another tool could be more effective for Congress: the power of the purse. He notes that it gives members a great deal of leverage when they're united.
It's a tactic Sen.Mike Lee, R-Utah, is publicly floating. "James Madison talked about this and said when the president abuses his power, the best thing Congress can do is withhold funding for the president, so the president can't continue to hurt the American people," he said.
There is yet another option which few are willing to publicly discuss. "A check on executive lawlessness is impeachment," Rosenkranz said in a House hearing last December. Kucinich says the maneuver should be reserved for only "the most extraordinary circumstances," but admits "it's in the Constitution as a check against the abuse of power."
Even some of Obama's own one-time supporters say he would be wise to remember his words from the 2008 campaign trail.  On March 31, 2008, then-Senator Obama told a crowd at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, "I take the Constitution very seriously." 
He went on to say that one of the country's biggest problems was the use of executive power by then-President Bush, adding, "That's what I intend to reverse when I'm president of the United States of America."

Report: Hawaii ranks worst for ObamaCare signups

Hawaii has the lowest number in the nation of enrollments through its ObamaCare exchange, Hawaii Health Connector, according to a Feb. 12 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report.
“That’s horrible,” said state Rep. Bob McDermott.
Just 3,614 people enrolled in the state’s exchange, but the report does not disclose how many of those who registered also paid for their health care policies.
McDermott, who serves on the House Consumer Protection Committee, is one of several state lawmakers considering at least seven bills to “reform” the exchange, and launch a state government take over the nonprofit at a cost of $15 million a year.
The Puunui Republican said he sees are “dollar signs spinning in his head.”