Obama delaying Keystone pipeline to appease envelope stuffers, suggests McConnell

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday said President Obama decided to delay a decision on whether or not to permit construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in order to maintain the support of environmentalists for his 2012 campaign.

“Presidential politics got in the way," said McConnell, telling a version of how the White House decided to delay its decision on whether or not to allow the proposed pipeline that would bisect the country from North to South. 

"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.