Abramoff-style Indian maneuvers to stop Keystone XL

Capitol Hill supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline have delayed consideration of an amendment devised by the Mapetsi Policy Group, a lobbyist firm full of former Clinton administration apparatchiks for one week, to give Keystone advocates time to lean on Republicans inclined to support it.

The amendment was filed Sept. 26 by Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D.-N.M.) to H.R. 687, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013, a bipartisan bill that enables a land-swap of federal property with the Resolution Copper mine partnership. The Lujan amendment grants Interior Secretary Sarah M. “Sally” Jewell broad powers to designate private property as a culturally important site to Indians. The only requirements for the designation are a loose determination that sometime some Native American prayed, sang, danced or performed tasks relating to traditional medicine. Because there is no process for appeal or formal adjudication, the only recourse would be through the federal courts.

---

Lujan, a relentless foe of Keystone

Lujan, a relentless foe of Keystone, claimed on the House floor that his only concern was the protection of sacred sites threatened by the Resolution Copper mine. Taking the amendment at face value, Republicans were receptive to the pleas by Rep. Thomas J. Cole (R.-Okla.) to support the amendment. On his own, Lujan does not have the swag to pass his amendment. Unluckily, for Keystone supporters, the New Mexico congressman is getting a clutch assist from Cole, the GOP congressman with the closest ties to the “Turquoise Lobby,” the moniker given to the Indian political operation. Cole circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter that presented the Lujan amendment as an opportunity for Republicans to cast a pro-Indian vote. It was only after congressmen looked deeper into the issue that they realized there was another game afoot. The big clue was that despite Lujan’s stated concerns, a 2008 Forest Service investigation of the mine site determined there were no religious sites there. In fact, the nearest Indian settlement is 20 miles away. Combined with the unbridled power to protect private property, it became clear that the real target of the amendment was Keystone. Often conservatives refer to Saul Alinsky’s book “Rules for Radicals,” as a code book to understand the politics and policies of President Barack Obama and his Democrats. It might be time for conservatives to thumb through another book: “Capitol Punishment: The hard truth about corruption from America's most notorious lobbyist.” In the book by Jack Abramoff, he describes how he made millions of dollars playing one tribe against the other. Seems Lujan and his campaign contributor Deborah Ho, the Mapetsi foundress, are supporting the Poarch Creek Indians in their effort to build a casino on a the Hickory Ground burial site of 60 members of the Muscogee Creek tribe in Wetumpka, Ala. In a classic move from the Abramoff playbook, Lujan takes campaign contributions from the Poarch as he helps them build a casino on another tribe’s cemetery, and then he turns around and presents himself as the defender of Indian cultural and sacred sites—where there are none, so he can set up Kill Keystone. If the Lujan amendment passes, TransCanada, the company that first asked for permission to extend its pipeline more than five years ago, could be looking at “game over.” The Interior Secretary needs only to sign a piece of paper and all the private property in front of the pipeline is off limits. After that, it is a three-year wait for maybe a new administration. In the meantime, all those jobs and opportunities the pipeline project would create would be lost. Hopefully, Keystone supporters will take advantage of the delay in considering the Lujan amendment, and put the touch on Republicans, who otherwise would fall for an Abramoff-style ruse.