Cognitive Dissonance

From wiki:

Social psychologists refer to cognitive dissonance as the presence of incongruent relations among cognitions that frequently results in mental discomfort. Ultimately, individuals who hold two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas and/or values frequently experience cognitive dissonance. This discomfort may also arise within an individual who holds a belief and a performs a contradictory action or reaction. For example, an individual is likely to experience dissonance if he or she recognizes that smoking is unhealthy while continuing to purchase and smoke cigarettes.

From Reuters:

In a recent speech billed as a preview of his upcoming State of the Union address, Obama summarized piles of economic research to explain why millions of Americans are falling behind. “The basic bargain at the heart of our economy has frayed,” he said. “The problem is that, alongside increased inequality, we’ve seen diminished levels of upward mobility in recent years. The combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American Dream, our way of life, and what we stand for around the globe.”

There’s a growing “opportunity gap” in America, Obama insisted. Kids born in wealthy communities are increasingly likely to stay wealthy, while kids born in poor communities are increasingly likely to stay poor. In other words, it’s getting harder to move up the socioeconomic ladder. [Especially when there are no jobs.]

From multiple sources, paraphrasing:

Despite all the blue collar jobs this multi-billion-dollar project will provide, and despite the fact that it will help secure America's energy independence, I am canceling the Keystone XL.

Oh, by the way, let's kill the American coal industry.