If Nothing Else, President Obama Is Very Talented At Holding Up Shovel-Ready Projects

Wow, if there was ever a president who didn't like to see Americans working --

Here we go again, at the very end of this article, FuelFix is reporting that the government is dithering on a approving an Enbridge pipeline to expand another pipeline:

Meanwhile, Enbridge said earlier this year that the feds are taking longer than expected to approve modifications to another presidential permit for a separate project.

The company is hoping to increase capacity of its Alberta Pipeline from 450,000 barrels per day to 800,000 barrels. Wuori said the company had expected to get that approval by July 2014, but now, “that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.” He said the company thinks July 2015 is more realistic.

Note to Wuori: not going to happen under this administration. Bank your CAPEX money or invest it in tax-advantage wind farms.

FuelFix is also reporting that Enbridge doesn't think it needs the presidential seal of approval to "improve" an existing pipeline. This is quite a story. Enbridge wants to improve a 40-year-old pipeline; activist environmentalists want the president to step in, but if there's a break in the pipeline, the activists will be the first to sue. I think Enbridge has a plan. This is not rocket science.

Meanwhile, for the investor in ENB this is great news. Tight pipeline capacity and delays in replacing pipeline are two "positives" for ENB: a) tight capacity means an increase in rates; b) any delay in laying these pipelines simply allows the company to delay CAPEX. It's not like there's any competition. Oh, the railroads. LOL. The activists don't like the railroads either.

Comment: the blog has been great therapy for me. When I first started blogging I would get upset when I read stories of how President Obama dithered on anything that might put folks back to work. When I think about it, it still bothers me that there are men and women who want to work but cannot find work because of the Obama Jobs Policy.

However, I've taken a page from JFK and no longer worry about things I cannot change. I can't change the Obama Jobs Policy but I can manage my investments better by taking into account OJP. For example, the five-year chart for the company that wants to build the Keystone XL has been absolutely wonderful for investors, from $25 to $45 / share in that time frame and pays 4% dividend year in and year out. The Keystone XL delay has been nothing but good news for TransCanada investors. 

I'm not an investor in TransCanada (never have been, probably never will) but I do invest in Enbridge and that company's five-year chart is even more impressive, from $15/share to$45/share in that time-frame and they, too, pay a nice dividend.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here. 

By the way, reading Sylvia Nasar's Grand Pursuit has really helped me understand all this economic policy-decision process much better.