On Keystone Pipeline, Democratic stalwart Laborers Union finds itself outbid by one enviro-billionaire

The Washington Examiner reports:

The Laborers International Union of North America, with about 570,000 members, wants the Obama administration to approve construction of the Keystone Pipeline. The union has a lot of clout in Democratic circles; according to the Center for Responsive Politics, it has contributed $38,089,860 to political candidates since 1989, with just seven percent of it going to Republicans.

Tom Steyer, the hedge-fund billionaire, wants the Obama administration to block construction of the pipeline. Although a relative newcomer to the political game, he has pledged to give Democrats $50 million, and raise $50 million more, to get his way.

Who has more clout on this issue, the longtime Democratic labor union that has contributed $38 million over the past quarter century, or the guy who can come up with $100 million for this election cycle alone? The question answers itself. And so no one should be surprised that President Obama has again postponed a decision on the pipeline, and left the Laborers unhappy one more time.

Steyer's contribution alone -- not counting the amount he has pledged to raise -- would top the total donations from almost any major Democratic constituency over the last 25 years.

The Democrat party: the party of the super-rich rent-seekers.