aquifer, and even our o opposition to the pipeline. but then once it looked like we were gaining momentum, it was just kind of a pile-on for the other side. the efforts were led by lee terry in a lot of case, proposing amendments and bills to rubber stamp approval of the pipeline. so it s been kind of a roller coaster ride for us with our leaders in washington. and why do you think the governor and senator johanns were against it before they were for it? i think that they were against it because they thought that it was going to be approved, and that they definitely didn t want to be on the same side as obama on that. and once he delayed it and denied it in 2012, they completely flip-flopped and you saw the governor and the senator then wholeheartedly embracing the project, even though the major concerns that the majority of nebraskans had were still not addressed.
i agree with it. joining me tonight colonel jack ka cobs, msnbc analyst. a lot of talk about the bucket. are these severe cuts a and will they have an impact? i. i think they are too severe and they will have an ill pact. it s interesting, with recutting people. it s the fastest way to save money. anybody in business will tell you that. if you want to save money today, cut people. can you cut overhead costs immediately. if you want to cut programs, you will not save money today. you might save it down the road. the bad news, of course, that if we are cutting it far below what we need to bhan a force that can respond to crises, i think it s interesting to note that the decision-makers both in the congress and out of the congress who have decided that the budget will be what it is are really
with those people really hurting as a result of service to this country, i think you will have a lot of young people out there saying do i really want to make a career in the military? i will tell you this, ed. i didn t know this until i became chairman of the senate veterans committee t. cost of war is enormous. yeah. you are talking about people whose lives have been shattered. their family s lives have been shattered. their kids lives have been shattered. and if there is any priority the government of the united states should have is you take care of those people first. senator, your thoughts hon how the president is handling this and is it a crisis? i mean the russian, you can see while they re making this move. alt least i can. because they want to keep that base that has been there. it s their only military base to the open water on the world. they re concerned about security as well. a lot of the people in that country want them to be there. you have a country of divided
anything, it s getting worse. will this public comment period have an impact on the issue, as you see it? i believe so, yes. i think the public comment period is very important. and it gives folks a chance to weigh in on the issue from all across the country. and i think that from what i ve seen, folks from all across the country all have their different reasons to be concerned about this issue. and i ve been encouraged by a lot of the support that we ve had for our efforts here in nebraska from people all across the country and all across the world. what would it mean to you and your ranch, ben, if the keystone xl pipeline were approved and it s going to be on your land? well, the pipeline wouldn t actually cross my land, but i would be downstream and very near to the pipeline route. and we all mostly drink from the ogallala okay fer here in nebraska. so affecting that drinking water is going to be a big deal.
christian, then you must be opposed to gay marriage and that s not actually true a. lot has changed since 2005 in that quote that you just played. i wonder if we will see a turning point here that now business is going to be the driver of freedom? i mean, i would like to think that arizona would have done the right thing with or without the super bowl. but the pushback, dillon, was so strong fwra the business community. there was going to be an economic impact. that s the last thing any governor wants to have in his or her state. was this a game changer, this veto? and what s the future of it? i think so. i thif you saw the way the business community rallied against the bill in arizona and for republican governors, conservative, moderate, wherever they call, the business community is somebody they have to pay heed to. when you have them united in the way that they were. you see what the result was in arizona and already, i ve spoke with the atlanta chamber of commerce. there is a b