Of great debate at the moment, especially where the abuse of government power is concerned, is the proposed building of the Keystone XL Pipeline, a proposal that is gaining a lot of opposition not only from environmentalists, but many democrats in the senate.

The Keystone pipeline is an extensive pipeline system designed to transport Petroleum derived from the oil sands of Canada’s vast boreal forest to oil refineries positioned along the Gulf coast. Roughly half of the system is already built. Keystone XL refers to the completion of the pipeline that would connect it to the Gulf of Mexico.  Canadian company TransCanada is building the pipeline.

Strong opposition to the project by environmentalists stems from the damage extracting the oil from the ground would cause. Two methods are used to do this: one results in toxic runoff, and the other causes the destruction of forestland. However, the greatest opposition comes from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who refers to the Keystone XL as an “act of war,” since the pipeline will cross their lands in South Dakota, causing environmental damage.

In response to the passage of a vote in November in favor of the pipeline, Rosebud Sioux President Cyril Scott expressed his outrage.

“The House has now signed our death warrants and the death warrants of our children and grandchildren,” Scott said. “The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will not allow this pipeline through our lands. We are outraged at the lack of intergovernmental cooperation. We are a sovereign nation, and we are not being treated as such. We will close our reservation borders to Keystone XL. Authorizing Keystone XL is an act of war against our people.”

The republican response to this came last week when congress proposed H.R. 407, an atrocious proposal that would make it easier for the government to seize Indian lands.

Another major problem is the Republicans’ insistence that the pipeline’s construction would create jobs for thousands Americans, which is only a portion of the truth. The pipeline’s construction will create jobs for about 42,100 Americans, according to a review by the State Department. What republicans fail to mention is that those jobs would only be temporary, covering a period of roughly two years. The review estimated that the pipeline would only create about 35 permanent jobs.

Keystone XL is just another example of corrupt government officials attempting to line their own pockets. One such politician is Speaker of the House, John Boehner, who invested in oil companies that have a stake in Canada’s oil sands and then pushed an agenda for the approval of the Keystone pipeline.

And Boehner is only one of many. The U.S. political system is mired in corruption fed by politicians, mostly republicans, who pay millions in corporate and special interest money to legislators in return for favorable votes. It is no surprise then, that the very first issue pushed when republicans took control of Congress was Keystone. It is true that certain democrats are in favor of the pipeline, but they are a minority in this issue. Citizens of this country need to investigate claims made by U.S. politicians before casting their vote. If voters take certain politicians at face value, believing everything they say, they are hurting their fellow Americans.

The bottom line: As long as corrupt senators gain our votes, and congress remains a cesspool of corruption with its own agenda, the American people will be the ones who lose.