House Republicans Pass Payroll Tax Cut & Unemployment Extension President Obama Wanted

◼ Well, except for one little item: the bill also includes a requirement for construction of an oil pipeline that has drawn a veto threat. - Michelle Malkin

The pipeline would create between 6,000 and 20,000 US jobs, depending on whose estimate you use. Obama claimed that the payroll tax break and unemployment extension would create more jobs than the pipeline (pause for laughter).

The bill will have trouble getting through a Dem-controlled Senate that claims to need more time for careful analysis.... Reid and other Democrats argue the pipeline project requires more study and should not be fast-tracked as part of a political calculation by Republicans.

An oil pipeline should be studied meticulously over the course of years before being built, but more trivial bills like ones that take control of the entire country’s health care system qualify for fast-tracking and hasty implementation? That sounds about right.