Mr. Barack, can I suggest this is not an either or choice?
If all goes well, you could have BOTH the pipeline, AND a payroll tax cut extension.
One does not exclude the other.
Or, be man enough to say that you are beholden to enviro-extremists, and that’s why you put the pipeline in limbo.
Or, be man enough to say that you delayed a final decision till after the election for political reasons.
And then be man enough to accept the consequences, among which could be that Canada will move forward with their own plans, which could mean that we won’t have a chance next year to tell Canada that we are ready to move forward, because they will have moved on to another oil project on their own. You can’t just expect Canada to put themselves on hold for you, Mr. President.
Good point. The House bill provides both.