The Democrat-controlled Senate voted 89-10 to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut. According to theAssociated Press, the two-month extension requires President Obama to grant a permit for the Canada-to-Texas Keystone pipeline within 60 days unless he determines that the pipeline is "not in the national interest."
Obama had implied that he would veto any bill that required that he make a decision before it was politically expedient for him to do so. During his December 7, 2011-presser with Canada's Prime Minister Harper, Obama put everybody on notice:
First of all, any effort to try to tie Keystone to the payroll tax cut I will reject. So everybody should be on notice.
If you can stomach it, you can watch Obama say it here.
Obama, putting politics before country, tried to kick his decision down the road until after the 2012 elections. The Republican-controlled House didn't let Obama get away with that and passed a payroll tax cut extension bill despite Obama's veto threat.
Thrown under the bus by Senate Democrats, Obama again caved. White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer indicated Obama would sign the two-month extension measure.
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