Fixing it in conference and other lies

Fixing it in conference

by digby

Dday explains in depth what the Republicans think they are doing with their ridiculous hostage taking over the payroll tax and UI extensions. But this short excerpt is all you really need to know:

When their members are confronted over this vote, they can have this exchange:

Democrat: You voted to increase taxes on the middle class.
Republican: No I didn’t, I voted to send our bill to conference. It’s not my fault that the Senate didn’t show up! (flash toothy grin)

It’s not enough that the Tea Partiers are insisting on stopping the extensions, the rest of the Republicans are determined to escape responsibility for their miscreant deeds.

And, to top it all off, it appears that somebody’s trying to blame the Democrats for it by pushing out a straight up lie. According to Greg Sargent

Wow. Getting emails from angry right wing readers who are demanding to know why Dems won’t agree to compromise that includes Keystone.

I’m guessing somebody on Fox said this, but who knows? (Maybe Politifact.)

I am a little bit curious as to what this is about, though. Yesterday some oil drenched Dems in the Senate sent out a very weird letter considering that the White House has been saying that the pipeline will be dead if this passes because the State Department will not have time to do a proper study:

Dear Mr. Speaker:

On Saturday, December 17, the Senate passed the bipartisan Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, the Reid-McConnell substitute amendment to H.R. 3630. The bipartisan bill, which passed with 89 votes, will move the Keystone XL pipeline forward. The Keystone XL project is critical to the nation’s energy security–it will reduce our dependence on oil from hostile regimes–and it will put thousands of Americans back to work.

This important bill will require the President to make a decision on the pipeline’s future within 60 days. It will also protect private property rights and establish a procedure for re-routing the pipeline around sensitive land within the state of Nebraska. Delays or changes to the bill may jeopardize the important shared goal of moving the project forward.

In the interest of America’s energy security and economic recovery, we urge the House of Representatives to take up this bill and pass it as soon as possible. Thank you for your consideration.

Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska).

I don’t know what these Senators know that we don’t know, but I find it hard to believe that they’d put their names to this if they thought that Keystone was really dead. It’s possible they are just being good partisans and are using their oily credibility to get the payroll tax cut extension. But it would be highly unusual. There’s something odd going on there.