Mitch McConnell today insisted that the senate pass the houses houses payroll tax cut, including allowing the Keystone XL pipeline. By defining the fight in terms of Keystone we as progressive have lost the messaging war.
A couple fact about Keystone.
1. It is transporting Canadian not American oil.
2. If we do not build Keystone, Canada will build a pipeline taking their oil to the West coast for export to China.
3. This oil is already coming into the United States but current pipelines terminate in the Midwest.
4. Building the Keystone pipeline would create some short term jobs.
Now there are good reasons to oppose Keystone. This does not change the fact that opposing an unemployment insurance extension because it includes Keystone will make the progressive movement seem out of touch and dogmatic to most Americans.
On the other hand:
1. The house bill drastically reduces the number of available weeks of unemployment insurance available.
2. The house bill freezes federal pay, in essence giving federal workers a pay cut equal to the rate of inflation.
3. The house bill defunds a number of provision of Affordable Care Act and includes other poison pill riders.
If we allow the Republicans to define the debate as against Keystone we will lose. At the end of the day the Republican Party will get what they want, no unemployment extension and a repeal of the payroll tax cut and progressives will get the blame. SIMPLY BECAUSE OPPOSITION TO KEYSTONE SOUNDS GOOD TO PROGRESSIVES DOES NOT MEAN IT WILL PLAY WELL IN THE COUNTRY AT LARGE!
The only way to navigate this is to embrace Keystone, while rejecting the other Republican proposals (in effect adding Keystone to the Democratic bill). Republicans will either defeat the bill, removing the Keystone issue from play, or pass it. Even if a bill allowing Keystone passes we still get two subsequent bites at the apple, a court challenge and the possibility of Canadian opposition to oil sand development.
If the media portrays the unemployment extension bill as in danger because of opposition to Keystone it is a major win for the Republicans.
If the media portrays the unemployment extension bill as in danger because of ALMOST ANY OTHER REASON THAN KEYSTONE, it is a major win lose for Republicans.