Why does something have to be tied to something else important? Why can't people just introduce legislation that we can debate and have a good clean UP-OR-DOWN VOTE on? I'm getting sick and tired of all of this "hostage-taking". I know that tying disparate pieces of legislation together has been happening forever and both parties have done it for various reasons but it's getting really old and stupid, especially since it's practically become SOP for the Republicans in Congress as a vehicle for stuffing necessary bills (i.e. appropriations) with "poison pills" that they KNOW would NEVER be passed on their own merits. If the Republicans think that they have to tie the approval of the pipeline to a payroll tax cut extension, then perhaps they don't have as strong an argument for the pipeline as they think they do. Additionally, they haven't been paying attention. President Obama didn't shut the deal down permanently but he (correctly) refused to approve it on the Repubs' timeline and without addressing pertinent environmental concerns first- not to mention that Nebraska REPUBLICANS had issues with it as well. He also left the door wide open for Keystone XL to re-apply, which I believe they are going to, so it seems as though the Republicans just want to ram this down our throats (sound familiar?) for the benefit of their buddies in the oil industry.