Why the arguments of Obama's defenders leave many cold.

[JDPriestly]

203. The payroll tax cut weakens the underlying principles of Social Security.

The payroll tax vacation is one of Obama's worst policies.

I say do away with the payroll tax cut and don't allow the pipeline. Quite simple.

In fact, Obama really wants both to weaken Social Security -- which is why he proposed the payroll tax cut in the first place -- and to have the pipeline. Is anyone really so naive as to think that the State Department approved the pipeline without discussing that approval with Obama in the first place?

Obama needs an excuse to OK the pipeline because our government is already committed to it and Obama fears the embarrassment of reneging on promises he made and should not have made. That's my guess based on the facts I know about that pipeline.

Your example throws the spotlight on the duplicity of the administration with regard to its handling of progressive policies. In fact, he is a conservative himself. If he weren't he would be able to negotiate better deals. The payroll tax cut means very little to the people in this country who need help -- the minimum wage earners and those many, many people without jobs. Tax cuts are not the way to improve the economy. Most of Obama's stimulus plan was tax cuts and those cuts did not improve things much at all.