Brian Beutler December 9, 2011, 1:28 PM

In a bid to consolidate support within their caucus — and to flip the bird to President Obama — House Republicans have tacked a provision on to their payroll tax cut bill that would force the administration to decide whether to allow construction of the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days, instead of after the election next year as the administration currently plans.

Though controversial outside of Washington, the pipeline has bipartisan support in Washington, and Republicans — itching for this fight — are banking on the idea that some Democrats will cross the aisle and put Senate Dems and Obama in a tough spot.

And to some extent they’ve been successful. Obama strongly suggested he’d veto the bill over the provision, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has called it dead on arrival, and many in the media have painted the GOP’s bill as providing Dems a choice between passing the payroll tax cut and blocking the Keystone pipeline.

But that’s distracted from the fact that the House payroll tax cut bill, which also includes an extension of unemployment insurance and the so-called Medicare “doc fix,” is chockablock with other controversial measures to pay for the legislation — enough, most likely, to trigger broad Dem opposition.

Starting in 2014, the GOP proposes clawing back $13.4 billion in subsidies designed to help middle class people buy health insurance. The money would come from consumers who get a mid-year pay bump that puts pushes them into a higher income bracket.

They also want to rescind about $8 billion from the health care law’s $16 billion prevention and public health fund.

Outside of the health care law, they propose extending the current pay freeze for federal workers through October next year, increase cost-sharing for federal retirees and Medicare premiums for high-income beneficiaries. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi expressed openness to this idea last week, but at a Friday press conference, she suggested it would only be appropriate in the context of a broad compromise on deficit reduction.

Beyond the payfors, the legislation includes a provision that would block an EPA rule designed to prevent industrial boilers and incinerators from emitting toxic pollutants.

In essence, the House legislation treats the payroll tax cut as a concession, which requires them to pair it with a slew of goodies to buy GOP support. But both publicly and privately, Republican leaders say they support the payroll tax cut and that it must pass — an admission that weakens their leverage in this fight, particularly as the calendar nears January 1, when the current payroll tax cut expires.

Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Health Care, Keystone XL, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare, Oil, Payroll Tax Cut, Tax Cuts