Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, was on FoxBusiness.com again today with Tracy Byrnes, who, as you'll recall, was very nice to him last time around.

The interview this time was less effusive in praise, but it provided Mr. Owens the opportunity to do what he does best: offer rational compromise without firmly planting his feet on one position or another.

He decried the fact that the payroll tax cut extension was loaded up with other, unrelated measures, like the Keystone Pipeline (key lime pie?) initiative that environmental groups detest and President Obama has threatened to veto.

"People are not focused on getting the job done, just scoring political points," Mr. Owens said.

He also said that in the rush to get things done, sometimes the full details of the bill aren't fully explored.

"Unfortunately, it really won't be analyzed before it's passed," Mr. Owens said. "That's a consistent problem we see here in Washington."

Indeed.

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