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Paul Ryan is threatening to crash the economy by not raising the debt limit, if President Obama doesn’t approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

According to The Hill, “Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) suggested tying approval of the Keystone pipeline to raising the debt ceiling Monday night. ‘We’ve never just done nothing,’ Ryan said on the Hugh Hewitt radio show, which was being guest-hosted by Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.), when asked how Republicans would handle the debt-ceiling negotiations. “We want to make sure that we’re taking steps in the direction of fiscal conservatism, of fiscal responsibility. I, for one, think we need to do more in the energy sector. I believe we need to approve Keystone pipeline.”

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The White House has already responded to Ryan by repeating for the billionth time that they aren’t going to negotiate on the debt ceiling. Of all the things that Ryan could have asked for the only things he would be less likely to get is privatization of Social Security/Medicare, and repeal of the ACA.

The Obama administration still hasn’t approved Keystone XL, and Ryan’s tactics suggest that Republicans believe that he isn’t going to. Ryan believes that Keystone must be approved because it is an example of GOP policy at its worst. Keystone poses a grave environmental risk. It won’t create jobs. It won’t help the economy, and it will do nothing to help make the country more energy independent.

What Keystone XL will do is make more money for the Koch brothers and big oil.

The fact that Paul Ryan thinks that Republicans have enough leverage to consider demanding approval of Keystone XL is a bit of insight into how delusional their thinking really is. House Republicans still see an advantage where none exists, and they are going to push forward straight into failure.

Paul Ryan was telling the president either to let him damage the environment to help enrich Big Oil and the Koch brothers, or the economy gets it. The president will say no, and Ryan will be left with nothing but bluster and empty threats.