and i just want to make clear, this is not about me. reporter: republicans are pressuring the president to sign off on building the keystone oil pipeline from canada. at a time when the american people are still asking the question, where are the jobs, i think this is a bipartisan proposal that a president ought to endorse. reporter: before blocking the payroll tax cut bill, senate republicans held up the nomination of richard cordray, the president s choice to be a new financial watch dog for consumers. so i just want to send a message to the senate. we are not giving up on this. we are going to keep going at it. reporter: the president and republicans winding down this year the way they started it at odds. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. well, jon corzine, the former ceo of mf global faced a house committee investigating one of the largest bankruptcies in u.s. history and gave the first public defense of his leadership in that failed company thursday. corzine, the on