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Long-stalled legislation to build the Keystone XL pipeline got new life on Wednesday after Senate Democrats suddenly abandoned efforts to block the measure in hopes of helping endangered Sen. Mary Landrieu keep her seat in energy-rich Louisiana.

Republicans responded swiftly to Landrieu's maneuvering, scheduling a vote in the House on Thursday on an identical bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Cassidy, Landrieu's Republican rival in a Dec. 6 runoff.

While the White House stopped short of directly threatening a veto, spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama takes a "dim view" of legislative efforts to force action on the project. Earnest reiterated Obama's preference for evaluating the pipeline through a long-stalled State Department review.

Republicans and several moderate Democrats insist that construction of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline would create tens of thousands of jobs. Environmentalists maintain that the project would have a negative impact and contribute to climate change.

"I believe that we should take the new majority leader at his word and stop blocking legislation that is broadly supported by the American public and has been for quite some time," Landrieu said in a speech on the Senate floor. "I want to say yes to majority leader — new majority leader Mitch McConnell. The time to start is now."

Landrieu cast herself as an independent willing to challenge Democrats and Republicans, hoping to shake up her Senate race.

"I've stood against my leadership," she told reporters, and added, "And I've stood up to the Republicans."

The back-and-forth came against the backdrop of a new political landscape and fresh calls for an end to Washington gridlock. Republicans rolled in midterm elections, seizing majority control of the Senate with a net gain of eight seats. A GOP victory in Louisiana would make it nine and Cassidy is heavily favored.

Come January, Republicans could have a 54-46 majority in the Senate if Cassidy wins, controlling the chamber and legislation for the first time in eight years.

McConnell said the election of a Republican Senate majority has already changed the dynamic.

"I hope this post-election conversion on Keystone signals Democrat cooperation on a whole host of other energy bills they have blocked, and whose passage would help to make America more energy-independent," he said in a statement.

Echoing Landrieu's plea for a vote were moderate Democrats from Republican states, who argued that the project that would carry oil from Canada south to the Gulf Coast. The southern leg of the pipeline between Oklahoma and Texas is already operational.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has moved in the past to prevent the Keystone measure from passing, giving credence to Republican claims that Landrieu is ineffective as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The Republican sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, said the measure has the support of all 45 Republicans and 11 Democrats. It will be incumbent upon Landrieu to persuade four more Democrats to back the measure to reach the 60-vote threshold.

One senior Senate Democratic aide said Reid would not attempt to defeat Landrieu's effort.

Asked if Obama would sign it, Landrieu told reporters: "I do not know."

Energy has been a central issue in the Senate race, and Keystone a frequent flashpoint with both Landrieu and Cassidy supporting the project. Cassidy has said Landrieu has been unable to deliver because of her party's leadership.

Landrieu has a strong alliance with the oil and gas industry and has pushed for an expansion of drilling in the U.S.

If elected, Cassidy would get a seat on the Energy panel. As a new senator, he would be low in the pecking order of panel members, and in the final two years of Obama's presidency, Cassidy and Louisiana's all-GOP congressional delegation would likely have little sway with the Democratic administration.

As Louisiana's last Democratic statewide elected official, Landrieu has a difficult path to victory in a state that overwhelmingly backed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. Fifty-eight percent of voters supported someone other than Landrieu in the primary last week.

Republican leaders are uniting behind Cassidy, a three-term congressman, while the national Democratic Party has decided against providing advertising support for Landrieu in the runoff.

Asked if she was a lost cause, Landrieu told reporters, "No, I don't believe that I am."

In a statement, Cassidy said it "is easy to wonder if the Senate is only considering this because of politics, even so, I hope the Senate and the president do the right thing and pass this legislation creating thousands of jobs."

The global economy rolls along more smoothly when it's not riding a unicycle. It needs additional wheels for momentum and stability.

That is, in effect, what Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is telling leaders of other advanced nations.

In a get rolling speech Wednesday to the World Affairs Council, Lew said the U.S. economy is moving at a good pace these days but needs support from the flat economies of Japan and the European Union.

Other countries cannot "rely on the United States to grow fast enough to make up for weak growth in major world economies," he said.

When Europe and Japan get too weak, demand drops for made-in-America products and services, and the U.S. dollar gets too valuable, making life tougher for U.S. exporters.

"The world is stronger if we all take steps to bolster domestic demand," Lew said.

He spoke in Seattle, where he was doing a warm-up act ahead of the main event this weekend in Australia. In Brisbane, he will join President Obama and other world leaders for a G-20 summit, focused on spurring global growth.

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Lew says the United States has a huge stake in the success of its first-world trading partners.

"The United States exports more than $2 trillion of goods and services to the world," he said. "It is very much in our economic and national interest when the rest of the global economy is growing."

The Obama administration is in a strange position. Just last week, it suffered big political setbacks in domestic elections. But on the world stage, Obama leads the most impressive economy. In the most recent quarter, this country grew at 3.5 percent — a very robust pace for a mature economy.

In the United States, the stock market is booming, budget deficits are melting away, corporate profits are breaking records and the unemployment rate is falling, down to nearly half the level set five years ago.

U.S. success shows "the resilience and determination of the American people," Lew said. "It also reflects the ease of starting businesses, our highly competitive product markets, and the ability to reap rewards from entrepreneurship."

Meanwhile, Japan's economy is stuck, with its inflation-adjusted growth rate running at less than 1 percent over the past decade. Europe may be on the brink of its third recession in six years.

Lew says that to grow, countries need a "comprehensive policy approach" that involves not only better fiscal and monetary decisions, but "structural" changes. When he talks about "structure," he's referring to the policy frameworks that hold back growth.

So, for example, in Japan, structural reform would mean changing laws that prevent young immigrants from replacing retired workers; helping women with children stay in the workforce and allowing more competition among companies. In Europe, it would mean making the banking sector less secretive.

In addition to speaking in Seattle, Lew talked with NPR's Robert Siegel, host of All Things Considered. Lew said that while he is offering advice to other countries, he knows this country still has many of its own problems to solve.

For one thing, "wages are not growing," he said. To help fix that, Congress should raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, he said. For low-income families, "the minimum wage makes a big difference," he said.

In addition, Congress should start spending more on rebuilding infrastructure, which would boost construction jobs, and pass laws to reform the tax code and increase trade, he said. "We still have work to do," he said.

Facebook is simplifying its privacy policy, with a new set of pages called Privacy Basics. The pages are colorful, clickable and include some animation, and they all have much less legal jargon than previous versions.

Facebook says its new policy is 2,700 words. The company's old one was more than 9,000. The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook worked with the Council of Better Business Bureaus on the pages.

The new Privacy Basics is broken down into three sections: "What Others See About You," "How Others Interact With You" and "What You See." There's also a Data Policy page that answers questions like, "What kind of information do we collect?" and "How do we use this information?"

Facebook has posted a page for users to submit questions and comments on the new policy. The site says it will take those into consideration and then share final updates soon after.

The new policy does not make any changes to how much data Facebook collects from users. In fact, Recode.net reports that one paragraph in particular "spells out its [Facebook's] ambitions to sell you stuff and to serve you ads based on your location." Here's more:

Information about payments.

If you use our Services for purchases or financial transactions (like when you buy something on Facebook, make a purchase in a game, or make a donation), we collect information about the purchase or transaction. This includes your payment information, such as your credit or debit card number and other card information, and other account and authentication information, as well as billing, shipping and contact details.

Deborah Aho Williamson, who covers social media marketing for emarketer.com and tracks Facebook closely, says even if the new privacy policy doesn't fundamentally change what Facebook does, it's worthwhile.

"They've learned over the years that they need to be more revealing and more forthcoming about what people can and can't see and what advertisers can and can't use about Facebook's users," she said. "I think people are going to recognize that Facebook is making a concerted effort."

But, Williamson acknowledges that new policy or not, Facebook is still in the moneymaking business.

"Bottom line ... people need to recognize that Facebook is a business," she said. "And the main business they're in is advertising, and the main way that they deliver advertising is by using the information that people share about themselves on Facebook."

At Wired.com, Issie Lapowsky wonders how much this new policy will change, because she's guessing that not many people will even bother checking it out:

The reality is that most Facebook users will not read the policy, and even if they do take issue with the way Facebook intends to collect information about their purchases or use their location information to target advertisements, most will likely continue to use Facebook. Such is the way of the modern web...

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Privacy

Long-stalled legislation to build the Keystone XL pipeline got new life on Wednesday after Senate Democrats suddenly abandoned efforts to block the measure in hopes of helping endangered Sen. Mary Landrieu keep her seat in energy-rich Louisiana.

Republicans responded swiftly to Landrieu's maneuvering, scheduling a vote in the House on Thursday on an identical bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Cassidy, Landrieu's Republican rival in a Dec. 6 runoff.

While the White House stopped short of directly threatening a veto, spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama takes a "dim view" of legislative efforts to force action on the project. Earnest reiterated Obama's preference for evaluating the pipeline through a long-stalled State Department review.

Republicans and several moderate Democrats insist that construction of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline would create tens of thousands of jobs. Environmentalists maintain that the project would have a negative impact and contribute to climate change.

"I believe that we should take the new majority leader at his word and stop blocking legislation that is broadly supported by the American public and has been for quite some time," Landrieu said in a speech on the Senate floor. "I want to say yes to majority leader — new majority leader Mitch McConnell. The time to start is now."

Landrieu cast herself as an independent willing to challenge Democrats and Republicans, hoping to shake up her Senate race.

"I've stood against my leadership," she told reporters, and added, "And I've stood up to the Republicans."

The back-and-forth came against the backdrop of a new political landscape and fresh calls for an end to Washington gridlock. Republicans rolled in midterm elections, seizing majority control of the Senate with a net gain of eight seats. A GOP victory in Louisiana would make it nine and Cassidy is heavily favored.

Come January, Republicans could have a 54-46 majority in the Senate if Cassidy wins, controlling the chamber and legislation for the first time in eight years.

McConnell said the election of a Republican Senate majority has already changed the dynamic.

"I hope this post-election conversion on Keystone signals Democrat cooperation on a whole host of other energy bills they have blocked, and whose passage would help to make America more energy-independent," he said in a statement.

Echoing Landrieu's plea for a vote were moderate Democrats from Republican states, who argued that the project that would carry oil from Canada south to the Gulf Coast. The southern leg of the pipeline between Oklahoma and Texas is already operational.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has moved in the past to prevent the Keystone measure from passing, giving credence to Republican claims that Landrieu is ineffective as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The Republican sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, said the measure has the support of all 45 Republicans and 11 Democrats. It will be incumbent upon Landrieu to persuade four more Democrats to back the measure to reach the 60-vote threshold.

One senior Senate Democratic aide said Reid would not attempt to defeat Landrieu's effort.

Asked if Obama would sign it, Landrieu told reporters: "I do not know."

Energy has been a central issue in the Senate race, and Keystone a frequent flashpoint with both Landrieu and Cassidy supporting the project. Cassidy has said Landrieu has been unable to deliver because of her party's leadership.

Landrieu has a strong alliance with the oil and gas industry and has pushed for an expansion of drilling in the U.S.

If elected, Cassidy would get a seat on the Energy panel. As a new senator, he would be low in the pecking order of panel members, and in the final two years of Obama's presidency, Cassidy and Louisiana's all-GOP congressional delegation would likely have little sway with the Democratic administration.

As Louisiana's last Democratic statewide elected official, Landrieu has a difficult path to victory in a state that overwhelmingly backed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. Fifty-eight percent of voters supported someone other than Landrieu in the primary last week.

Republican leaders are uniting behind Cassidy, a three-term congressman, while the national Democratic Party has decided against providing advertising support for Landrieu in the runoff.

Asked if she was a lost cause, Landrieu told reporters, "No, I don't believe that I am."

In a statement, Cassidy said it "is easy to wonder if the Senate is only considering this because of politics, even so, I hope the Senate and the president do the right thing and pass this legislation creating thousands of jobs."