Senate Republicans vote to kill Obamafs jobs bill; White
House and Congress already moving on
By Associated Press,
WASHINGTON — United against Barack Obama, Senate Republicans voted Tuesday
night to kill the jobs package the president had spent weeks campaigning for
across the country, a stinging loss at the hands of lawmakers opposed to
stimulus-style spending and a tax increase on the very wealthy.
The $447 billion plan died on a 50-49 tally that garnered a majority of the
100-member Senate but fell well short of the 60 votes needed to keep the bill
alive. The tally had been 51-48, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
switched his vote to gnayh so that he could force a future revote.
The demise of Obamafs jobs package was expected, despite his campaign-style
efforts to swing the public behind it. The White House and leaders in Congress
were already moving on to alternative ways to address the nationfs painful 9.1
percent unemployment, including breaking the legislation into smaller, more
digestible pieces and approving long-stalled trade bills.
gTonightfs vote is by no means the end of this fight,h Obama said in a
statement after the vote. gBecause with so many Americans out of work and so
many families struggling, we canft take enof for an answer.h
The White House appears most confident that it will be able to continue a
2-percentage-point Social Security payroll tax cut through 2012 and to extend
emergency unemployment benefits to millions of people — if only because, in the
White House view, Republicans wonft want to accept the political harm of letting
those provisions expire.
White House officials are also hopeful of ultimately garnering votes for the
approval of infrastructure spending and tax credits for businesses that hire
unemployed veterans.
gNow itfs time for both parties to work together and find common ground on
removing government barriers to private-sector job growth,h House Speaker John
Boehner, R-Ohio, said after the vote.
Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester of Montana — both up for
re-election next year in states where Obama figures to lose — broke with their
party on Tuesday nightfs vote. Every Republican present opposed the plan.
Earlier in the day, Obama capped his weekslong campaign for the measure in an
appearance typical of the effort — a tough-talking speech in a swing state
crucial to his re-election. Like earlier appearances, it seemed aimed more at
rallying his core political supporters heading into the election than changing
minds on Capitol Hill.
gAny senator who votes no should have to look you in the eye and tell you
what exactly theyfre opposed to,h Obama said to a union audience in Pittsburgh.
gI think theyfll have a hard time explaining why they voted no on this bill —
other than the fact that I proposed it.h
Democrats were not wholly united behind the measure. In addition to Nelson
and Tester, Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Joe Lieberman, a
Connecticut independent who aligns with Democrats, said they oppose the
underlying measure despite voting to choke off the filibuster.
Obamafs plan would combine Social Security payroll tax cuts for workers and
businesses and other tax relief totaling about $270 billion with $175 billion in
new spending on roads, school repairs and other infrastructure, as well as
unemployment assistance and help to local governments to avoid layoffs of
teachers, firefighters and police officers.
Obama said that the plan — more than half the size of his 2009 economic
stimulus measure — would be an insurance policy against a double-dip recession
and that continued economic intervention was essential given slower-than-hoped
job growth.
gRight now, our economy needs a jolt,h Obama said. gRight now.h
Unlike the 2009 legislation, the current plan would be paid for with a 5.6
percent surcharge on income exceeding $1 million. That would be expected to
raise about $450 billion over the coming decade.
gDemocratsf sole proposal is to keep doing what hasnft worked — along with a
massive tax hike that we know wonft create jobs,h Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday, saying there are 1.5 million fewer jobs than
when Obamafs 2009 economic package became law. gWhy on earth would you support
an approach that we already know wonft work?h McConnell said.
The White House and Democratic leaders, however, were pleased that the great
majority of Democrats voted for the plan. Support among Democrats was shored up
by replacing Obamafs tax increases — particularly a proposal to limit the value
of itemized deductions for families making more than $250,000 — with the
surcharge on annual income over $1 million.
That millionaires proposal would hit about 392,000 households, according to
an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank. In 2013, the
first year the tax would take effect, those wealthy households would see their
taxes increase by an average of $110,500, according to the analysis.
Just before the vote on Obamafs jobs plan, the Senate passed legislation
aimed at punishing China for keeping its currency undervalued against the
dollar. Lower-valued currency helps Chinese exports at the expense, bill
supporters say, of American jobs.
Next, both the House and Senate will turn Wednesday to approving trade
agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that could create tens of
thousands of jobs, one of the few areas of agreement between Republicans and the
administration on boosting the economy.
In coming weeks and months, Democrats promise further votes on jobs. But it
remains to be seen how much of that effort will involve more campaign-stoked
battles with Republicans and how much will include seeking common ground in
hopes of passing legislation.
Leaders of the GOP-controlled House have signaled they support tax cuts for
small businesses and changes to jobless insurance to allow states to use
unemployment funds for on-the-job training. And theyfve indicated theyfll be
willing to accept an extension of cuts to the Social Security payroll tax. But
stimulus-style spending is a nonstarter with the tea party-infused chamber.
Tuesdayfs vote played out as disaffected crowds continued to occupy Wall
Street, a square in Washington and parts of other cities around the country in
protest of income inequality and related issues.
Obama advisers said they were working with Senate Democratic leaders on how
and when to break out separate aspects of the overall jobs bill for votes.
Even before Tuesdayfs defeat, the White House was casting the Senate vote as
but the first act in what one Obama adviser called a long-term play —
essentially, an autumn full of action to force Congress to take action on jobs.
Senior Obama officials said it was important for the Senate to act to keep
pressure on the Republican-led House.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., was recuperating from surgery and did not vote.
___
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Pittsburgh and Erica Werner in
Washington contributed to this report.
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