Senate Republicans impede jobs bill
$35 billion would hire teachers, first responders
WASHINGTON – Republican-led opposition in the Senate blocked a key element of President Barack Obama’s jobs plan Thursday night – a proposal to send $35 billion to cash-strapped states to help keep public school teachers, police and firefighters on the job.
The Senate voted 50-50 on the measure, falling short of the 60 votes it needed to advance. Two Democrats and an independent joined all Republicans in halting the bill, which polls have shown is among the most popular elements of Obama’s jobs initiative.
The action was the first in what Democratic leaders promise will be a series of votes this fall as they carve Obama’s $447 billion jobs package into smaller pieces. The proposals would be paid for with a new tax on households earning more than $1 million a year.
Most of the jobs provisions have already run into resistance from Republicans. But Democrats believe the public is on their side and will continue to put pressure on Republicans, building voting records that will be used to define the candidates in the 2012 campaigns.
Obama stumped for the bill during a three-day bus trip this week, but the outcome in the Senate was increasingly clear, making Thursday’s vote a display of political theater that will likely replay throughout the fall.
Republicans are fighting the measures because they do not believe such government efforts will help businesses create jobs in the struggling economy. They also oppose asking those earning beyond $1 million a year to pay more.
The teachers measure has proved to be popular in public opinion polls. Democrats said it would save or create 400,000 public school teacher jobs and thousands of first-responder positions. It would be paid for with a 0.5 percent tax on incomes in excess of $1 million annually, beginning Jan. 1, 2013.
Still, several on the Democratic side declined to support it, largely opposed to raising taxes and government spending. They were Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who faces a tough election next fall, Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Sen. Joe Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut.