Brown to Vote for Senate Jobs Bill

[festus]

Brown to Vote for Senate Jobs Bill
Scott Brown to Vote for Senate Jobs Bill - WSJ.com


By COREY BOLES

WASHINGTON—Freshman Republican Sen. Scott Brown (R., Mass.) is to vote with the Democratic majority and support a crucial procedural motion on a $15 billion piece of legislation aimed at spurring job creation, an aide to the senator said Monday.

The move by Mr. Brown to break with most of his party's members in his first ever vote in the Senate is a significant development.

It still leaves Democrats requiring one further Republican vote in order to move forward with the jobs bill.

The vote, which is set to begin shortly, requires the support of at least two Republican lawmakers in order to overcome a filibuster threat by the minority party. One of those votes is necessary because of Mr. Brown's surprise victory in an election to fill the seat held by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.) for nearly four decades until his death last year.

Democrats need a second Republican vote because Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) will not be in Washington, D.C., to vote as he begins treatment to combat stomach cancer.

Republicans say they feel betrayed by the fact that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) tore up legislation negotiated by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. That $85 billion bill was agreed to by Sens. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), the chairman and top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

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JOBS
Associated Press

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been courting the support of several moderate Republicans for support for the jobs bill.

One senior Republican Senate aide said that bill would have attracted the votes of around 80 of the 100 senators.

Democrats on Monday urged Republicans to set aside their anger and support the Reid bill in Monday's vote.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.) said all four of the bill's components have individually been backed by Republicans and therefore there is no reason by the party's lawmakers not to support the legislation.

Mr. Cardin said the bill would save or create 1.3 million jobs, which would be a much-needed shot in the arm to the moribund employment picture.

The national unemployment rate is 9.7%, but the real number is thought to be much higher when part-time workers and people who have stopped looking for a job are included.

The Reid bill includes a tax credit for employers who hire new workers, measures aimed at improving access to capital for small businesses, an extension of the current federal subsidy formula for road and bridge repairs carried out by states, and a modest expansion of federally subsidized bonds to help local governments raise funds for infrastructure projects.

The cost of the legislation would be offset by cracking down on offshore tax evasion.

If the measure fails, Democrats will be left scrambling over how to proceed to tackle the jobs crisis.

One possibility could be to move forward with legislation extending federal jobless benefits and subsidies to help unemployed people continue the health-care coverage they received from their former employers.

Previous extensions of both of those programs are set to expire at the end of the week.

Write to Corey Boles at corey.boles@dowjones.com

[utimmer43]

Well, that didn't take very long, did it?

[Glock Fan]

I'm thinking it's a tactical move on the part of Brown. It just so happens to be his first vote.



gf

[SkydiverRick]

In the fable of the frog and the scorpion, the frog gives the scorpion a ride on his back across a river. Midstream the scorpion stings the frog, dooming both of them. When the hapless frog asks why he did it, the scorpion replies, "I am what I am."

[utimmer43]

Democratic jobs bill advances past GOP filibuster | General Headlines | Comcast.net

And now we find that the RINO sisters of Maine plus two other RINOs who are on their way to retirement also voted in favor. Why am I not surprised?

Plus it seems that Ben Nelson is still rubbing his sore ass after having it chewed over selling out for the "Cornhusker Kickback."

Joining Brown in voting to break the filibuster were two moderate New England Republicans, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and two retiring GOP senators, Kit Bond of Missouri and George Voinovich of Ohio. Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska voted "nay" and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., was absent.

[HK4U]

The following song sums it up.

YouTube - Al Wilson "The Snake"

[JJFlash]

I'm not surprised...

[AvidshooterTX]

My Tea Party friends were all high on this guy before the election and were asking us all to send $ for his campaign. Glad I never did. No big surprise in the PRMA. I think there must be something in the water up there. I'm sure Harry Reid has threatened to give him a basement closet for an office, or call him last for lunch or whatever. I'm sure there are a million ways to make a junior Senator unhappy and the old veterans in the Senate know all the tricks. My friends, it is time to clean house. I am voting against every encumbant on the ballot, regardless of their voting record. A lot of these guys are given cover to be allowed to vote one way when their party knows the overall vote will go a different way. Usually those up for election are allowed to make a "show" vote for lberty while the majority still get the Progressive agenda passed. This is why I'm voting all the bums out.