13 Republicans and two Independents cross the aisle
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) calls it “investing in America.” The jobs bill passed the Senate with a vote of 70 to 28, with 55 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and two independents voting for it. Considering just how far the American workforce and their pay day loans have to come, that $ 15 billion is considered to be “modest in scope,” as the New York Times puts it.
What is it that the jobs bill supposed to do anyway?
Fox News had previously shown the parts of the $ 15 billion bill as $ 13 billion in payroll tax breaks for employers who hire employees for over 60 days, $ 35 million for “small business depreciation,” a highway bill extension, and $ 2 billion in infrastructure bonds.
Bipartisan support suggests it could speed through the House
This is turn would mean that the jobs bill gets to the president’s desk quickly. The best thing to perk the economy up is for people to be employed, and the jobs bill comes at a fortuitous moment when a lot of people are out of work.
Newly elected Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts – a man who has attracted no small amount of controversy – was vital to the process of pushing the jobs bill through the Senate. He acknowledges the jobs bill isn’t perfect, but understands its importance in getting some of the unemployed back to work. If the House were to pass a version “full of pork, waste, fraud and abuse,” Brown relayed to the Times, he would vote it down. That’s the kind of “progressive Republican” that makes Glenn Beck’s flesh crawl.
Harry Reid is happy about the result
“We have a jobs agenda, not a jobs bill,” the Senate majority leader told the media. “We’re going to have more votes, and create more jobs.”
At this point, any opportunity – from astrophysicist to payday lender – is a good opportunity.
