photo: Old Sarge via Flickr
[Ed. Note: The vote to move to consideration of this bill has passed, 62-30. Ben Nelson voted “no.” Blanche Lincoln voted “yes,” but only after an amusing/pathetic dance (see below, after the jump). Both senators from Maine, along with the retiring Voinovich and the newly elected Scott Brown were the GOP senators joining Dems in the “aye” column.]
The Senate is voting on moving forward on HR 2847, which is the shell for the Senate’s jobs bill. Without Sen. Lautenberg, who is ill, on the floor today, Democrats would need at least two GOP votes to move forward to consideration of the $15 billion dollar jobs bill, which right now includes four provisions that Republicans either wrote, co-wrote, or co-sponsored in the recent past. In his speech before the vote, Harry Reid insisted that there would be other job creation bills in the future as part of the “jobs agenda” throughout the year in the Senate. He invited Republicans to join in the business of governing, saying, “My friends on the other side of the aisle share this responsibility. When I had 60 votes, all the responsibility was mine. It’s no longer that way. We’re down to 59.”
It’s genuinely unclear whether or not this cloture vote will pass. We’ll keep you posted.
…Scott Brown just voted yes on advancing the jobs bill. So far he’s the only Republican to flip. Can’t wait for the Tea Party blast faxes of betrayal.
…Susan Collins just voted aye, and she wrote that letter urging Reid to reconsider taking away all the tax breaks in the Baucus-Grassley bill. Provided no Democratic defections, this will pass today.
…Snowe and Voinovich just voted aye as well. In the end this will pass with a little breathing room.
…Here’s Scott Brown’s statement on voting yes on his first mildly significant piece of legislation in the Senate:
I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families. This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.
I was disappointed with the continuation of politics-as-usual in the drafting of this bill, as it was crafted behind closed doors, without transparency and accountability. I hope for improvements in that process going forward. All of us, Republicans and Democrats, have to work together to get our economy back on track. I hope my vote today is a strong step toward restoring bipartisanship in Washington.
Clearly, the tea party patriots supported his run in Massachusetts to restore bipartisanship in Washington.
