Democrats Admit Their Partisan Stimulus Bills Are Designed To Fail
Today in Washington, D.C. - Nov. 2, 2011:
The Senate is considerating the motion to proceed to S. 1769, Democrats’ $60 billion infrastructure stimulus bill, which includes a tax hike.
Last night Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the motion to proceed to Democrats’ infrastructure stimulus bill, setting up a cloture vote for Thursday, unless an agreement is reached to hold it earlier.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 69-30 to pass H.R. 2112, the $182 billion bill combining the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills.
Prior to passage, the Senate rejected 4 amendments to the bill: The Senate voted 13-85 against an amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to cut funding to the Rural Development Agency and 41-57 against another Coburn amendment to eliminate funding for the Small Community Air Service Development Program. Senators rejected an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to divert funding from beautification projects to instead repair highway bridges by a vote of 38-60. Also rejected by a vote of 44-54 was an amendment from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) to prohibit funds being used by the EPA to ban certain asthma inhalers.
In addition, the Senate rejected by a vote of 39-60 a motion from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to recommit the bill to committee to reduce funding to last year’s spending levels.
The House of Representatives passed (396-9) a bill Tuesday reaffirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto and encourages the display of the motto in public buildings.
The U.S. House passed two bills to loosen Securities and Exchange Commission rules. It passed (421-1) a bill to increase the registration exemption for smaller securities offerings for SEC registrationfrom $5 million to $50 million. They then voted (420- 2) for a proposal that would increase to 2,000 from 500 the shareholder threshold for closely held banks.
Senate Democrats are moving forward with yet another stimulus bill this week, this time a $60 billion infrastructure stimulus (including $10 billion for an infrastructure bank), despite the fact they know there are bipartisan concerns about the bill and that they know it can’t pass.
According to The Hill today, “Obama will try to ramp up pressure on Republicans by visiting Washington’s Key Bridge on Wednesday, one of many bridges around the country eligible for funding if the infrastructure bill passes. . . . Democratic operatives are quick to note that they never expected to pass the jobs bills through the Senate, adding that the multiple roll calls will put Republicans on the defensive and force them to explain on the 2012 campaign trail why they voted no on measures that poll well with voters.”
So it appears Democrats are finally admitting what was obvious all along: these stimulus bills that couple ever more spending with job-killing tax hikes are designed to fail in order to score political points, not create jobs. In fact, Politico pointed out last week, “[Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid has pushed the president’s agenda when it has had no chance of passing. Reid has pressed for passage of the president’s $447 billion jobs bill and individual pieces of it, even when some of his own rank-and-file Senate Democrats, like [Nebraska Sen. Ben] Nelson, have stood in opposition.” And today Politico notes that Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) “expressed frustration that Senate Democratic leaders continue to bring pieces of the president’s plan forward even though they know full well the proposals will fail.”
Meanwhile, the White House has been awfully candid about how this pattern is all part of a campaign strategy. The Hill reported, “David Axelrod… released a campaign memo on Tuesday signaling that Obama would make his American Jobs Act a major component of his reelection strategy, pummeling Republicans who obstruct his attempts to revive the economy.” Vice President Joe Biden simply came out and admitted, “People say we’re campaigning. We sure as heck are campaigning.”
Bob Woodward, no Republican partisan, recently explained to Chris Matthews that “Barack Obama wants to win so badly, as I understand it, everything in the White House is driven by the election.” Other journalists have noted this, too, with CNN’s Kate Bolduan observing, “The reality in Congress is this bill has virtually no chance of passing and Democrats know that.” And Carl Bernstein said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “[F]irst of all, Obama knew that bill couldn’t pass when he formulated it.” Politico acknowledged last month, “Winning in Congress was never really part of the plan. President Barack Obama didn’t do much to bring along lawmakers on his jobs bill — and it showed . . . . [T]he relentless focus on the American Jobs Act wasn’t about racking up a legislative win. It was always about laying the foundation for . . . 2012 . . . .”
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said today, “We know the President’s strategy. His so-called jobs bill has one purpose: to divide us. Just this morning, I read a story that quoted some Democrat operative almost bragging about the fact that they don’t expect any of the legislation the President’s been out there talking about on his bus tour to pass. They openly admit these bills are designed to fail. It’s not exactly a state secret that Republicans — and yes, some Democrats — don’t think we should be raising taxes right now on the very people we’re counting on to create the jobs we need to get us out of a jobs crisis. And yet the one thing that every single proposal Democrats bring to the floor has in common is that it does just that. So the Democrats’ plan is to keep putting bills on the floor they know ahead of time we’ll vote against, instead of trying to solve the problem. And they don’t even hide it. The President’s top strategist actually issued a memo a few weeks ago saying the President would use this legislation not as a way to help people but as a way to pummel Republicans.
“What we’re witnessing in Washington right now is two very different styles of governance: a Republican majority in the House that believes we should actually do something about the problems we face, and which has put together and actually passed bipartisan legislation that would help address those problems. And a Democratic Majority in the Senate that’s teamed up with the White House on a strategy of doing nothing — all for the sake of trying to score political points and spread the blame for an economy that their own policies have cemented into place as they look ahead to an election that’s more than a year away.”
Tags: INSERT TAGS To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The Senate is considerating the motion to proceed to S. 1769, Democrats’ $60 billion infrastructure stimulus bill, which includes a tax hike.
Last night Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the motion to proceed to Democrats’ infrastructure stimulus bill, setting up a cloture vote for Thursday, unless an agreement is reached to hold it earlier.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 69-30 to pass H.R. 2112, the $182 billion bill combining the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills.
Prior to passage, the Senate rejected 4 amendments to the bill: The Senate voted 13-85 against an amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to cut funding to the Rural Development Agency and 41-57 against another Coburn amendment to eliminate funding for the Small Community Air Service Development Program. Senators rejected an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to divert funding from beautification projects to instead repair highway bridges by a vote of 38-60. Also rejected by a vote of 44-54 was an amendment from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) to prohibit funds being used by the EPA to ban certain asthma inhalers.
In addition, the Senate rejected by a vote of 39-60 a motion from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to recommit the bill to committee to reduce funding to last year’s spending levels.
The House of Representatives passed (396-9) a bill Tuesday reaffirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto and encourages the display of the motto in public buildings.
The U.S. House passed two bills to loosen Securities and Exchange Commission rules. It passed (421-1) a bill to increase the registration exemption for smaller securities offerings for SEC registrationfrom $5 million to $50 million. They then voted (420- 2) for a proposal that would increase to 2,000 from 500 the shareholder threshold for closely held banks.
Senate Democrats are moving forward with yet another stimulus bill this week, this time a $60 billion infrastructure stimulus (including $10 billion for an infrastructure bank), despite the fact they know there are bipartisan concerns about the bill and that they know it can’t pass.
According to The Hill today, “Obama will try to ramp up pressure on Republicans by visiting Washington’s Key Bridge on Wednesday, one of many bridges around the country eligible for funding if the infrastructure bill passes. . . . Democratic operatives are quick to note that they never expected to pass the jobs bills through the Senate, adding that the multiple roll calls will put Republicans on the defensive and force them to explain on the 2012 campaign trail why they voted no on measures that poll well with voters.”
So it appears Democrats are finally admitting what was obvious all along: these stimulus bills that couple ever more spending with job-killing tax hikes are designed to fail in order to score political points, not create jobs. In fact, Politico pointed out last week, “[Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid has pushed the president’s agenda when it has had no chance of passing. Reid has pressed for passage of the president’s $447 billion jobs bill and individual pieces of it, even when some of his own rank-and-file Senate Democrats, like [Nebraska Sen. Ben] Nelson, have stood in opposition.” And today Politico notes that Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) “expressed frustration that Senate Democratic leaders continue to bring pieces of the president’s plan forward even though they know full well the proposals will fail.”
Meanwhile, the White House has been awfully candid about how this pattern is all part of a campaign strategy. The Hill reported, “David Axelrod… released a campaign memo on Tuesday signaling that Obama would make his American Jobs Act a major component of his reelection strategy, pummeling Republicans who obstruct his attempts to revive the economy.” Vice President Joe Biden simply came out and admitted, “People say we’re campaigning. We sure as heck are campaigning.”
Bob Woodward, no Republican partisan, recently explained to Chris Matthews that “Barack Obama wants to win so badly, as I understand it, everything in the White House is driven by the election.” Other journalists have noted this, too, with CNN’s Kate Bolduan observing, “The reality in Congress is this bill has virtually no chance of passing and Democrats know that.” And Carl Bernstein said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “[F]irst of all, Obama knew that bill couldn’t pass when he formulated it.” Politico acknowledged last month, “Winning in Congress was never really part of the plan. President Barack Obama didn’t do much to bring along lawmakers on his jobs bill — and it showed . . . . [T]he relentless focus on the American Jobs Act wasn’t about racking up a legislative win. It was always about laying the foundation for . . . 2012 . . . .”
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said today, “We know the President’s strategy. His so-called jobs bill has one purpose: to divide us. Just this morning, I read a story that quoted some Democrat operative almost bragging about the fact that they don’t expect any of the legislation the President’s been out there talking about on his bus tour to pass. They openly admit these bills are designed to fail. It’s not exactly a state secret that Republicans — and yes, some Democrats — don’t think we should be raising taxes right now on the very people we’re counting on to create the jobs we need to get us out of a jobs crisis. And yet the one thing that every single proposal Democrats bring to the floor has in common is that it does just that. So the Democrats’ plan is to keep putting bills on the floor they know ahead of time we’ll vote against, instead of trying to solve the problem. And they don’t even hide it. The President’s top strategist actually issued a memo a few weeks ago saying the President would use this legislation not as a way to help people but as a way to pummel Republicans.
“What we’re witnessing in Washington right now is two very different styles of governance: a Republican majority in the House that believes we should actually do something about the problems we face, and which has put together and actually passed bipartisan legislation that would help address those problems. And a Democratic Majority in the Senate that’s teamed up with the White House on a strategy of doing nothing — all for the sake of trying to score political points and spread the blame for an economy that their own policies have cemented into place as they look ahead to an election that’s more than a year away.”
Tags: INSERT TAGS To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 1:38 PM - Post Link
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home