Obama's jobs bill blocked in Senate

Despite recent calls by President Obama to pass his infrastructure repair bill, the Senate has blocked the legislation.

WASHINGTON DC (Catholic Online) - The Senate voted not to debate on a measure that would spend $50 billion on highway, rail, transit, and airport improvements and another $10 million that would be set aside as seed money for the development of a national infrastructure bank. That bank would be primarily funded by private investments. The vote was 51 to 49 in favor of debating the bill, but the measure needed 60 votes to pass. 

Obama has been touting his American Jobs Act as a way to put unemployed Americans back to work but just today the latest jobless figures suggest that more Americans are already returning to work. New labor statistics will be released Friday morning.

The Labor Department announced on Thursday that unemployment has dropped to 397,000 from a revised 406,000 the previous week. This is the lowest level of unemployment claims filed in five weeks, and it may be a sign that businesses are hiring and investors are shrugging off the volatility in Europe.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) joined 47 Senate Republicans and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, in opposing Obama's measure which would have been paid for with a 0 .7 percent surtax on individuals earning more than $1 million per year.

Obama was dismayed at the result. He remarked, "It makes no sense when you consider that this bill was made up of the same kinds of common-sense proposals that many of these Senators have fought for in the past. It was fully paid for." 

Yesterday Obama remark during his speech that the cost of picking these infrastructure improvements was less than the cost of not making them.

The Legislature continues to block all of Obama's Jobs Bill proposals. The American Jobs Act was stopped in its entirety last month, and the individual planks of the act do not appear to be having much success. And it's not just the Republicans who are to blame. A number of Democrats are also joining their Republican counterparts in opposing specific planks of Obama's Jobs Bill.

Republicans are defending their actions saying that the planks of the bill enjoyed wide bipartisan support, but that they also increase taxes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had this to say: "the Democrats have deliberately designed this bill to fail. So the truth is, Democrats are more interested in building a campaign message that in rebuilding roads and bridges."

In any case, it appears the American Jobs Act is unlikely to create any jobs outside of lobbying gigs on Capitol Hill.

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