Dems Need at Least Two GOP Votes Today for Jobs Bill

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Economy

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's slimmed down, $15 billion jobs package faces its first vote later today, and Reid is doing his best to get at least two Republicans to sign on to this version of the legislation after riling some Republicans by scrapping a more bloated bill.

The Senate votes today on whether to proceed with Reid's bill, which includes tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed workers and for small businesses that purchase new equipment. It also would renew the Highway Trust Fund and help state and local governments finance large infrastructure projects.

Democrats have 59 votes in the Senate, and one Democrat, Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey will miss today's vote after learning last week he is suffering from stomach lymphoma. That means the party needs two Republican votes to overcome a filibuster.

Reid said on Friday he thinks there is at least a 50-50 chance that Sen. Scott Brown, the new GOP senator from Massachusetts will support the package. Brown told the Huffington Post on Friday he was "still analyzing" the bill. He is coming under new pressure to support the measure from the labor-backed group Americans United for Change, which is running an ad asking, "Will Scott Brown keep his promise to vote for Mass. jobs, be independent?"

Senate Democrats are also turning to their two most moderate Republican colleagues, Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, for support. Snowe has been holding out for extended tax breaks on loans and a plan to give stimulus funds to small businesses, Politico reports, while Collins as of Friday wanted a handful of more tax provisions, such as an extended tax credit allowing companies to write off some research and development costs.

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by P0ST1ING_AWAY February 22, 2010 5:20 PM EST: by velma179 February 22, 2010 4:36 PM EST
I would be very pleasantly surprised if Senator Brown supported this bill.

There us a lot of "buyers remorse" going on in MA (this comes to me from friends who live there, so it is mostly anecdotal...) right now, especially after Brown showed up at CPAC with his Republican flag flying.

We'll see.
==========================================================
Buyer's Remorse .....

ALREADY ???

Sounds like not enough thought went into the decision
IN THE FIRST PLACE.; Reply to this comment


by bantamei February 22, 2010 4:31 PM EST: Even more rational members of the repubLIEcan party are calling other members hypocrites. Look up the word hypocricy in the dictionary and it says see 'repubLIEcan party'.; Reply to this comment


by P0ST1ING_AWAY February 22, 2010 4:18 PM EST: by IL-Independent February 22, 2010 1:52 PM EST
Your full of it you know it.. I hate you idiots

by masanf01 February 22, 2010 2:20 PM EST
Oh, give us all a break. When did spending ever more billions we don't have qualify as helping the "working class"? Heck, why don't we just pass a $15 Trillion dollar bill, if spending huge sums of money is all it takes to help the "working class".

===========================================================
Oh ... Please Pardon Me .... If it's a Bother ....
But ... Would either of you have any Grey Poupon ????; Reply to this comment


by jd2408 February 22, 2010 3:55 PM EST: I keep trying to make sense of this insane spending. This money is coming from the tarp repayments and we were promised it would be paid on the deficit. Employers can't hire new people and buy new equipment if no one can afford to buy products and giving money to state governments is just like flushing it down a drain. We need legislation. Take away tax credits from companies that outsource, demand fair trade agreements and stick to it, mandatory E-Verify, secure borders,regulations on the banks and tax breaks for companies that don't outsource jobs. These short term solutions are not going to help us. Who's to say they won't buy new equipment and then move to Mexico. Its happened in our state before. Your killing us with debt so you don't have to face your masters, Corporate America.; Reply to this comment


by jxknowles February 22, 2010 3:42 PM EST: You pray someone in the Senate has a conscience and will help struggling Americans. We need action now, not later.; Reply to this comment

by pr_boxer February 22, 2010 12:54 PM EST

Two Republican votes? Get real, Republicans don't consider working class as "people". The GOP would love for the US to be like Latin America, two classes, the rich and the poor. Straight from Dick Armey's economics class.

Reply to this comment


by IL-Independent February 22, 2010 1:52 PM EST: Your full of it you know it.. I hate you idiots


by masanf01 February 22, 2010 2:20 PM EST: Oh, give us all a break. When did spending ever more billions we don't have qualify as helping the "working class"? Heck, why don't we just pass a $15 Trillion dollar bill, if spending huge sums of money is all it takes to help the "working class".

by omega42 February 22, 2010 10:45 AM EST

You want a jobs bill, do something to limit the off-shoring of manufacturing and the guest workers still being imported into this country. Without concrete steps to address these two issues everything else is insincere political window dressing.

Reply to this comment


by rightbehind February 22, 2010 11:02 AM EST: Dido! We need to stop contract labor to. Upper management use contractors to funnel money out of companies to line their own pockets.


by jd2408 February 22, 2010 4:09 PM EST: You got it right omega42, this is a smoke screen bill. This is to take the focus off of the legislation they promised us but haven't passed one single bill. They really want us to believe its a jobs bill when it is nothing more than throwing more money away and won't do a thing for the middle class. Giving more money to state government is a waste. We are being played like a bunch of idiot sheep.

by gwjackie February 22, 2010 10:44 AM EST

O don't worry the Republicans will do anything to hurt the average working people in this country but with that said the Democrats won't do much better. If you look at the foreign trade that has taken place in the last 9 or 10 years there are no jobs to be had. Trade with China Boggles my mind how could anyone think that the American people can compete with people that work for a dollar a day and as long as the people in this country keep buying there products it will never change.

Reply to this comment


by rightbehind February 22, 2010 11:00 AM EST: I look for the label now. i pay extra to support economies similar to our own. It's not that I have anything against the Chinese people. I just don't want republican neocons feeding on desperation.

by lakota2012 February 22, 2010 10:32 AM EST

"Will Scott Brown keep his promise to vote for Mass. jobs, be independent?"
-------------

Heck no, he's already been in Washington too long to be anything close to an "independent," just another miNOrity party of NO bozo, voting against America and needed jobs!

Reply to this comment


by velma179 February 22, 2010 4:36 PM EST: I would be very pleasantly surprised if Senator Brown supported this bill.

There us a lot of "buyers remorse" going on in MA (this comes to me from friends who live there, so it is mostly anecdotal...) right now, especially after Brown showed up at CPAC with his Republican flag flying.

We'll see.

by rightbehind February 22, 2010 10:12 AM EST

Forget about any GOP votes! The economy is recovering. The shopping centers were packed yesterday.

Reply to this comment


by aghast101 February 22, 2010 12:51 PM EST: Realy? Is that why over 5 bussiness in my town have closed their doors in the last month? These were not small family stores.