Republicans and a dozen Democratic defectors in the Senate dealt a defeat to President Barack Obama Wednesday, just days after he pressed Congress to renew pieces of last year's economic stimulus bill.A catchall measure combining jobless aid for the long-term unemployed, aid to cash-strapped state governments and the renewal of dozens of popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals failed to muster even a majority in a test vote, much less the 60 votes that would be required to defeat a GOP filibuster.
Now, Obama's Democratic allies have been forced back to the drawing board in their efforts to pass the measure, which also would protect doctors from a looming cut in Medicare payments and raise taxes on investment fund managers. A new, scaled back version of the measure is likely to be revealed Wednesday afternoon.
Just on Saturday, Obama made a plea for the measure, including $24 billion in aid to cash-strapped state governments to help avoid tens of thousands of layoffs and ensure the economy doesn't slip back into a recession.
To try to revive the bill, top Democrats are expected to roll back last year's $25 a week increase in unemployment checks and give doctors just a short reprieve from scheduled cuts in their Medicare payments instead of relief until the end of next year. Democratic leaders promise to restore the $24 billion in state aid that was struck by Wednesday's vote.
It's just like 1937 all over again.
5 comments:
For what it is worth...
E-Forecasting a high frequency forecasting service which posts
a monthly GDP number gave out its
revised March April May real GDP number
( to match BEA quarterly type numbers). It was 4.6%. The May number was very high but that is
subject to high variation. The aggregate hours worked was pretty strong for May.
Completely agree. But, "ensure", not "insure"!
Except that it's going to be harder to have a world war and survive it... :)
They're not raising taxes and they're not fighting a jobs bill because there isn't one.
The opposition's pro-Depression mentality is the same, but the GOP didn't stop progress so much as shout down a whimper. These aren't FDR's Democrats in office.
Government spending and associated stimulus programs are the only things right now that are keeping our collective noses above water. Consumers do not have the income and business does not have the sales to grow the economy. The Stimulus was underwhelming, it lacked size, depth and the proper focus to initiate long term growth. It was a series of flash in the pans each doing something for a short time.
As we approach 1937 we should view the recent past as a five act play. The first written by Reagan established the falsehood of Government as the problem, borrow and spend economics and deregulation as in Savings and Loan debacle. Act two written by Phil Gramm, produced by Bill Clinton staring George W. Bush as Alfred E. Newman in What ME Worry? Act three was written by Obama, Summers and Geithner featuring the stimulus and two Wall Street lap dogs. It now seems that Act four will be written by those who brought us the first two. Act Five may be a re-enactment of the French Revolution done in English.
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