Talking to White House aides today, I basically knew that the president was going to announce the following strategy using the following rhetoric. What I didn’t know was whether he’d be able to say a majority of senators voted for it. Well, he got that done. The roll call isn’t available online because they held it open so Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire can get back to Washington to vote. The final tally on the cloture vote (according to the Associated Press) will probably be 51-48. Apparently, Jon Tester of Montana (who the progressive blogosphere worked hard to elect) and Ben Nelson voted against cloture. In any case, here’s the president:
Statement by the President on the Senate Vote on the American Jobs Act
Tonight, a majority of United States Senators voted to advance the American Jobs Act. But even though this bill contains the kind of proposals Republicans have supported in the past, their party obstructed the Senate from moving forward on this jobs bill.
Tonight’s vote is by no means the end of this fight. Independent economists have said that the American Jobs Act would grow the economy and lead to nearly two million jobs, which is why the majority of the American people support these bipartisan, common-sense proposals. And we will now work with Senator Reid to make sure that the individual proposals in this jobs bill get a vote as soon as possible.
In the coming days, Members of Congress will have to take a stand on whether they believe we should put teachers, construction workers, police officers and firefighters back on the job. They’ll get a vote on whether they believe we should cut taxes for small business owners and middle-class Americans, or whether we should protect tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.
With each vote, Members of Congress can either explain to their constituents why they’re against common-sense, bipartisan proposals to create jobs, or they can listen to the overwhelming majority of American people who are crying out for action. Because with so many Americans out of work and so many families struggling, we can’t take “no” for an answer. Ultimately, the American people won’t take “no” for an answer. It’s time for Congress to meet their responsibility, put their party politics aside and take action on jobs right now.
The White House will now have the Senate take up parts of the bill in succession. A bill to help veteran’s find employment. A bill to put teachers back to work. A bill on school construction. A bill to extend unemployment insurance. A bill to extend the payroll tax cut. A bill to create an infrastructure bank. And so on.
By stringing it out like this they hope to do three things. First, they hope to get some of these measures passed. Second, they want to highlight Republican obstruction. And, third, they want to keep the conversation on the fight for jobs. For those who are tempted to call it theater, it’s only theater if Republicans and lousy Democrats make it theater. And, frankly, what’s the alternative?
You wanted a fight. Now you have one.
