Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spent Wednesday slamming Senate Democrats, saying President Obama’s American Jobs Act was “designed to fail.”
“Democrats have designed this bill to fail — they’ve designed their own bill to fail — in the hope that anyone who votes against it will look bad,” Mr. McConnell said. “This whole exercise is a charade that’s meant to give Democrats a political edge in an election that’s 13 months away.”
Mr. McConnell’s statement follows a vote on the Senate floor late Tuesday, which saw Mr. Obama’s latest jobs package fail to garner the necessary 60 votes for passage. Speaking Tuesday, Mr. Obama said the vote was little more than politics and that lawmakers should focus on finding agreement on key components of the measure.
“Tonight’s vote is by no means the end of this fight,” the president said in a statement. He added, “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.”
Republicans have panned the plan as a second version of failed stimulus spending and rejected new taxes on millionaires to pay for the program. The measure has pitted Democrats against Republicans in the latest political debate to engulf Capitol Hill.
Speaking Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden shot back at Republicans during a trip to Michigan, where he traveled as part of the Obama administration’s latest attempt to promote the measure. Mr. Biden told public safety officers in Michigan that the Obama administration’s jobs plan will help struggling cities and preserve thousands of jobs across the country.
