Today, the Obama campaign sent an email to supporters telling them to “call out” the Republicans for blocking the president’s American Jobs Act. Here’s some of the text from that email: “Though it’s been nearly a month since he [Obama] laid out this plan, House Republicans haven’t acted to pass it. And House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is out there actually bragging that they won’t even put the jobs package up for a vote — ever. It’s not clear which part of the bill they now object to: building roads, hiring teachers, getting veterans back to work. They’re willing to block the American Jobs Act — and they think you won’t do anything about it.”
Interestingly, several minutes prior to the release of this email, Republican leader Mitch McConnell requested a vote on Obama’s jobs bill: “I think the president of the United States, whose policies I generally do not support … is entitled to know where the Senate stands on his proposal that he has been out talking about … and suggesting that we are unwilling to vote on it.”
Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, called McConnell’s proposal a “political stunt” and refused to allow a vote, killing McConnell’s motion. This comes only days after Reid called upon Obama to demand a vote on the jobs bill “now”. But apparently, “now” means something other than “immediately” to Mr. Reid, who excused his betrayal of President Obama by saying that, ” ‘Right away’ is a relative term”.
It has become clear that the Democrats can’t marshal the votes to support another spending bill, the passage of which would provide invaluable ammunition for budget-cutting Republicans running in the upcoming 2012 election. It is also obvious that President Obama is unwilling to rise above partisanship in Washington. A bipartisan president would have immediately heaped scorn upon Democrats for their refusal to align themselves with his jobs bill, and not surprisingly, I am still waiting for President Obama to release a new email that blames Harry Reid and the Democrats for abandoning their values and their leader during a time of great economic distress.
Your thoughts?
Links: Obama campaign letter and details, details of Reid blocking McConnell motion
