Following up the last post:Keep in mind —
More than two-thirds of all Americans back higher taxes on the rich and even larger numbers think Medicare and Social Security benefits should be left alone, according to a Bloomberg-Washington Post national poll conducted Oct. 6-9.
Even more than half of Republicans think the rich should be paying more taxes, this poll says.
So we have a jobs bill that should do a lot to pump the economy, and the CBO says it should pay for itself and even reduce the deficit, and it can be funded by a surtax to the rich that is popular with a large majority of voters.
And there is real concern that enough Senate Dems will refuse to vote for it that it will get less than 50 votes.
According to Chis Good at The Atlantic, the Dems likely to vote no are:
- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who asked on Sept. 17, “If spending money would solve our problems and crisis in America, we wouldn’t have a problem right now because we sure did our share of spending money in the last few years. It’s just common sense to me. If some of the recommendations that are out there hadn’t worked in the past, why would we do them over again?”
- Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who said last week he would filibuster the bill. His office told The Atlantic today that Nelson has not yet decided how he will vote.
- Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who said last week he will not support the bill unless it’s changed to include more infrastructure projects.
- Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who has not spoken publicly in favor of the bill after criticizing its deficit offsets initially, despite Reid’s changes.
Manchin is a flat-out idiot who should be drummed out of the party. I think we’ve all had it up to here with Nelson, too. I don’t know what to make of Tester, but this kind of grandstanding isn’t helpful. Looks like Webb is a question mark.
Also, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) probably will miss the vote, although she supports the bill. Thanks loads.
Now, I have to say that four or five our of 53 Senate Dems is a small minority, and perhaps I shouldn’t tar the whole party, but one does wonder what some Dems are using in place of brains sometimes.
See also If moderate Dems vote No on jobs bill, they’re only hurting themselves.