Obama’s jobs bill goes down in the Senate

Chris Moody
·Political Reporter

The Senate rejected President Obama's new $447 billion stimulus plan Tuesday night, a plan that may have a better chance to pass if it's broken up into smaller parts and passed piece-meal.

With the filibuster in action, the procedural measure required 60 votes to proceed.

The Lookout's Zachary Roth has the details:

Senate Republicans last night filibustered an effort to begin debate on the bill. That means that the measure failed, even though it had the support of a majority of senators.

The vote in favor of advancing the bill was 50-49. But Sen. Hary Reid, the Democratic leader, voted no despite supporting the bill, because, thanks to the Senate's arcane procedures, doing so allows him to move to reconsider the vote in the future.

All 46 Senate Republicans who were present, plus two Democrats -- Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Sen. Jon Tester of Montana -- opposed allowing the bill to proceed.

Republicans have signaled that they're open to some parts of the bill, including offering tax incentives for businesses to hire war veterans and specific tax cuts. But with elections right around the corner, passing anything of substance in this political climate is going to be tough, if not impossible.