Reid resists McConnell’s move to take up the president’s jobs bill

[red states rule]

So will the liberal media and Obama stop whining how it is Republicans who are blocking Obama's "jobs" bill from passing?

Probably not




As the president in Texas urged Congress to vote on his jobs bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (http://www.debatepolicy.com/topic/politics/government/mitch-mcconnell-PEPLT004312.topic) threw the Senate a curveball on Tuesday by trying to do just that.

“I agree with the president, I think he’s entitled to a vote on his jobs bill,” the Republican leader said on the Senate floor as he tried to force an immediate vote on the American Jobs Act by attaching it to unrelated legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (http://www.debatepolicy.com/topic/politics/harry-reid-PEPLT005460.topic) refused.

McConnell’s move was a bit of Senate theater intended to draw attention to Democrats (http://www.debatepolicy.com/topic/politics/parties-movements/democratic-party-ORGOV0000005.topic)’ division over President Obama’s bill and Reid’s refusal to take it up “right away,” as the president has urged at rally after rally for weeks.

Democratic leaders have acknowledged they don’t yet have the votes to pass the bill, and Reid said Tuesday that he expected the Senate to amend it in order to win Democratic support. Some Senate Democrats have concerns with the way the president proposed to pay for his package, Reid acknowledged Tuesday, adding that his caucus was working on a new set of funding proposals. Reid promised a vote before the Senate recess at the end of the month.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-pn-mcconell-reid-jobs-20111004,0,4996783.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews+(L.A.+Times+-+Top+News)

[red states rule]

First Harry Reid says "yes" to a vote of Obama's "jobs" bill, then he stalls it




In a stunning turn of events this evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., used an arcane legislative maneuver to effectively rewrite Senate rules to make it harder for the minority party to force uncomfortable votes on the majority.

The buildup to this point started on Tuesday, when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tried to force a vote on President Obama's jobs bill as well as other Republican priorities by offering them as amendments to the China currency bill. Reid blocked the move.
Tonight, McConnell made what's called a "motion to suspend the rules," to allow a vote on the amendments. Such motions are almost always defeated, because they require a two-thirds majority to pass. But they're another way for the minority party to force uncomfortable votes. Even though the minority party doesn't get a direct vote on the amendment, how somebody votes on the motion becomes a sort of proxy for such a vote. In this case, for instance, if Democrats had voted down a motion for a vote on Obama's jobs bill, it would have put them in an awkward spot.

Though it's been the standing practice of the Senate to allow such motions by the minority, tonight Reid broke with precedent and ruled McConnell's motion out of order, and was ultimately backed up by Democrats.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/reid-rewrites-senate-rules-shocking-move