Democrats Refuse to Put Jobs Bill on Senate Schedule

Speaking to reporters at the beginning of his Cabinet meeting today, President Obama said he is ready to sign the legislation. Once again he implied that only the GOP was holding his bill up when he called on congressional Republicans to spell out what aspects of his plan they agree with and which they reject.  Perhaps a better idea would be to ask Senate Democrats what they don't like about the bill. After all three weeks after he submitted his Tax and Spend  jobs bill and demanded that it  be passed right away the Senate, which is controlled by the President's party has yet to take up the legislation, truth be told they have yet to take up when they are going to take up the bill.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

But while the White House will again be calling for action by lawmakers, the first order of business in the Senate this week - that would the Senate which is controlled by the President's own party - will be a measure on China's currency.

Why is Obama's own party delaying the vote on his Jobs bill? Simple they don't have the votes.

At this point, Democrats probably don't have 50 votes for the underlying Obama jobs bill, as Democrats are split for a variety of reasons.

Some Senate Democrats don't like the way the plan is paid for with higher taxes; others don't like higher tax levies on the oil and gas industry as well as other details.

Even NY Senator Chuck Schumer, the most partisan of partisan hacks is indicating some problems with the bill.  At issue is the increased taxes the president wants to impose to fund the bill:

"After [Obama] announced the jobs bill ... he proposed ways of paying for it that are probably not the best way to garner the votes," Schumer said.

"We're looking for better ways," said Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

Republican leaders in the House had been vocal arguing that now was not the time to raise any taxes. And Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) has said that Democratic senators standing for election won't vote for a tax increase - "even on the wealthiest people."

It seems that the party loyalists are not going for Obama's class war fare, especially those nearing their re-election campaign.  All we know for sure is Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has promised to bring the bill up for consideration this year, but there is a lot of "this year" left.  And while President Obama is making the GOP his scapegoat, it is the Democrats causing much of the Delay.