Republicans block vote on veterans jobs bill (UPDATE)

[babsbunny]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/19/veteran-benefits-bill-heads-to-vote-as-democrats-plead-for-end-to-gop-block/

By Karen McVeigh, The Guardian
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 14:06 EDT

UPDATE: Senate Democrats failed to achieve cloture and thus prevent a filibuster on the legislation. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) led the opposition to the bill, arguing that the nation’s debt overrode its obligations to help veterans get jobs, and only 5 Republicans voted to proceed with the debate, leaving Democrats two votes short of the 60 required to block a threatened Republican filibuster.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Veterans groups and Democrats are urging Republican senators to put political bickering aside and stop blocking a bill which would help offset high unemployment rates among veterans.

Senators were due to vote on Wednesday on the bill which would cost $1bn over five years to help veterans find employment in public work projects and as police officers and firefighters. It gives priority to the newest generation of veterans, post-9/11, whose employment prospects are almost three percentage points below the national average.

[Vincardog]

1. Where is the outrage? Where is the President on the Bully Pulpit?

[HopeHoops]

2. I STILL say that a threat of a filibuster should be useless. They need to actually DO IT!

[elleng]

4. Damn right, but they came up with some stupid rule some time ago,

allowing this charade to continue.

[HopeHoops]

6. Either force them to talk endlessly or eliminate it entirely. It has outlived any purpose it had.

And yes, I've had wingnuts argue that it's in the Constitution. I just ask "When was the last time you read the entire Constitution?" Dead silence. I read it regularly, and no, the filibuster isn't in it. The power to adopt Senate rules at the beginning of a session IS in the Constitution, but that's simply a Senate rule, nothing more.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. They support the troops when they are off shore fighting a war

But when they come back ..treat them as PARASITES? ... This (As someone who volunteers at a VA Hospital) This burns me up.

[leftyohiolib]

5. the filibuster is the right's "binky"

[Spazito]

7. I hope there will be an ad out very soon...

saying something like 'Mitt Romney left our troops out in the cold by not acknowledging their sacrifice in his acceptance speech and now his republican counterparts left our veterans out in the cold by blocking a vote on the Veterans Jobs bill." Where are the jobs indeed.

[KT2000]

8. filibuster then

make them stand in front of the cameras and spout their garbage. Their names will be shown for all to see.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

9. Rachel singles out 4 Rs who pushed amendments yet filibustered

legislation they helped write:

Burr (NC)
Boozman (AR)
Coburn (OK) and
Hoeven (ND).

These 4 are the worst hypocrites on this particular vote.

The 5 Republicans who crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats were

Brown (MA)
Collins (ME)
Heller (NV)
Murkowski (AK) and
Snowe (ME)

So the cloture vote failed, 58-40, with Inhofe (R-OK) and Kirk (R-IL) not voting

See http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00193 /