Senate Rebuffs Bush Blocks Overtime Rules Changes

[MSgt213]

Senate Rebuffs Bush, Blocks New Rules on Overtime Pay

By Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 5, 2004; Page A04


The Republican-controlled Senate voted yesterday to block new Labor Department rules that critics said would deny overtime pay to millions of white-collar workers, handing an embarrassing rebuff to the Bush administration on a politically sensitive jobs issue.

The Senate voted 52 to 47 to scrap the new rules despite recent changes to address earlier criticism, an intense lobbying campaign by Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao and a last-ditch GOP effort to avert defeat by proposing a long list of jobs for which overtime pay could not be eliminated.

Although the GOP's concessions were approved unanimously, they did not satisfy five moderate Republicans who broke ranks to vote with nearly all Democrats in favor of keeping the administration from cutting anyone's overtime pay.

"This was a great victory for American workers and families" and sent a "clear message to the administration" to drop its efforts to rewrite the nation's overtime pay rules, said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who led the fight against the new regulations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2000-2004May4.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. This is an election year

I figure the Senators went back home and found out that the people know about this and weren't going to stand for it. That's why they changed-to save their own political skins.

[Hunter_1253]

2. Still, 47 voted for it...

and those 47 senators should be voted out of office for it. I hope everyone of them gets that vote thrown at them during their next election. How could anyone think that is a good idea for the working class?

[MSgt213]

4. Zell Miller voted against the amemdement to block Bush.

[gatlingforme]

5. I am not sure why Zell would do such a thing - oh that's right,

He has to show some Democratic ideology to call himself a Dem. Joke that he is and a hateful one too. That guy really hates people. he is the perfect Republican.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Is there a roll call for who voted which way?