Do Democrats Want a Vote on the Jobs Bill? It Seems They Can’t Decide

RedQuestionMarkXLargeFrom Talking Points Memo, an incoherent comment by White House spokesman Jay Carney on the President’s jobs bill…

Congress can take it up, vote on it… then if there’s a desire to take things out, we would accept that although we would not be satisfied by that… [President Obama] would say, ‘Where’s the rest of it? What about teachers and construction workers… or incentives to hire veterans?” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters during a briefing Monday.

…and an incoherent process, too, as the Los Angeles Times reports:

As the president in Texas urged Congress to vote on his jobs bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell 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 refused…

And this fun item from The Ticket/Yahoo News:

Talk about poor timing.

Moments after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, blocked a Republican motion in the Senate to vote on President Obama’s jobs bill, the president’s re-election campaign sent out an e-mail blasting House Republicans for not voting on the proposal.

Meantime, what’s Jay Carney talking about? If Congress were to pass the jobs bill, the White House wouldn’t be allowed to “take things out.”

Hat tip on the last two quotes: The [Senate Republican] Leader Board, 10/4/11.



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