http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/us/po ... 0cong.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Senate Republicans on Thursday rejected a bill to aid small businesses with expanded loan programs and tax breaks, a procedural blockade that underscored how fiercely determined the party’s leaders are to deny Democrats any further legislative accomplishments before November’s midterm elections.
The small business measure, championed by Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, had the backing of some of the Republican party’s most reliable allies in the business world, including the United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business. Several Republican lawmakers also helped write it.
But Republicans leaders filibustered after engaging for days in a procedural fight with Democrats over the number of amendments they would be able to offer during floor debate, and what issues the amendments would cover. A last-ditch offer by Democrats to allow three Republican amendments was refused by the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“The majority leader has graciously given us three amendments and what I’m saying is three amendments is not enough; he knows that,” Mr. McConnell said, leveling his objection on the Senate floor. “So we are not expecting to have an unlimited number of amendments, but three amendments will not suffice.”
The demise, at least for now, of the small-business measure signaled that Democrats would fare no better on other legislation that they had hoped to finish before the summer recess begins at the end of next week, including a scaled-back energy bill. The Senate is expected to confirm Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court, but that may be its only substantive action before lawmakers leave town.
With 60 votes needed to advance the legislation, the tally was 58 to 42, with Democrats unanimously in favor and Republicans all opposed. The majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, switched his vote to no at the last minute, a parliamentary step that allows him to call for a revote at any point. And some lawmakers said they held out hope of a deal perhaps even later on Thursday.
The vote followed several heated exchanges on the floor, in which Republicans accused Democrats of politicizing the bill and trying to deny them the opportunity to propose changes. Democrats countered that Republicans were simply obstructing everything and some of their amendments were unrelated to the bill.
“That is the tradition in the United States Senate: majority rules but you accommodate the rights of the minority,” said Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, who is the senior Republican on the small-business committee. “We’re faced with a procedural impasse here because we’re being denied the opportunity to offer some amendments.”
Ms. Snowe also chastised Democrats for dillydallying on the small-business measure, repeatedly pulling it off the floor to deal with other matters. “We need to create jobs in America,” she said. “This bill has been on the floor for three weeks and three substitutes — 81 days.”
Ms. Landrieu harshly criticized Mr. McConnell for blocking the measure, and warned that some businesses might fail as a result of the inaction in the Senate.
“Our businesses have picked up enough weight; they can’t handle that weight,” she said in a floor speech. “And if we don’t give them some help now, today, many of them aren’t going to be here — I want the senator from Kentucky to know — when we show up in September.”
The legislation would create a $30 billion lending program within the Treasury Department, to be administered through local, community banks. It would also provide more than $12 billion in tax breaks, and would expand or enhance various existing government lending programs for small businesses.
The stalemate comes as the two parties are bracing for a fiercely competitive fall campaign season, and each side is maneuvering to portray itself as the champion of small business.
Ms. Landrieu’s staff members on Wednesday distributed a four-page chart showing how the various provisions in the legislation were drafted with bipartisan support. Her office has also distributed list of various advocacy groups, including business associations traditionally regarded as Republican allies, that are supporting the bill.
But some of those groups, including the National Federation of Independent Business, said that while they supported the overall legislation, they also supported some amendments that Republicans were seeking to offer.
Senator George LeMieux, Republican of Florida, who helped draft the bill, said Democrats had taken a bipartisan measure and created a partisan firefight over it.
“This small business bill should pass and it should pass with relevant amendments,” Mr. LeMieux said. “Before I am a Republican, I am a Floridian and an American, and this bill is good for our country.”
Mr. LeMieux pointed out that with the House set to adjourn for its summer recess at the end of this week, the Senate is running out of time if it wants to channel aid to small businesses before Congress returns to Washington in mid-September.
With tensions running high, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, immediately jumped in to ask Mr. LeMieux to yield for a question and noted that “if just one” Republican had voted with the Democrats — a pointed reference to Mr. LeMieux himself — the bill would be moving forward.
Mr. LeMieux shot back, “Half the truth is no truth at all.”
fucking cocksuckers
