WASHINGTON- Senate Republicans blocked a lending bill aimed at small businesses from moving forward, a tactic designed to prevent any Democrat legislation from passing before this fall’s elections.
In a 58-42 vote, all the Republicans voted together in order to put the bill back on the floor for more debate and give the GOP another crack at adding or revising certain amendments in the bill. The only Democrat who voted with the Republicans was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who did so only to preserve the right to bring the bill back up for another vote sometime in the future.
“The small business lending bill contains many positive provisions, yet I do not believe that any member in this chamber truly believes that this bill will do enough to solve our job creation problems,” said Sen. Orin Hatch, R-Utah. “This is because it ignores the main problems afflicting the economy and preventing the kind
of job creation that we need right now. The bill before us misses the boat.”
This bill’s architect, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has preached that the bill is necessary for America’s small businesses to get back up on their feet and help restore the economy.
“This is time for us to say yes to Main Street,” Landrieu said. “If [the bill] passes now, small businesses may be able to hold on. They might be able to create the jobs that are necessary … this is about corner stores. This is about corner banks. Are we going to vote for them or leave them here high and dry.”
Landrieu also touted the bi-partisanship of the bill, citing the many times Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, had her name attached to the legislation.
“Sen. Snowe wrote lots of pieces of this bill,” Landrieu said. “I don’t know how many more items one senator can have in a bill.”
Despite the apparent bi-partisanship, not a single Republican voted for the bill.