Friday, February 06, 2009

McCain's Attempt To Stay Relevant In Senate Fails

It is hard to be in the minority, no matter what legislative body you are in. When you are a recently failed Presidential candidate and your party was soundly rejected at the ballot box and continuing in public opinion polls, things get even worse. If John McCain and the Republicans actually wanted to help the American people, they'd have tried to work with Democrats on the Majority's bill. However, led by McCain of all people, going it alone resulted in where many Senate bills go, to the trash heap.

From The Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — The Senate has killed an alternative economic stimulus plan by Sen. John McCain that would have cut income and payroll taxes but spent far less than President Obama's plan.

The party-line 57-40 vote against McCain's $421 billion plan came Thursday as a group of moderate Democrats and Republicans struggled to cut up to $100 billion from Obama's version.

McCain's plan would have cut the bottom two income tax brackets and lowered corporate income taxes. It also would have extended unemployment benefits and provide money to repair and replace military equipment worn out in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Of course it wasn't surprising that this bill met a quick demise. It was never in the cards for a Republican sponsored stimulus to get any kind of recognition. I understand they want to be the party of opposition but pulling crap like this smells more like obstructionism than anything else.