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Republicans block Obama jobs bill | Republicans block Obama jobs bill |
(40 minutes later) | |
Republicans in the US Senate have blocked President Barack Obama's jobs bill in a procedural vote. | Republicans in the US Senate have blocked President Barack Obama's jobs bill in a procedural vote. |
Forty-six Republican senators joined with two Democrats to filibuster the $447bn (£287bn) package. | |
Reacting to the vote, Mr Obama said: "Tonight's vote is by no means the end of this fight." | Reacting to the vote, Mr Obama said: "Tonight's vote is by no means the end of this fight." |
Republicans oppose the measure citing its spending to stimulate the economy and its tax rise on millionaires. The US unemployment rate is jammed at 9.1%. | |
The package failed by a vote of 50 to 48, short of the 60 votes it needed to advance in the 100-member Senate. | |
The president has spent several weeks promoting the jobs bill in a campaign-style tour across the country. | |
But despite his efforts, he did not pick up a single Republican vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate on Tuesday. | |
Two Democrats, facing re-election in conservative states, also voted against the measure. | |
The American Jobs Act includes $175bn in infrastructure spending and aid for local governments to avoid layoffs, as well as Social Security payroll tax cuts for workers and businesses. | |
Adopting a defiant tone after the vote, Mr Obama said he would work with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to see that individual proposals in the bill gained a vote as soon as possible. | |
The president told a union audience earlier in Pennsylvania. "I think they'll have a hard time explaining why they voted no on this bill - other than the fact that I proposed it." | The president told a union audience earlier in Pennsylvania. "I think they'll have a hard time explaining why they voted no on this bill - other than the fact that I proposed it." |
Mr Obama has cited independent economists as estimating the American Jobs Act could create up to 1.9m jobs. | |
Analysts say that among the elements of the bill which might be salvaged are a payroll tax cut which Mr Obama wants to extend. | |
Another part of the package that could that attract bipartisan support could be extending unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. | |
But the package's proposals for increased highway spending and aid for cash-strapped states are deemed unlikely to pick up Republican support. | |
After Tuesday's appearance in Pennsylvania, Mr Obama travelled to Florida for fundraising, and a beer with four unemployed construction workers to discuss jobs. | After Tuesday's appearance in Pennsylvania, Mr Obama travelled to Florida for fundraising, and a beer with four unemployed construction workers to discuss jobs. |
The president told the group - three pipe-fitters and a plumber - at an Irish pub in downtown Orlando that he was trying to figure out how to help the building industry. | |
The tradesmen drank Budweiser and Mr Obama had a Guinness as they all toasted: "To more jobs!" | The tradesmen drank Budweiser and Mr Obama had a Guinness as they all toasted: "To more jobs!" |
Democrats say that Republicans are more interested in defeating Mr Obama than helping the country recover from the deepest recession since the 1930s. | |
But Republicans, who back a job-creation agenda focusing on loosening business regulations, say Mr Obama's jobs bill is a re-run of his 2009 stimulus. | |
Almost 45% of the 14 million jobless Americans have been out of work for six months or more. |