On Capitol Hill, the Republican-led House appears unlikely to take up Obama’s bill soon — if ever. Party leaders want to break up his ideas and farm them out to slow-moving committees for consideration.
And even in the Democratic-led Senate, party leaders have shown little urgency about taking up Obama’s “American Jobs Act.” On Thursday, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), said the leadership simply lacked the votes to pass it.
“Not at the moment, I don’t think we do,” Durbin told WLS radio in Chicago. “But, uh, we can work on it.”
On Friday, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), the chamber’s third-ranking Democrat, said it was “premature” to say that Democrats lacked the votes.
“We’re working really hard to get the votes to pass the president’s” bill, Schumer said in a conference call with reporters. He indicated that one problem might be Obama’s suggestions for
Read More from the Article Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-pushes-on-jobs-bill-while-congress-goes-slow/2011/09/30/gIQA3lxUAL_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage
