President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan failed to receive the necessary votes on the Senate floor, with 50 votes in favor, short of the required 60. Obama said that despite defeat, it was not the end. He plans to work with Senate Majority leader Harry Reid in order to create smaller bills derived from the larger plan.
The most hotly contested issue in the bill was the proposed 5.6% surtax on annual incomes over $1 million. GOP leaders have labeled the measure as “class warfare,” while Democrats have accused Republicans of taking the side of the rich over the majority of Americans. Other measures in the jobs bill included an extension of current payroll tax cuts, an extension of jobless benefits, and money to help create jobs for teachers and first responders such as firefighters.
