Scott Brown is set to be sworn in as the newest member of the United States Senate later today. That means Democrats will need at least one Republican to switch sides if they hope to beat a Republican filibuster of their jobs bill. An initial vote on the package is set for Monday. Brian Beutler has the latest on how the Dems’ plan to do that:
“You need two to tango. And you need Republicans for bipartisanship,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (I-IL). “Hope is prospective…we don’t have bipartisanship at this moment. I hope we’ll have it in a matter of minutes, hours, days.”
Hope may be prospective. But it’s not a plan.
Maybe the Dems really do have a GOPer on board, and they just don’t want to say yet. But more likely, they’re expecting the bill to fail and plan on blaming the Republicans for it. That might be good politics, but it doesn’t actually help anyone get a job.
Kevin is traveling today.