WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday rejected efforts by Democratic leaders to advance a bill to end a tax provision that supporters of the measure said encourages American companies to ship jobs overseas. The bill also would have given a tax break to companies that move jobs back to the United States. þþRepublicans unanimously opposed the bill, which their party leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, dismissed as an ill-conceived political stunt by Democrats seeking to portray themselves as opposed to the outsourcing of jobs. þþ“This is about as pure a political exercise as you can get,” Mr. McConnell said in a floor speech. He added, “The way to get U.S. businesses to produce more here isn’t to tax them even further, it’s to stop punishing them with our high corporate tax rate.” þþSupporters said they were trying to protect American workers. þþ“It’s about fighting for a way of life,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan. “It’s about fighting for the middle class of this country. We want to make it in America and this sends a very simple message in this bill: Stop shipping our jobs overseas.” þþThe vote was 53 to 45 with Democrats falling 7 votes short of the 60 needed to bring the bill to the floor. Joining the Republicans in opposition were four Democrats, Senators Max Baucus of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Jon Tester of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia, as well as Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent. þþThe Senate then voted overwhelmingly, by 84 to 14, to clear a procedural hurdle on a temporary spending measure that will finance the government until Dec. 3, a month and a day after the November elections. The spending resolution must be adopted before lawmakers leave Washington to focus their full attention on campaigning. þþThe Senate action makes it likely that Congress will approve the measure by Thursday, and both chambers will be able to adjourn as expected at the end of this week. þþSeparately, the Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation to reauthorize programs that promote the collection of bone marrow and adult stem cell donations, as well as umbilical cord blood, that is used in transplants and medical therapies. The bill extends until 2015 the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, which includes a national registry for bone marrow and stem cell donations.þ
Source: NY Times
