Dems Rebuff Brown, Vote Down Amendment Despite Bipartisan Plea

Democrats voted Thursday to defeat the first piece of legislation offered by Sen. Scott Brown, despite a plea from the newly elected lawmaker for bipartisanship.

The Senate voted 56 to 44 to derail an amendment sponsored by Brown (R-Mass.) that would have allocated $80 billion in unobligated stimulus funds to pay for a tax cut for 130 million people in the workforce.

The amendment failed when senators voted to enforce a procedural objection Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) raised against the measure. A majority voted to sustain the motion.

In his first Senate floor speech, Brown asked Democrats to support his proposal, reminding them he was the first Republican to vote for a $15 billion jobs package offered by Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Brown and four other Republicans voted for the Reid jobs bill, giving Senate Democrats their biggest bipartisan legislative victory of the year.

Brown asked his colleagues to return the favor.

“Let me remind colleagues in this chamber that bipartisanship is a two-way street,” Brown said.


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