dems worry about their jobs and not the people-
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8/9/2019 Dems Worry About Their Jobs and Not the People-
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Election spooks lawmakers, curbs Congress spendingEmail this Story
Jun 7, 7:09 AM (ET)
By LAURIE KELLMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - The 2010 elections have changed the direction of
government only half way through the primary season, with voter anger and economic jitters causing
lawmakers to balk at their most basic duties as well as key elements of President Barack Obama's agenda.
After betting their political future on a government-mandated expansion of health care to include millions more
Americans, Democrats appear to have little appetite for more legislative showdowns given voter rebellion
against government spending amid trillion dollar-plus annual deficits.
The solution in some cases is to simply not vote. Immigration reform is too politically toxic. Key bills with
massive price tags are getting shelved.
Congress' core duty, exercising its power of the purse by passing a budget? Negative. A vote for it could be
seen as a vote for deficit spending. There's no sign of the 12 annual spending bills that typically come up in
June.
Five months out from the midterm elections, Democrats and Republicans say they have no choice but to draw
lessons from the nominating contests and their own, increasingly vocal constituents.
"We are hearing from the public, 'You're adding to the deficit, you're adding to the deficit,'" said Rep. Henry
Cuellar, D-Texas, a member of the conservative Blue Dogs who have held together against many proposals
that require even more borrowing by the Treasury to pay for them.
Obama himself gave his party cover for dropping any real plans to pass comprehensive immigration reform,
which he'd promised to address in his first presidential year. Passing the massive health care overhaul on the
heels of an economic stimulus package and several industry bailouts has sapped Congress of any "appetite" for
polarizing legislation.
"I don't want us to do something just for the sake of politics that doesn't solve the problem," Obama told
reporters Wednesday night aboard Air Force One.
In March, Congress sent Obama a modest $38 billion jobs bill exempting employers who hire laid off workers
from the 6.2 percent Social Security tax through the rest of the year and providing about $20 billion for
highway and transit programs. Employers also can get a $1,000 tax credit if new hires stay on their payroll a
full year.
The bill was supposed to be only the first of many election-year measures to hammer home the "jobs, jobs,
jobs" rallying cry that Democrats hoped would persuade voters to stay with them in November.
But Democratic moderates' antipathy to borrowing more money to pay for the additional jobs and recession
safety net measures has forced the party to abandon some and trim back others.
Obama's proposed $250 bonus payment to Social Security recipients was killed by the Senate. Also gone is an
$80 billion-plus Senate plan that promised money to build roads and schools, help local governments keep
teachers on the payroll and stimulate hiring in the home improvement industry with rebates for homeownerswho make energy-saving investments.
Just last month, deficit concerns killed $24 billion in fiscal relief to prevent state workers from being
furloughed. It was a measure that earlier had won initial votes in both the House and Senate.
The battle over extending jobless benefits for up to 99 weeks for the long-term unemployed typifies how the
Democrats' jobs agenda has foundered. What originally was a $200 billion measure combining the jobless
benefits with renewing popular business and family tax breaks was cut to $115 billion by House leaders after
moderate Democrats who are particularly vulnerable in November refused to support it.
Among the losers were laid-off workers who will now see subsidies covering two-thirds of their health
insurance premiums disappear.
The bill, which still includes assistance for doctors facing lower Medicare payments, a summer jobs program
sought by minority lawmakers and settlements to lawsuits against the government from black farmers and
American Indians, still faces an uncertain fate this week in the Senate.
Other legislation too has foundered for the same reasons. Congress probably won't take up a reauthorization
of the huge highway-transit bill, for example, because lawmakers don't want to consider raising gasoline taxes
to pay for it.
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