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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    Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.