ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) ? The White House is dismissing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s call for an immediate vote on President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill as a political stunt.
White House press secretary Jay Carney, speaking on Air Force One, called McConnell’s move “gamesmanship” and “disingenuous.”
McConnell on Tuesday took up Obama’s challenge to Congress to pass the bill. He called for an immediate vote in a clear attempt to put Democrats and Obama on the spot. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid objected and proposed instead to hold a vote later in the month.
Obama has been demanding a vote, blaming Republicans for inaction. But some Democrats have also taken issue with Obama’s proposal, particularly its plan to pay for it with tax increases on higher-income taxpayers and on corporations.
