Obama Jobs Bill Heads to Senate to Die

The Senate will hold a vote to begin debate on President Obama's jobs bill today, but Republicans are likely to filibuster the measure, denying it the 60 votes it needs, the AP reports. Republicans have been signaling their opposition, likening the bill to 2009's stimulus, which Republicans regard as a failed endeavor. "It's not a jobs bill. In our view, it's another stimulus bill," Mitch McConnell said last week. "I don't think it'll pass and I don't think it should."

Even Democrats may not support the bill unanimously—Ben Nelson and Joe Manchin, who both hail from states Obama is likely to lose, may defect. The bill was always a longshot to pass because Republicans control the House and can filibuster in the Senate, but Obama has campaigned hard for the bill anyway, pushing for a vote. "This is not the time for the usual games or political gridlock in Washington," he said in his latest radio and Internet address. (More jobs bill stories.)