Maybe he's trying to make up for the mess he made of healthcare, or maybe it's just the ego trip of having his name on every signficant bill, but Baucus is getting in the way again:
Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Dick Durbin of Illinois have been working intensely on a jobs bill for more than a month, talking with relevant committee leaders and other members and dispatching aides to dozens of other meetings in the hopes of crafting a bill that could get through the Senate quickly....
But Montana Sen. Max Baucus had other ideas.
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, where the health care bill was debated for months last year, surprised the senators gathered in Reid’s office by suggesting he wanted a chance to mark up portions of the bill under his committee’s jurisdiction before it went to the floor, according to several people who attended the meeting....
Democrats say they are starting to coalesce around a hodgepodge of ideas, including one by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to create a Social Security tax break for employers who hire unemployed workers; 'Build America' bonds for infrastructure; extensions of COBRA and unemployment insurance and money for energy-efficient projects. And Democrats may add versions of a proposal, outlined by President Barack Obama, to give tax credits to small businesses for hiring and pay increases ... Dorgan and Durbin have advocated an $82 billion plan ... $75 billion would be paid for by the banks that are returning [TARP] funds ... Baucus advocated a more scaled-back plan, and the emerging bill ... now will carry a price tag far less than $80 billion, several sources said Friday."
It's deja vu all over again. House leadership fought hard for, and got, a solid jobs bill back in December. The $154 billion jobs bill "would use $75 billion in money earmarked for the Wall Street bailout and redirect it to infrastructure investment and aid to states." It also extends the COBRA subsidey for an additional six months, as well as extending unemployment benefits and expanding a child tax credit, and provides additional spending for "shovel-ready" construction projects and money to avoid layoffs of teachers, police and other public employees.
House leadership did some pretty heavy lifting to get the necessary 217 votes on that bill, and just squeaked it through past the deficit peacocks. So when are we going to hear the clammering for the Senate to pass the House's bill? Ten percent unemployment is unacceptable, it's devestating to the country, and by the way, is contributing to the deficit in lost revenue from income taxes. The Senate needs to act quickly and pass the House bill.