Wicker and Cochran Support ‘Jobs Bill’
By a 70-28 vote, the Senate passed a $15 billion jobs bill, the first win for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the White House in quite some time. Several Republicans joined all but one Democrat in supporting the bill. This includes Senators Wicker and Cochran (we will update with their statements if/ when they are available).
This bill is a lot different than a $154 billion jobs bill the House passed in late 2009. Representatives Childers, Harper, and Taylor all opposed the House version (with Thompson supporting it). What the final bill will look like- and if Cochran and Wicker can continue to support it- remains to be see. House Democratic leaders have complained the Senate version is too small.
Update: Cochran is out with a statement, and does mention why he opposed cloture before voting for final passage:
“The jobless rate in Mississippi is increasingly troubling, and this measure is intended to prompt employers to put more people to work. This bill is not everything I would want in legislation to bolster our economy, but it does have merits that I believe might help decrease our unemployment rate,” Cochran said.
Cochran initially voted against proceeding to HR.2847, because it was stripped of provisions in a larger bipartisan legislative jobs package that originally included a version of the crop disaster assistance plan he authored last November to aid farmers in Mississippi and other disaster areas.
“I am disappointed in the parliamentary tactics employed by the Majority Leader to cast aside a bipartisan plan and then to block any amendments to his alternative. I hope we can work in a more cooperative and bipartisan manner as we consider legislation to improve our economy,” Cochran said.
About time Wicker and Cochran did something right.
I wonder if Mississippi will ever get a Republican in the mold of DeMint, Coburn, Pence, Blackburn, etc. Wicker is a new face (well, to the Senate at least) but he has fallen in line with people like Cochran and Shelby. These guys may be conservative on a lot of things, but definitely not on spending–just look at the top earmark porkers in the Senate from either party. One would think this would be more an issue to our conservative voters.
Matt you are so right. This goes to show that the Republican party learned nothing from the elections of the past six years. This is the same type of spending that caused them to loose their majority in DC in the first place. I am not a huge Glenn Beck fan but he is right on the fact that Republicans and Dems. are all cut from the same mold. I cannot and will not defend votes such as this by my so called conservative Senator just because he is a member of the GOP. I would like to ask the people of this site in joining me in writing Senator Wicker and letting him know that we will hold him accountable if he continues make these types of bad decisions. I would include Cochran in the writing campaign but with his retirement approaching I think that would be pointless.
I agree with the sentiment expressed here and I am troubled by our Senators lack of conservative principles, but I don’t blame them. I blame us.
We collectively sit back and proclaim how conservative we are as a State yet we also wallow in the fat of tax dollars rolling in from the Federal level that some poor schmuck toiled for in Texas or New York and we re-elect them year after year. Our State is the Reddest welfare State in the Nation. It is a shame. We are hypocrites basically. We keep electing populist social conservatives who seem to benefit from the idea of Mississippi being last in everything. When election time comes around we smile and feel blessed that they graced us with their presence and we pat each other on the back and take pride in winning yet another election. But who has the gall to challenge within the Party? Who would dare take on Thad or Trent or now Roger?
We can have our version of Demint or Pence, but we must find them working in our State legislature with a proven conservative record, encourage them to run, and find enough money for them to be viable. They are there: Sen. Chris McDaniel, Sen. Michael Watson, Sen. Joey Fillingane, Rep. Mark Formby, and others. Thad will retire that one is easy, but who will challenge Wicker?
I could not agree with you more. The names you mentioned do indeed have a voting record that supports these ideals. I have been a republican all my life but now I don’t even recognize the party that I joined almost 40 years ago. Government cannot solve all the problems we have in Mississippi. We have to take responsibility for our lives. Spending has to stop. We are getting ready to elect a new Congressman/person? and are we really looking at these people to be sure we are not getting more of the same? I hope so because we cannot continue down the path we are headed without meeting disaster at the end. Even our local governments are walking around proud of all the grant money coming our way from earmarks. I am sorry to say that it has become a way of life for us and one that has to be broken.