Actually … I think the Republicans didn’t play this one in the best possible way.  The Senate failed to invoke cloture (shut off debate) on the motion to start debate on the jobs bill.  They needed 60 votes in order for the motion to pass.  They didn’t get it.  They didn’t get it because even some of their Democrat colleagues voted “no.”  But in the end, it will all the Republican’s fault.  We are seeing the classic story line play out … before the vote, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina sent an email to supporters, telling them to flood the switchboards to tell Republicans (not Democrats) to vote for the bill.  Then Mesina goes on to write …

“Their strategy is to suffocate the economy for the sake of what they think will be a political victory.  They think that the more folks see Washington taking no action to create jobs, the better their chances in the next election. So they're doing everything in their power to make sure nothing gets done.”

So there it is, officially from the Obama campaign: Republicans want to intentionally harm the economy in order to beat The Community Organizer in 2012.  This falls right in line with Obama advisor David Plouffe’s arguments earlier yesterday: "If you’re concerned about Wall Street and our financial system, the president is standing on the side of consumers and the middle class and a lot of these Republicans are basically saying, you know what, let’s go back to the same policies that led us to the great recession in the first place."  This coming from a representative of Barack Obama … the politician who has received more money from Wall Street than any other over the past 20 years.

So here’s where Obama’s campaign goes from here .. and this was the plan all along.  Propose a bill with massive tax hikes – even after Obama says that increasing taxes is the last thing you would want to do during a recession.  But even though the bill is all about tax hikes, you have to give it a name that will appeal more to the American people.  The people want jobs .. so call it a jobs bill.  Put in some public works projects, promise local governments money to pay teachers, police officers and firemen .. and call it a jobs bill.  Now that you’ve set the stage – calling a tax increase proposal a jobs bill – when the Republicans kill the bill (with the help of a few Democrats) you have your campaign issue.  The evil Republicans will let millions of Americans remain unemployed in order to protect millionaires and billionaires.  Sure --- it’s transparent as can be.  But remember the folks who will going to the polls next November.  These are people who simply do not understand that the effective tax rates for Americans go up as incomes go up.  They don’t understand this because much of the ObamaMedia just repeats Obama’s assertion that “the rich aren’t paying their fair share” (a provable lie) and start screaming for tax increases. 

The Republicans would have been better served, I think, by permitting the debate to play out in the Senate and actually allow the bill to come up with a vote.  I know that they were afraid of various parliamentary gimmicks Harry Reid might have thrown into the works, and surely they knew the ObamaMedia would work tirelessly to present the Democrat side of the debate as more reasonable .. but those chances needed to be taken.

Some Democrats, like House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, are taking it to the next level, saying that the American people have every right to be frustrated with Congress .. but that it is their own fault for electing “people with hard stances” (aka. tea partiers). 

If I’m not mistaken, the House has had no trouble passing job creation bills since the Republicans took the reins in January 2011.  Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Senate where the Democrats are still in control.  And what do we make of the frustration of people before the elections in 2010?  Democrats had control of the House, the Senate, and the White House!  Which “people with hard stances” were getting in the way then?

But don’t worry .. the Senate may still try and pass the legislation in pieces.  If Harry Reid’s 5.6% surtax on millionaires makes the cut, take a look at how this could push the top tax rate to 55%.