Republican Senator from Ohio breaks ranks, Obama's small business bill now has 60 votes in US Senate!

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Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said he plans to help push a package of small-business incentives through the Senate next week, a move that would give President Obama and congressional Democrats a key victory on the economy in the final weeks before the November midterm elections.

Voinovich said he could no longer support efforts by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to delay the measure in hopes of winning the right to offer additional GOP amendments. Most of the proposed amendments "didn't have anything to do with the bill" anyway, Voinovich said, and amounted merely to partisan "messaging."

"We don't have time for messaging. We don't have time anymore. This country is really hurting," Voinovich said. If a single amendment to reduce paperwork for business owners is considered on the floor, Voinovich said he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that he would add his vote to that of 59 Democrats. That would give the majority party the 60 votes needed to overcome possible a GOP filibuster and move the package to final passage when Congress returns to Washington next week.

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The package of tax breaks and other incentives includes a new loan fund that would encourage community banks to provide up to $30 billion to small businesses, improving access to credit - a problem hurting small businesses in Ohio, Voinovich said. He cited the case of a constituent whose business was turned down for a loan by 42 banks.

"We don't have time anymore to play games," Voinovich said. "I happen to believe these small-business people can't get money to save their souls."

Voinovich, a longtime champion of federal transportation spending, said he also plans to work with Obama to pursue a six-year reauthorization of the federal highway bill, and to jump-start the measure with $50 billion in immediate spending. Voinovich said the president called him personally to ask for his support.

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"I made very clear he would be better off talking about a gas tax to pay for this than to come up with other ways of paying for it," Voinovich said, adding that the president "did not respond to that. He just listened."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/09/AR2010090903599.html?hpid=topnews

Edited September 9, 2010 by Legacy member

[one...two...tree 2,762]

George, you are right thinking!

[Darnell 8,479]

yee haw !! yay ! so lets see what the vote is, if in fact it's next week? Yay !

[KBcrand1 1]

Voinovich said. He cited the case of a constituent whose business was turned down for a loan by 42 banks

Hmmmmm, seems to me that if you get turned down by 32 banks, there must be a problem with your business plan! just my thoughts...

Isn't this how we got into some of this mess? By banks loaning money to people who couldn't afford to pay back?

[Heracles 417]

From Ohio as well, maybe there is home for that state.

[mawilson 2,133]

Wonderful news. They should call it the "Let's Bankrupt America Act 2010".