On the recordMarch 2, 2010
The Senator from Kentucky talks about the bill we voted on and passed last week as being very partisan. That bill received 70 votes. It was a very nonpartisan bill. I should say it was a bipartisan bill. It received 70 votes. Why did it receive 70 votes? Because it did some great things for America. It extended the highway bill for 1 year, saving 1 million jobs. It gave small businesses the right to write off $250,000 in purchases, stimulating small businesses all over America. It gave employers the ability to hire people who have been out of work for 60 days, and if they hired them, they wouldn't have to pay their FICA tax if they gave them 30 hours a week. Not only that, they get a $1,000 tax credit at the end of the year. This is a good proposal. We also extended Build America Bonds, which are so important to the American Recovery Act, and Democrats and Republicans all over the country--Governors, mayors, county commissioners--loved that proposal. So it was certainly not a partisan bill. It was paid for. Not a cent of deficit spending--not a cent.
