AL JAZEERA: The US Senate has rejected President Barack Obama’s job creation package, in a sign that Washington is unlikely to take major steps to spur hiring before the 2012 elections.
The $447bn package of tax cuts and new spending failed by a vote of 50 to 49, short of the 60 votes it needed to advance in the 100-member Senate.
The plan would have combined payroll tax cuts for workers and businesses with $175 billion in spending on roads, school repairs and other infrastructure, as well as unemployment assistance and help to local governments to avoid layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police… (more)
