Levin: Procedural defeat of Obama’s jobs bill was part of GOP filibuster

Several Senate Democrats, including Carl Levin (Mich.), on Wednesday accused Republicans of filibustering President Obama’s jobs package by forcing it to undergo the tough procedural vote under which it was killed on Tuesday night.

“The Republicans are filibustering that alternative without offering one of their own,” Levin said Wednesday morning.

Levin also floated several proposals for breaking the Republicans’ filibuster, including using Senate rules to run down the clock. He also recommended Obama use his “bully pulpit to make clear to the American people that it is the obstructionism of filibustering Republicans that prevents us from taking action on a jobs bill.”

Other Democrats, including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), also suggested that the Republicans were using dilatory tactics to avoid consideration of the bill.

Obama’s $447 billion spending package failed in a procedural vote in the Senate, 50-48, on Tuesday night.

The Senate is currently in reccess to accomodate caucus lunches.