Lawmakers trade blame over failed bill

WASHINGTON -- Republicans sought to blame Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle for the collapse Wednesday of the economic stimulus bill. Democrats said the true culprit was an insatiable GOP appetite for tax cuts that favor business and the wealthy.

The two sides traded shots after the Senate failed to muster the 60 votes necessary to end debate on competing GOP and Democratic proposals. That guaranteed gridlock and led Daschle to remove the issue from consideration.

The Senate approved a straightforward 13-week extension of benefits for the unemployed, a measure that now goes to the House.

Despite bipartisan cooperation that followed the Sept. 11 terror attacks, proposals to boost the economy were mired in politics from the beginning as the two sides could not agree on the right mix of tax cuts and government spending.

Daschle, the nation's highest-ranking elected Democrat, was portrayed by Republican leaders as unwilling to compromise even after the House twice passed GOP-written stimulus packages and President Bush has pushed for one for months as a tonic to the recession.

"Tom Daschle decided to thwart the will of the Senate majority and kill further consideration of an economic stimulus bill that would have actually helped millions of Americans," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "I think that is a real shame."

It was Daschle's legislation providing $69 billion in stimulus this year that got 56 votes Wednesday, which represented a Senate majority but fell short of the 60-vote procedural threshold. That bill included unemployment aid, Medicaid money to help state budgets, a 30 percent depreciation tax break for business investment and a new round of tax rebate checks aimed at lower-income people.

A competing $89 billion Republican package contained more business and individual tax cuts. Passed by the House in December and included in Bush's new budget, it managed only 48 votes.

"We made every effort, at every level, to come together," said Daschle, of South Dakota.