Mitt Romneybot explains to Rick Perry that he's got a very detailed 59-point plan

to create jobs in the far distant future (Adam Hunger/Reuters)



Mitt Romneybot explains to Rick Perry that he's got a very detailed 59-point plan

to create jobs in the far distant future (Adam Hunger/Reuters)



They defeated president Obama's jobs bill by filibustering it in the Senate. Along with obstruction from House Republicans, the GOP is refusing to even allow the jobs bill to come up for a vote. Their presidential candidates held a debate on the economy in which they failed to offer even a single idea about how to create jobs now.

Here's what the Republican Party accomplished yesterday:

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, we saw a couple of things happen that we normally don't.

Despite some bellyaching from some corners of the caucus, nearly all Senate Democrats stuck together and voted against the Republican filibuster, providing 51 votes to move forward with Obama's jobs bill. That wasn't enough to clear the 60 vote threshold to move past a filibuster, but it means a majority of Senators want a jobs bill. After nearly three years of giving Republicans the benefit of the doubt, President Obama's political machine finally said what they needed to say: Republicans are acting in bad faith, trying to sabotage the nation's economy merely to score political points.

2012 is going to be a massive struggle, and to prevail, Democrats need to stick together and push their agenda for creating jobs and growing the economy—and they need to tell the truth about what Republicans are up to. It's unfortunate that it's come to this, but at least Democrats are starting to do what they need to do, not just to win in 2012, but to move the country forward.