Long before It became a national talking point, I have written frequently that Republicans were sabotaging America to prevent further recovery from the Republican recession, hoping to blame Democrats and to take power. In fact, I predicted that would be their strategy in 2008, well before Obama was elected. However, I must admit that the extent to which they have done so surprised me too. Now we have unequivocal evidence that is exactly what Republicans are doing, because they just blocked one million new jobs.

Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic proposal for a small business tax cut. Voting 53-44, the Senate rejected a package of tax credits for small businesses designed to incentivize investments and the hiring of new employees. Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia broke ranks with his party to oppose the bill, while Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts did the same by voting for it. "Unfortunately, Republicans played their usual games of obstruction and opposition. There was simply no reason to oppose this bill on the merits, so Republicans manufactured reasons to kill it out of thin air," Reid said. "Republicans claimed they wanted amendment votes, but refused to take ‘yes’ for an answer when I offered them votes on those very amendments."… …The $28 billion Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act would have established a 10 percent tax credit for businesses who hire new employees or provide raises to current employees, as well as providing more credits for business that invest in capital equipment. Democrats said the bill would have benefited 2 million businesses and created a million new jobs. The plan was first proposed by Obama last year.

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Ed Schultz and Richard Wolfe concluded that that this proves that Republicans are sabotaging the economy.

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The bill that Republicans filibustered could not have been more compliant to traditional Republican policy. It’s a tax cut and it’s 100% pro-business. What else could they want? I’ll tell you. They want to prevent any improvement in the economy, as long as they are not in power.