The Republican Party has made 'jobs' the central them of their party and Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, but today they blocked a vote on a veterans jobs bill with a filibuster in the Senate.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) led the filibuster against the the bill, claiming that the nation’s debt was more important than helping U.S. veterans get jobs, reports The Guardian.

5 Republicans voted to proceed, but the Democrats were two votes short of the 60 required to move the bill to a vote.

The bill would cost $1 billion over five years to help veterans find employment as police officers and firefighters.

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Democrats said the bill's costs are already covered by plans to collect more than half a billion in unpaid taxes, over the next five years, according to the Washington Examiner.



Minutes before the vote, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said: “I urge my colleagues to join with us in waiving this point of order. To join with us in telling our veterans that we are not done investing in their care and benefits, not by a long shot.”

“Join with us in moving forward with a bill that is paid for, that won’t add to our deficit, and that shouldn’t be killed by procedural games.Join with us in putting veterans above political obstruction, and back to work.”



Ramsay Sulayman, of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told The Guardian: “A very small group of people that are standing for principle to block the bill from even coming to a vote. That’s what we object to. If people say ‘We don’t like the bill’ and stand up and get up and vote and go on the record … that is different. It’s sad to see a few people holding a bill to hostage."

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