Also important to note that it had majority support, but failed due to a filibuster threat from the Republicans.  Nearly every proposal has been filibustered recently, and at record numbers for a session of Congress.  Yes, this is surely politics in an upcoming presidential election, but the denial of job creation bills is unlikely to win Republicans much sympathy come 2012.  Not to mention, this bill was fully financed by a .7% tax increase on those making $1 million or more per year and would have added nothing to the national debt.

My response to this is that it is not a surprise.  At this point, President Obama knows that he is not going to get much of his agenda through.  Too many people believe that stimulus spending will not work and that it will just end up causing the government to go deeper in debt.  Therefore, these sorts of bills are never going to pass the Senate, much less the House.

At this point, we are not at all likely to see anything substantial done to help the economy until after the elections are over.  No one is going to want to compromise because they are afraid of looking bad.