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United States News Title: 9/11 health bill fails first test, Senate Republicans filibuster measure in 57-42 vote WASHINGTON - The 9/11 health bill failed its first key Senate test Thursday as Republicans filibustered the measure that would aid ailing heroes sickened in the worst terror attack in American history. It went down 57-42 on a strictly party-line vote, although Majority Leader Harry Reid ultimately voted 'No' to reserve the right to bring the measure back. The vote means the GOP has blocked the start of debate on the bill. Even some Republicans who might have backed the measure gave it the thumbs-down, sticking to a party pledge to block anything until the tax deal extending the Bush-era cuts for the wealthy passes. There are still some strategies the bill's backers can try to save it, but the failure enraged 9/11 responders. "The United States Senate embarrassed itself today. It made a mockery of the political system that we believe in - and they failed us," said John Feal, a Ground Zero construction worker who compared the GOP to clowns. "I'm gonna buy 42 red noses, 84 big red shoes, and 42 tri-colored wigs for all the Republicans," said Feal, founder of the Fealgood Foundation. Mayor Bloomberg hammered the filibuster as "a devastating indictment of Washington politics, a tragic example of partisan politics trumping patriotism." Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) immediately lashed out at the notion the GOP would wait on the tax deal while 9/11 responders are sick and dying. "The idea that tax cuts for millionaires would derail this legislation is simply outrageous and offensive," she said, calling the justification of the opposition "one of the most cynical reasons I can imagine." "The men and women who rushed to the burning towers and worked for hundreds of hours on The Pile did not delay and the Senate should not have delayed either." Her senior colleague, Sen. Chuck Schumer, said Republicans `keep raising new, phony objections - the tax issue being the latest. "One can come up with reason after reason after reason why not to vote for this bill, and we've heard many, and the reasons keep changing," Schumer said. "But one fact doesn't change: There are those who need help, who deserve our help." Reid can bring the measure back at any time, but bill backers in the House are trying a different tack, hoping to attach the Zadroga bill added to the tax package the GOP is holding out for. House Democrats opposed that tax package Thursday. At least 45 House members signed a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seeking to add Zadroga, and that could be enough of a sweetener to win Democrats over. "I'm extremely disappointed that the Senate Republicans have shown their unwillingness to allow debate on the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act," said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan), who circulated the letter with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan). Gillibrand told the Daily News she will push several, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, George Lemieux of Florida and Olympia Snowe of Maine, who have expressed potential support in private.
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Eliminating this spending on first responders could potentially allow the government to cut taxes more for millionaires.
Hidden Agendas Always produce Absurdities.
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