The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved long-stalled legislation that would increase lending to small businesses, giving President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats one of their last chances to show voters they are working to revive the sluggish economy before November congressional elections. The 61-to-38 vote-almost completely along political-party lines-sends the legislation back to the House of Representatives, which has approved a similar bill and is expected to quickly pass the Senate's version. If the small-business legislation clears Congress, it would be a rare victory on job creation for Democrats, who have seen most of their other efforts this year blocked by Republicans. “While I'm grateful for this progress, it should not have taken this long to pass this bill,” Obama said late Wednesday, ahead of the vote. The legislation, supported by industry groups, would create a $30 billion fund the government would invest in independent community banks to encourage lending to small businesses. Democrats estimate the bill could create 500,000 new jobs. About 8 million jobs have been lost since the recession started in late 2007. With the national unemployment rate at 9.6 percent, voters cite jobs and the broader economy as their top concern and say Obama has not done enough on the issue. Republicans are expected to make significant gains in the November 2 elections and could win control of the House of Representatives, though it is believed they will not take over the Senate.
