Senate Republicans on Thursday once again successfully blocked a component of President Obama’s jobs bill. The $60 billion measure would have funded transportation projects and a new infrastructure bank and would have been paid for with a millionaire’s tax hike. In the past few weeks, GOP lawmakers have united to block the president’s entire $447 billion jobs package as well as a $35 billion bill to save or create jobs for teachers, police, fire and first-responder jobs.

“If there was any bill that would advance you’d think it would be the infrastructure bill. It’s legislation that in the past both parties have strongly supported and one of those things that gets people working immediately and at the same times brings about needed repairs to roads and bridges and highways,” Rep. Elijah Cummings told BET.com. “The longer we wait, the more it’s going to cost.”

Cummings, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that the Senate vote signals that there may well be no real progress made on the jobs front because the GOP has clearly decided they’re not going to help Obama create jobs “even if it hurts their own constituents and hurts the economy.”

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) continued to hammer at Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) for continuing to bring to the floor for a vote legislation that both sides of the aisle know beforehand is destined to fail.

“The truth is, Democrats are more interested in building a campaign message than in rebuilding roads and bridges,” McConnell said.

But according to Reid, it is the Republicans who are campaigning for control of the Senate and Obama’s job.

“Their goal is to do everything they can to drag down this economy, to do anything they can to focus attention negatively on the president of the United States in hopes that [McConnell] can get my job, perhaps, and that President Obama will be defeated.”

(Photo: Stefan Rousseau - Pool / Getty Images)