Four hours is all it took. The Republican “Pledge” to help small businesses died a quick death. Four hours after House Republicans released their plan to save America, complete with a whole section on how they want to help small businesses with tax breaks, they voted against a bill to give small businesses $12 billion in tax breaks, and $30 billion in loans.

Why did they oppose it? Supposedly because the lending program smelled too much like TARP, which, despite its failure to secure answerability, transparency, or policy-correction from the banks who used it, turned out to have been fairly successful. And the CBO reports that at the completion of the program, the deficit would be reduced by about a billion dollars. No, the GOP would like the Dems to drop the small-business assistance bill, and instead let the GOP pass their $750 billion deficit-ballooning tax cut extension for rich people. Because they’re fiscally responsible and all that.

So, House Democrats propose a bill which will give a huge boost to small businesses in a revenue-neutral way–and Republicans vote to kill it. Four hours after pledging to turn things around and help small businesses.

This is their “Pledge to America.” Like I said, sabotage anything that Democrats do, no matter how productive or reasonable, so they can claim that the Dems aren’t doing anything productive or reasonable.

Want a clue about how to vote? If you approve of helping small businesses, then keep in mind that they would not be getting this help were the Republicans to have a majority in the House.