WASHINGTON – The Senate has killed an alternative economic stimulus plan by Sen. John McCain that would have cut income and payroll taxes but spent far less than President Obama’s plan.

The party-line 57-40 vote against McCain’s $421 billion plan came Thursday as a group of moderate Democrats and Republicans struggled to cut up to $100 billion from Obama’s version.

McCain’s plan would have cut the bottom two income tax brackets and lowered corporate income taxes. It also would have extended unemployment benefits and provide money to repair and replace military equipment worn out in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  
Obama defeated McCain for the presidency last fall.