Senate Lacks Votes to Pass Stimulus(but McCain is proposing plan that is only about 1/2 Trillion)

washington post ^ | 2/3/09 | Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane

[bestintxas]

Senate Democratic leaders conceded yesterday that they do not have the votes to pass the stimulus bill as currently written and said that to gain bipartisan support, they will seek to cut provisions that would not provide an immediate boost to the economy.

The legislation represents the first major test for President Obama and an expanded Democratic Congress, both of which have made economic recovery the cornerstone of their new political mandate. The stimulus package has now tripled from its post-election estimate of about $300 billion, and in recent days lawmakers in both parties have grown wary of the swelling cost.

Moderate Republicans are trying to trim the bill by as much as $200 billion, although Democrats working with those GOP senators have not agreed to a specific figure. .... Some Republicans in the group are seeking a much broader rewrite of the legislation, and they want Obama to lead the effort. "Get us all in a room. That's what you do with a major piece of legislation," said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), who supports an alternative drafted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would cost $445 billion.

[upchuck]

Lindsey Ping
"Republican by day, Democrat by night."

Add me to the list. / Remove me from the list.

[pallis]

Might I suggest that none of the loons in Congress write the new bill. Call in some experts, people with no interest in spending money on payoffs and pork. An institution with such low public approval shouldn’t be writing bills that plunder America. This particular bunch of professional thieves shouldn’t be allowed to touch our money.

[Know et al]

It makes you wonder what would have happened if McCain had won the election.

[rabscuttle385]

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