Specter Says Senate Stimulus Must Emerge from Conference 'Virtually Intact' to Win His Support

CNS News ^ | February 10, 2009 | Josiah Ryan

[Zakeet]

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said that the Senate version of the $828-billion-plus stimulus bill must emerge from a House-Senate conference committee "virtually intact" to win his support for final passage.

The bill secured one more than the 60 votes necessary to schedule an end to Senate debate on the measure and schedule a final vote on it, which is set to take place today.

Only two other Republican Senators -- Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins both of Maine--joined Specter in siding with all 58 Senate Democrats on Monday in voting to end debate on the stimulus package and bring it to the floor for approval. From there, it will go to a conference committe to reconcile it with the House version of the bill. The bill that is approved by the House-Senate conference committee will then return to both chambers for a fina vote.

“My support for the Conference Report on the stimulus package will require that the Senate compromise bill come back virtually intact including, but not limited to, overall spending, the current ratio of tax cuts to spending, and the $110 billion in cuts,” Specter told CNSNews.com in a statement.

Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed displeasure with some cuts in the package made by Senate Democrats to attract liberal Republicans, whose votes are needed to get the bill through the Senate.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

Once this comes back from Conference, it has to be debated again and to cut off debate, they need 60 votes. Without Specter and/or Collins or Snowe, they don’t have them.

[longtermmemmory]

is this the four BILLION that has to remain intact?

(BTW there is 190,000,000 for “resource managment” at fist and wildlife. Maine lobsters are a “resource managment” issue. The ear marks are just hidden better)

from the stimulus bill: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s336pcs.txt.pdf

FOSSIL ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 10
For an additional amount for ‘‘Fossil Energy Re- 11
search and Development’’, $4,600,000,000, to remain 12
available until September 30, 2010: Provided, That 13
$2,000,000,000 is available for one or more near zero 14
emissions powerplant(s): Provided further, $1,000,000,000 15
is available for selections under the Department’s Clean 16
Coal Power Initiative Round III Funding Opportunity An- 17
nouncement; notwithstanding the mandatory eligibility re- 18
quirements of the Funding Opportunity Announcement, 19
the Department shall consider applications that utilize pe- 20
troleum coke for some or all of the project’s fuel input: 21
Provided further, $1,520,000,000 is available for a com- 22
petitive solicitation pursuant to section 703 of Public Law 23
110–140 for projects that demonstrate carbon capture 24
from industrial sources: Provided further, That awards for

25 such projects may include plant efficiency improvements 1
for integration with carbon capture technology.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I believe it only takes 50 votes to pass now.

Believe what you want, you're wrong.  Takes 60 votes.

[ZULU]

This traitorous dirtbag should go @$^*(@&$%)@&*$%&& himself.

Even a Democrat would be better than a treasonous clown like this guy smearing the party while claiming to be a Republican.

Thank you again Jorge!!!

[Man50D]

That means Specter also supports the following provision:

Stimulus contains rationed medicine

[DeuceTraveler]

I heard him on Hannity and it was obvious he didn’t know what he was talking about, and why it seems he voted out of fear rather than any rational. He, Collins, Reid, and Dodd make up four of the one hundred most powerful people in our country in the form of our Senate. God help us all.

[calex59]

Sorry, but you guys who think they voted for cloture are wrong. They simply voted to end debate. Today they are going to roll two votes into one, cloture and passage of the bill, it will still take 60 votes. They are doing this because they think they have their 60 votes for cloture and don’t need to have two separate votes. This is something that is done now and then. This is our last chance to stop this crap in the senate. Hopefully their will be enough dimwits to vote against this POS bill to stop it.

[Cboldt]

-- But to pass in the Senate, once it's cleared cloture, does it still need 60 votes? --

Yes. The vote on passage of the amendment (which is effectively the Senate bill) is blocked by the certain possibility of a budget point of order. The bill is, in fact, against the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. But the violation can be waived in the Senate with the approval of 60 or more senators.

Debate on passage of the House/Senate conference report is unlimited unless 60 senators agree to limit debate. In theory, even though the Senate has requested a conference to reconcile differences with the House, the House could decide to adopt the Senate bill exactly as is, in which case a conference would be moot and the Senate vote for passage later today would be the last Senate vote on the bill before it is presented to the president.

[LibLieSlayer]

Laura is a wimp compared to Ann... she a pu**ied out just like this on too many occasions... and this is why she will never be any more than a third string todd schnitt in a skirt. She also swoons over certain liberal men when she interviews them... I trust her with and to do nothing. Oh, she will promote her books and appearances well.

LLS

[Cboldt]

-- If they allow debate then a senator can grab the floor and not let go, in which case they would need 60 votes to invoke cloture. --

There's no need to "grab the floor." All a senator need to to block progress is object to a unanimous consent request to conclude debate and vote on the amendment, the bill, the motion, or whatever it is that isn't otherwise subjected to a time limit for consideration.

[Past Your Eyes]

I went on her website to see if she said anything about it. Not a word that I saw. I bet she got some scathing emails about it but I didn’t bother to send one.
I guess I’ll try to find somebody else to listen to at that time of the day. Glenn Beck is extremely tedious lately so what’s left?

[Venturer]

We can argue all day about how the thing works. The fact is we are screwed , blued and tattooed.

[jwparkerjr]

Thank you! I hoped someone would hop in and set me straight if I was off base.

[Cboldt]

-- ... cloture would fail with only 59 votes, then Reid will also vote no so he can bring it up again at another time. --

The losing side in a failed cloture vote may, but need not have one member switch sides in order to make a motion to reconsider. I've always found the motion to reconsider a failed cloture vote to be moronic. There is no rule that says cloture can be called for only once on a given point. The Republicans made 8 cloture motions (6 failed votes, the 7th and 8th motions were withdrawn) to limit debate on a Motion to Proceed to the Consideration of a bill authorizing funds for the investigation of the Whitewater Development Corporation.

See Examples of cloture on "motion to proceed" (links to Congressional Record). If a cloture motion fails, just file another one. All Reid is doing with his "motion to reconsider" is protecting a sophomoric "number of times the other party made a cloture motion" sort of statistic. I see no purpose even for that.

[SECURE AMERICA]

Lets see. 828 Billion of Pork that once passed will expand to over a Trillion is a good bill but 938 Billion of Pork that will expand to over a Trillion whem passed is a bad bill?
Only a lawyer would see a difference in the bills...

[Thermalseeker]

He's going to vote for it even though yesterday it was learned to be over $50 billion more than the 3 RINOs claimed.

I've read multiple sources that indicate calls from constituents have been running 100 to 1 against this bill. In fact, a staffer for Senator Alexander I spoke with confirmed this.

[snoringbear]

“Quite frankly, I want it to pass just to wrap it around the libs’ (and the three rinos’) necks”

Agree; back when Republicans narrowly held the senate by more than 60 seats, these RINO’s (Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter) held considerable power in the senate. There was always the implicit threat that if they did not get their way, they just might go over to the other side. Well, that threat is no longer there. So, I say for these three to declare as Democrats and be done with it. Good riddance I say. Let's build our new party with those who are true conservatives.

[Cboldt]

-- Sorry, but you guys who think they voted for cloture are wrong. They simply voted to end debate. Today they are going to roll two votes into one, cloture and passage of the bill, it will still take 60 votes. --

Invoking cloture and voting to limit debate are exactly the same thing.

I carelessly, yesterday, said that today's 60 vote hurdle is the combination of cloture and passage. It's not. The UC agreement for this bill says:

... that if there is no point of order against the amendment, the adoption of the amendment be subject to a 60 vote threshold ...

So, for this amendment (which is essentially the Senate bill) there will be a 60 vote hurdle either to waive a violation of the Budget Act of 1974, or there will be a 60 vote hurdle for passage.

You are spot on about the Senate occasionally combining cloture and passage into one vote. That saves the formality of two separate votes, but usually doesn't cause progress any faster than the rules for limiting the time for debate.

[truthkeeper]

She was talking tough before he came on but once he was on, she rolled over like a puppy dog. I was VERY disappointed in her.

They all do in the end. I can't even listen to these people anymore.

[Cboldt]

-- We can argue all day about how the thing works. The fact is we are screwed , blued and tattooed. --

I have no inclination to argue the point, and agree with you that passage of a damaging law is inevitable.

Quite a few people have the mistaken belief that delay of a bill requires a senator to take the floor, and it's a false belief.