Deal Reached On Stimulus - But No Vote Yet

Three Republicans Agree To A $780 Billion Package, Down From More Than $900 Billion

(CBS/AP)  With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's plan for combating the worst recession in decades.

"The American people want us to work together. They don't want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of three Republican moderates who broke ranks and pledged their votes for the bill.

In addition Collins, Republicans Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania have announced support for compromise measure, CBS News has confirmed.

Democratic leaders expressed confidence that the concessions they had made to Republicans and moderate Democrats to trim the measure had cleared the way for its passage. The lawmakers worked into the early morning hours Saturday, and were to reconvene later in the day, but no final vote was expected until early next week, perhaps Monday.

Of course, "a whole lot" will be back on the negotiating table when the stimulus bill goes to conference committee in the coming days, reports CBS News White House correspondent Chip Reid.

"Nancy Pelosi and other liberal Democrats in the house do not like these cuts. They didn't even like the idea of trying to cut $100 billion out of this bill, much less $150 billion and they're vigorously opposed to those cuts in education," Reid said.

Officials put the cost of the bill at $827 billion, including Obama's signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples, even if they earn too little to pay income taxes. Also included are breaks for homebuyers and people buying new cars.

Republican critics complained that whatever the cost, billions were ticketed for programs that would not create jobs.

In a key reduction from the bill that reached the Senate floor earlier in the week, $40 billion would be cut from a "fiscal stabilization fund" for state governments' education costs, though $14 billion to boost the maximum for college Pell Grants by $400 to $5,250 would be preserved, as would aid to local school districts for the No Child Left Behind law and special education.

A plan to help the unemployed purchase health insurance would be reduced to a 50 percent subsidy instead of two-thirds.

The agreement capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority. Democrats hold a 58-41 majority in the Senate, including two independents.

Uncertain of the outcome of the talks, Democrats called Sen. Edward M. Kennedy back to Washington in case his vote was needed. The Massachusetts senator, battling brain cancer, has been in Florida in recent days and has not been in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than two weeks ago.

Whatever the price tag, the compromise marked a victory for the new president, who has veered between calls for bipartisanship and increasingly strong criticism of Republicans in recent days. And it indicated that Democratic leaders remain on track to deliver a bill to the White House by the end of next week.

Late Friday night, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, "On the day when we learned 3.6 million people have lost their jobs since this recession began, we are pleased the process is moving forward and we are closer to getting Americans a plan to create millions of jobs and get people back to work."

Slightly more than half the country approves of President Obama's $800 billion-plus stimulus package, a new CBS News poll finds. But support for the bill has fallen 12 points since January, and nearly half of those surveyed do not believe it will shorten the recession.

Fifty-one percent of those surveyed support the stimulus package, while 39 percent do not. An additional 10 percent don't know. Last month, 63 percent supported the package and just 24 percent opposed it.

Obama said earlier in the day that further delay would be "inexcusable and irresponsible" given Friday's worst monthly unemployment report in a generation - 598,000 jobs lost in January and the national unemployment rate rising to 7.6 percent. And late Friday, federal regulators announced the closures of three banks, First Bank Financial Services in Georgia and Alliance Bank and County Bank in California, raising to nine the number of bank failures this year.

"The world is waiting to see what we're going to do in the next 24 hours," said Reid who has spent much of the week trying to balance demands among moderates in both parties against pressure for a larger bill from liberals in his own rank and file.

[starleo146]

Do any of you republican lovers know they were all invited Lindsey graham, John Mc bush, Jon Kyle, McConnell, all the big mouth republicans to go in a room and help solve that bill, and none of them went, WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU, they want the the rich to survive and the rest can just croak as far as they are concerned

[starleo146]

Folks, the criminal knock-off of America NObamaElMessiah is currently perpetrating, makes the Great Train Robbery and the Brinks Armored Car Robbery in tandem, look like a friday night stickup of a 7-11.

Posted by DemsSuk1 at 10:40 AM : Feb 08, 2009

Do you have anything to say about the first 350BILLION the treasury of Bush''s administration just blew, No way of tracking what they did the report they gave the Gao they are 67billion short a investigation is going on and I can''t wait to see how many more crooks go to prison, They (the Banks) are coming back to get some more.

[starleo146]

COLLINS AND SNOWE SHOWED THERE STUFF PEOPLE OVER PARTY AND NOT A REPUBLICAN LOVER THESE TWO DESERVE OUR ACCOLADE WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT OUR MODERATE REPUBLICANS. I THINK TWO THING THE HOUSE WILL GRAPPLE WITH IS THE CUT ON EDUCATION, AND THE CUT TO THE STATES.WE HAVE FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICEMAN BEING LET GO BECAUSE OF LACK OF MONEY AND PROFESSORS LAID OFF IN COLLEGES AND TEACHERS SHOULD BE LOOKED AT AND THE INVESTMENT INTO LESS OIL DEPENDENCE IF WE DO NOT START NOW IT WILL BE AWHILE AS IT IS TO COMPLETE. I THINK IF THEY WANT 42% TAX CUTS WALL STREET SHOULD GET WACKED BY 42%

[mrzerato]

Posted by dumdnc at 09:00 AM : Feb 08, 2009

Oh come now, a president in the first year facing a major economic crisis and an political obstructionist party getting a major piece of legislation through the house and senate in less than 30 days. That is not inept. LMAO

[dumdnc]

bradkt1-What howling are you talking about??? Show me. What about the 11 dems who didn''t roll over. FAce it, you guy is in over his head. He''s lost. Sending something like this to the likes of pelosi and reid shows just how inept he is.

[dumdnc]

incog-nito-and your dem congress opposed the first bailout?? What the h*&L was chuckie schumer doing crying on TV about how this bill has to pass. Bad bill, why did your congress approve it??? We keep hearing about your majority.

[dumdnc]

payasyougo-so Republicans that have an issue with this pork laden bill, and yes, 4.2 BILLION to acorn, are "right wing extremists". And when your dems, stamped, pouted, wailed, bullied and such were what........?
Since when are the members of the opposinig party supposed to just roll over?? Since when? Wasn''t it your ms clinton the one who stated that "dissent was the new patriotism"? Want a one party system with a dictator (and the chosen one is looking more like one) go to Cuba or Venezuela.
Idiot!

[bradkt1]

It''s hilarious how conservatives are howling about retribution against the 3 Republican senators who support the compromise Senate stimulus bill. Aren''t these the same people who were ridiculing Democrats for wanting to retaliate against Joe Lieberman for his support of John McCain in the last election? Conservatives are exposing themselves for exactly what they are%u2026closed-minded and spiteful hypocrites! They don''t practice what they preach. Their only concept of bipartisanship is if you agree with them.

[rhs648]

"Obama will soon learn he can no longer compromise with the right wing extremists represented by the GOP. It would be like negotiating with Hitlers aryans."
----
Wouldn''''t know who you are talking about. But not a single politician claiming to be a conservative should vote for this. Democrat or Republican. If they do vote for this, they are not a conservative and I''''ll do my part to fix that at the next election, just like the last election.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by payasyougo

Don''t worry. At some point the Blue Dog Democrats, the conservative Democrats, the moderate Democrats, and the Republicans will unite on some issues. That tends to negate rhe left wing liberals. The Democratic Party is far less united on many issues than some people think.

[repo_man_08]

Ask five economists and you ll get five different explanations six if one went to Harvard.
Posted by ihateislam at 06:55 PM : Feb 07, 2009

What college did Barney Frank go to???

[repo_man_08]

we expected to get one of the most intelligent men that was willing to take on the job of a country in crisis. We also expected to get somebody who is results oriented, somebody who is capable of analyzing a situation and coming up with some solutions to improve the mess we are in. We expected somebody who was able to put his own ego aside and ask to be held accountable and judged on his results.
Posted by truthmatterz at 10:14 PM : Feb 07, 2009

Instead, we got just THE SAME O SAME O from O-SAME-O.

Just another bailout

Three tax cheats appointed - one is in charge of the IRS now

NOTHING to address terrorism - gone soft on terrorism

BLOOD ON HIS HANDS in Pakistan

the MESSiah has MESSed up

[repo_man_08]

Funny, I didn''''t hear you say anything about Bush being ashamed of himself when he and Paulson pushed for the bailout bill, half of which has been spent and unaccounted for.
Posted by incog-nito at 09:36 PM : Feb 07, 2009

You just can''t face the current reality, so you revert to bashing Bush.

How original ... NOT!!!

Face it, you voted for change and you go O-SAME-O.

Someday you''ll wake up and find out, one of the people they''re lying to is YOU!

[standlee5]

Funny, I didn''''t hear you say anything about Bush being ashamed of himself when he and Paulson pushed for the bailout bill, half of which has been spent and unaccounted for.

Posted by incog-nito at 09:36 PM : Feb 07, 2009

Then maybe you weren''t listening because I thought that was outrageous too. I said let the chips fall where they may. Maybe FDIC couldn''t have covered all the fall out, I don''t know but I still think we should let businesses fail. No bailouts, no pork. It''s our money.

[dnsallday]

From Nobel Laureate Economist Krugman
The short answer: to appease the centrists, a plan that was already too small and too focused on ineffective tax cuts has been made significantly smaller, and even more focused on tax cuts.

According to the CBO%u2019s estimates, we%u2019re facing an output shortfall of almost 14% of GDP over the next two years, or around $2 trillion. Others, such as Goldman Sachs, are even more pessimistic. So the original $800 billion plan was too small, especially because a substantial share consisted of tax cuts that probably would have added little to demand. The plan should have been at least 50% larger.

Now the centrists have shaved off $86 billion in spending %u2014 much of it among the most effective and most needed parts of the plan. In particular, aid to state governments, which are in desperate straits, is both fast %u2014 because it prevents spending cuts rather than having to start up new projects %u2014 and effective, because it would in fact be spent; plus state and local governments are cutting back on essentials, so the social value of this spending would be high. But in the name of mighty centrism, $40 billion of that aid has been cut out.

[dnsallday]

contued
My first cut says that the changes to the Senate bill will ensure that we have at least 600,000 fewer Americans employed over the next two years.

The real question now is whether Obama will be able to come back for more once it%u2019s clear that the plan is way inadequate. My guess is no. This is really, really bad.

[dnsallday]

Who pays under the table small business greases spoons small construct junk yards the US under ground
economy is what saves small business


Posted by popstom121 at 09:38 PM : Feb 07, 2009
***********************************************************
so are you saying that many small businesses would fail if it were not for employing people who are in this country illegally?

I do have to mention that quite a few large corporations with high profit margins have been raided and had dozens of illegal immigrants swept up. WalMart was one of the largest but there are quite a few others.

[dnsallday]

Folks what did you expect, remember obama past:


Posted by qwerty2009 at 10:03 PM : Feb 07, 2009
********************************************************
Quer_2009, we expected to get one of the most intelligent men that was willing to take on the job of a country in crisis. We also expected to get somebody who is results oriented, somebody who is capable of analyzing a situation and coming up with some solutions to improve the mess we are in. We expected somebody who was able to put his own ego aside and ask to be held accountable and judged on his results.

I don''t think we will be disappointed.

[dnsallday]

Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins,......SOCIALIST WOLVES IN REPUBLICAN CLOTHING. You voters in their districts know what to do next election.

Posted by cfin5 at 09:41 PM : Feb 07, 2009
************************************************************
Alen Spector may be defeated by a Democrat but the other two of them are in my state of Maine and neither of them will ever be defeated because they vote for putting the people back to work and they understand that it takes a combination of relief, recovery and reconstruction to start building this country back up from the distruction it has taken in the past 8 years. They also understand that if it wasn''t for the Republican party squandering everything this country had, while they feverishly redistributed the country''s wealth to the top 5% of the population at the expense of our citizens and the infrastructure of our country, than we wouldn''t be in this mess to begin with.

[cfin5]

Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins,......SOCIALIST WOLVES IN REPUBLICAN CLOTHING. You voters in their districts know what to do next election.

[incog-nito]

The Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. They''''ve proven themselves to be just a cliche'''' as Republicans have always beleived. Tax and spend, wealth redistribution, anti-busines, anti-capitlist, socialists.

Posted by standlee5 at 09:29 PM : Feb 07, 2009

Funny, I didn''t hear you say anything about Bush being ashamed of himself when he and Paulson pushed for the bailout bill, half of which has been spent and unaccounted for.