Senate Dems Don't Have Votes to Pass Stimulus

Senate moderates, GOP insist on stripping out billions

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Feb 4, 2009 9:23 AM CST

(Newser) – President Obama’s first big bill, the stimulus package passed by the House, lacks the votes to clear a Senate filibuster, reports the Washington Post. Senate moderates are proposing to strip $200 billion in spending to win GOP supporters. Says Democratic whip Dick Durbin, “100 decisions” will be “made between now and when we deliver the bill to the president's desk.”

Urges Lindsey Graham, a conservative who supports halving the bill, “Get us all in a room.” The main effort to trim the bill down is coming from centrists Susan Collins and Ben Nelson. “It's a little bit of a bookkeeping nightmare,” says Nelson. So far, the pair has agreed on “tens of billions” worth of cuts.

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (2)]

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in this September 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., speaks to a political science class at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Thursday April 5, 2007, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver)

In this photo provided by CBS, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appears on CBS' "Face the Nation" in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/CBS Face the Nation, Karin Cooper)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks about the economic stimulus measure making its way through Congress during a briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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They should scrub it. - Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine

We're trying to find a way to reach 60. A number of Democrats have said they want to see changes to the bill before they can vote for it. - Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 7 comments

Mad

Feb 4, 2009 2:21 AM CST

"Heard it on the radio" or "Read it on a bumper sticker" are NOT evidence

Snowleopard

Feb 4, 2009 1:21 AM CST

Feragola is just repeating republican talking points.

Snowleopard

Feb 4, 2009 1:20 AM CST

Feragola: You're incorrect in saying that they didn't deny every addition of the republicans. Obama made sure that 1/3 of the bill was tax cuts. Maybe you're just saying that for dramatic effect though. Here's the full breakdown of the current bill: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/stimulus-pie-chart/

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Senate • filibuster • Susan Collins • Lindsey Graham • Dick Durbin • tax breaks • economic stimulus package • Ben Nelson • Obama administration

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Senate Dems Don't Have Votes to Pass Stimulus