Senate Passes Stimulus; Obama's Pen Is Next

(NEWSER) - President Obama has had to change his tune a few times since he took office, but the content of his speech to Congress tonight will be no surprise, Michael Scherer writes in Time. Talking points have been consistent for long enough to predict 5 key features:

• I'm not Bush: In case Congress didn't notice, Obama will emphasize particularly his break from the former president's "deception" as regards the budget—and the helicopters.

Stick up to Reid, Dems urge Pelosi

(NEWSER) - The Senate requires 60 votes to avoid filibuster, so the 58-strong Democrats are at the mercy of centrist Republicans Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins. Politico reports that House Dems, who have no trouble passing bills on their own, are unhappy that their legislation has to run this gauntlet. Says one, “You have Specter, Snowe, and Collins dictating terms to 250" of us. More»

(NEWSER) - The House today passed the $787 billion stimulus bill, once again without a single Republican vote, the AP reports. Eight Democrats also opposed the bill, which will make its way to the Senate later today. The victory belongs to President Obama, who says the package will save or create 3.5 million jobs. Republicans say the measure is light on tax cuts and contains too much pork. More»

With haggling completed, final version of $789B bill will head to House and Senate

(NEWSER) - Lawmakers have hammered out the final details of the economic stimulus bill and cleared the way for final votes in the House and Senate today, reports Reuters. Both chambers are expected to approve the bill's final version, meeting Barack Obama's deadline of passing the $789 billion package of spending and tax cuts before the holiday weekend. More»

But not enough to be anything like bipartisan

(NEWSER) - The passage of the stimulus is a done deal, but that doesn’t mean the votes on the compromise measure won’t be interesting. Democrats are hoping to bring more Republicans on board, reports Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post. All three GOP senators who backed the original Senate bill were alongside Harry Reid as he announced the compromise yesterday, but no other Republicans were in sight. More»