RCP:What made it in the bill today?
The moderate Republican said that of $366 billion in discretionary spending contained in the bill, only 12 percent would be spent within a year - and that 12 percent is giving the president "100 percent heartburn." Snowe, one of the "Gang of 14" who is now part of a group of centrist lawmakers who met with Obama at the White House this afternoon, told reporters afterward that he agreed to a process in which a bipartisan group would more closely vet the overall bill.
"He said he understands that it needs to be scrubbed," she said. "He's prepared to be receptive to the ideas and to reevaluating some of the spending measures that were included that are raising questions about whether they are stimulative."
The Senate voted Wednesday night to give a tax break of up to $15,000 to homebuyers in hopes of revitalizing the housing industry, a victory for Republicans eager to leave their mark on a mammoth economic stimulus bill at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan.
The tax break was adopted without dissent, and came on a day in which Obama pushed back pointedly against Republican critics of the legislation even as he reached across party lines to consider scaling back spending.
Democrats are compromising:
For now, the Senate bill remains a work in progress. "We're trying to find a way to reach 60" votes, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate's chief vote counter, told reporters. "A number of Democrats have said they want to see changes to the bill before they can vote for it."
Durbin predicted that "100 decisions" will be "made between now and when we deliver the bill to the president's desk."
To remove obstacles from the measure's path, Reid said numerous items could fall by the wayside. "The president, the Democratic leaders, the Republican leaders certainly have every intention of moving forward to getting everything out of the bill that causes heartburn to a significant number of senators," he told reporters yesterday. WaPo
There will be a stimulus bill:
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