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Senate passes stimulus bill
David Lightman, McClatchy Newspapers
Issue date: 2/10/09 Section: News
WASHINGTON -- The Senate, with only scant Republican support, passed an $838 billion economic-stimulus plan Tuesday that would provide significant tax breaks for new car and home buyers but sharply trim billions in aid that states have been seeking. The vote was 61-37.
The House of Representatives passed similar legislation last month, and a negotiating committee of top congressional tax and budget experts plans to begin reconciling differences immediately.
Their goal is to produce legislation that costs no more than $838 billion _ the House version was $819 billion _ by the end of the week, so that President Barack Obama can sign it Monday, on Presidents Day.
The Senate vote came on a historic day, as the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department unveiled details of their effort to bolster the banking industry and credit markets and Obama took his stimulus campaign to Fort Myers, Fla., which has been rocked by the mortgage foreclosure crisis.
At the Capitol, the drama now shifts to the negotiators, and the final Senate debate Tuesday illustrated the difficulties that they face.
Part of the problem is political, as the vote reinforced the notion that despite Obama's efforts at bipartisanship, the legislation is very much a Democratic bill.
Democrats hailed the bill as historic and necessary. "Every generation must face up to its own challenge. This economic emergency is ours," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
"Let us pass this bill and rise to the economic challenge of our generation."
Most Republicans, however, dismissed the measure as loaded with spending that would do little to stimulate the economy.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, noted that the bill costs "$1 billion per page."
Republicans railed against such inclusions as $200 million to consolidate the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, $100 million for grants to small shipyards and about $1 billion to improve parks.
The House of Representatives passed similar legislation last month, and a negotiating committee of top congressional tax and budget experts plans to begin reconciling differences immediately.
Their goal is to produce legislation that costs no more than $838 billion _ the House version was $819 billion _ by the end of the week, so that President Barack Obama can sign it Monday, on Presidents Day.
The Senate vote came on a historic day, as the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department unveiled details of their effort to bolster the banking industry and credit markets and Obama took his stimulus campaign to Fort Myers, Fla., which has been rocked by the mortgage foreclosure crisis.
At the Capitol, the drama now shifts to the negotiators, and the final Senate debate Tuesday illustrated the difficulties that they face.
Part of the problem is political, as the vote reinforced the notion that despite Obama's efforts at bipartisanship, the legislation is very much a Democratic bill.
Democrats hailed the bill as historic and necessary. "Every generation must face up to its own challenge. This economic emergency is ours," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
"Let us pass this bill and rise to the economic challenge of our generation."
Most Republicans, however, dismissed the measure as loaded with spending that would do little to stimulate the economy.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, noted that the bill costs "$1 billion per page."
Republicans railed against such inclusions as $200 million to consolidate the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, $100 million for grants to small shipyards and about $1 billion to improve parks.
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