BOHICA, baby; Senate passes Pork-A-Palooza
Yes, it passed, though there was no doubt that it would. Three turncoats broke ranks with us (the usual suspects, folks -- Specter, Collins, and Snowe) and voted with the Democrats to pass the "crap sandwich" and screw this nation:
President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan has passed the Senate and is on its way to difficult House-Senate negotiations.
Just three Republicans helped pass the plan on a 61-37 vote and they're already signaling they'll play hardball to preserve more than $108 billion in spending cuts made last week in Senate dealmaking. Obama wants to restore cuts in funds for school construction jobs and help for cash-starved states.
Those cuts are among the major differences between the $819 billion House version of Obama's plan and a Senate bill costing $838 billion. Obama has warned of a deepening economic crisis if Congress fails to act. He wants a bill completed by the weekend.
The bill backed by the White House survived a key test vote in the Senate Monday despite strong Republican opposition, and Democratic leaders vowed to deliver legislation for President Barack Obama's signature within a few days.
Monday's vote was 61-36, one more than the 60 needed to advance the measure toward Senate passage on Tuesday. That in turn, will set the stage for possibly contentious negotiations with the House on a final compromise on legislation the president says is desperately needed to tackle the worst economic crisis in more than a generation.
The Senate vote occurred as the Obama administration moved ahead on another key component of its economic recovery plan. Officials said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would outline rules on Tuesday for $350 billion in bailout funds designed to help the financial industry as well as homeowners facing foreclosure.
Monday's vote was close but scarcely in doubt once the White House and Democratic leaders agreed to trim about $100 billion on Friday.
As a result, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania broke ranks to cast their votes to advance the bill.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., battling a brain tumor, made his first appearance in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day, and he joined all other Democrats in support of the measure.
"There is no reason we can't do this by the end of the week," said Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He said he was prepared to hold the Senate in session into the Presidents Day weekend if necessary, and cautioned Republicans not to try and delay final progress.
He said passage would mark "the first step on the long road to recovery."
Moments before the vote, the Congressional Budget Office issued a new estimate that put the cost at $838 billion, an increase from the $827 billion figure from last week.
"This bill has the votes to pass. We know that," conceded Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who has spoken daily in the Senate against the legislation.
First off, congratulations Senator Specter because you just drew a rather large target on your back. Get Pat Toomey, get Bill Russell, get whoever you can to take this doddering old fool out in 2010. He has ticked Republicans and conservatives off for the last time. The Maine sister (Collins and Snowe) were just recently reelected so they're safe, for now. But conservatives have long memories, and if the economy continues to slip, they may pay the piper in their next election bid.
Second, Senator Thune is correct. We knew the Democrats had the votes once the vote yesterday went down. The point of the opposition was to do what the House GOP did which was make the Democrats OWN this bill all on their own. Sure, a filibuster would have been nice (especially if it made Harry Reid lose his cool) but we knew we wouldn't get one going. Why? Three words, folks -- Specter, Collins, Snowe.
Third, this is hardly the end. The house and Senate have passed conflicting bills. This now goes to the conference committees, and they're going to have to hammer out the details. That means our side is going to be involved. It'd be nice if McCain could get his $450 billion dollar tax cut idea in the bill, but we're not holding our breath. It's pretty clear that the Left doesn't want a substantive amount of tax cuts in the bill; a move that would guarantee a quicker turnaround for the economy. Hopefully in committee the GOP can work to strip out some of this crap like, oh I don't know, maybe the new medical bureaucracy being created to monitor and track our health care needs and visits to the doctor?
Oh, and in a typical @$$hat fashion, Senator Schumer made an ass out of himself prior to the vote when he said the following from the floor of the Senate:
"And let me say this to all of the chattering class, that so much focuses on those little tiny, yes, porky amendments, the American people really don't care."
(HT to Michelle Malkin for the quote.) Like so often, Senator Schumer, you're dead wrong. You know how I know this? Because the polls reflect it. The longer this bill stays out there, and more is revealed about it, the more the American people do care about it, and they don't want it. And you don't have to be a member of the chattering class to know that. One simply needs to be an observant, commons sense person in society, and have greater deductive reasoning than that of an idiot senator from the state of New York.
Publius II
President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan has passed the Senate and is on its way to difficult House-Senate negotiations.
Just three Republicans helped pass the plan on a 61-37 vote and they're already signaling they'll play hardball to preserve more than $108 billion in spending cuts made last week in Senate dealmaking. Obama wants to restore cuts in funds for school construction jobs and help for cash-starved states.
Those cuts are among the major differences between the $819 billion House version of Obama's plan and a Senate bill costing $838 billion. Obama has warned of a deepening economic crisis if Congress fails to act. He wants a bill completed by the weekend.
The bill backed by the White House survived a key test vote in the Senate Monday despite strong Republican opposition, and Democratic leaders vowed to deliver legislation for President Barack Obama's signature within a few days.
Monday's vote was 61-36, one more than the 60 needed to advance the measure toward Senate passage on Tuesday. That in turn, will set the stage for possibly contentious negotiations with the House on a final compromise on legislation the president says is desperately needed to tackle the worst economic crisis in more than a generation.
The Senate vote occurred as the Obama administration moved ahead on another key component of its economic recovery plan. Officials said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would outline rules on Tuesday for $350 billion in bailout funds designed to help the financial industry as well as homeowners facing foreclosure.
Monday's vote was close but scarcely in doubt once the White House and Democratic leaders agreed to trim about $100 billion on Friday.
As a result, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania broke ranks to cast their votes to advance the bill.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., battling a brain tumor, made his first appearance in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day, and he joined all other Democrats in support of the measure.
"There is no reason we can't do this by the end of the week," said Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He said he was prepared to hold the Senate in session into the Presidents Day weekend if necessary, and cautioned Republicans not to try and delay final progress.
He said passage would mark "the first step on the long road to recovery."
Moments before the vote, the Congressional Budget Office issued a new estimate that put the cost at $838 billion, an increase from the $827 billion figure from last week.
"This bill has the votes to pass. We know that," conceded Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who has spoken daily in the Senate against the legislation.
First off, congratulations Senator Specter because you just drew a rather large target on your back. Get Pat Toomey, get Bill Russell, get whoever you can to take this doddering old fool out in 2010. He has ticked Republicans and conservatives off for the last time. The Maine sister (Collins and Snowe) were just recently reelected so they're safe, for now. But conservatives have long memories, and if the economy continues to slip, they may pay the piper in their next election bid.
Second, Senator Thune is correct. We knew the Democrats had the votes once the vote yesterday went down. The point of the opposition was to do what the House GOP did which was make the Democrats OWN this bill all on their own. Sure, a filibuster would have been nice (especially if it made Harry Reid lose his cool) but we knew we wouldn't get one going. Why? Three words, folks -- Specter, Collins, Snowe.
Third, this is hardly the end. The house and Senate have passed conflicting bills. This now goes to the conference committees, and they're going to have to hammer out the details. That means our side is going to be involved. It'd be nice if McCain could get his $450 billion dollar tax cut idea in the bill, but we're not holding our breath. It's pretty clear that the Left doesn't want a substantive amount of tax cuts in the bill; a move that would guarantee a quicker turnaround for the economy. Hopefully in committee the GOP can work to strip out some of this crap like, oh I don't know, maybe the new medical bureaucracy being created to monitor and track our health care needs and visits to the doctor?
Oh, and in a typical @$$hat fashion, Senator Schumer made an ass out of himself prior to the vote when he said the following from the floor of the Senate:
"And let me say this to all of the chattering class, that so much focuses on those little tiny, yes, porky amendments, the American people really don't care."
(HT to Michelle Malkin for the quote.) Like so often, Senator Schumer, you're dead wrong. You know how I know this? Because the polls reflect it. The longer this bill stays out there, and more is revealed about it, the more the American people do care about it, and they don't want it. And you don't have to be a member of the chattering class to know that. One simply needs to be an observant, commons sense person in society, and have greater deductive reasoning than that of an idiot senator from the state of New York.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:13 AM
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