GAR
02-11-2009, 10:57 PM
I've been hearing this lie for the past two weeks! But it's not dead yet.. read on
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/its-a-deal-uh-maybe-not-maybe-a-little-premature/
February 11, 2009, 3:59 pm
It’s a Deal. Uh, Maybe Not. Maybe a Little Premature
By Kate Phillips
Stimulus meeting postponed.A meeting to formalize the House-Senate stimulus agreement was postponed on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
Update | 7 p.m. The House and Senate have reached an agreement. The conference between the two chambers was held at about 5:30 p.m.
The White House released a statement from President Obama:
I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who came together around a hard-fought compromise that will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track. Just today, the CEO of Caterpillar said that if this American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is passed, his company would be able to rehire some of the employees they’ve been forced to lay off. It’s also a plan that will provide immediate tax relief to families and businesses, while investing in priorities like health care, education, energy, and infrastructure that will grow our economy once more. I’m grateful to the House Democrats for starting this process, and for members in the House and Senate for moving it along with the urgency that this moment demands.”
Update | 4:20 p.m. Jeff Zeleny reports: The Democratic leadership from the House and Senate are meeting in the Speaker’s office, trying to salvage the deal that had been announced earlier. There were hard feelings by some House members that an agreement on the economic stimulus had been announced before they had seen the details.
At least some of the differences, aides said, appeared to be over construction spending measures. Aides said the situation would be resolved.
“I think we’re moving very rapidly toward making an announcement of a deal,” Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for the House Speaker, told reporters who crowded the corridor outside Ms. Pelosi’s office.
End update.
We’re told that House members, including Representative George Miller, are still concerned that there is not enough money in the bill for school renovation.
The much-anticipated conference session — where a $789 billion deal on the economic stimulus package was about to become formal — has just been postponed. It was quite a spectacle, with several veteran senators and chairmen waiting for House Democrats, whose absence forced the conference to be put off.
Just moments earlier, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had announced outside the conference meeting room that the deal had been struck, and the three Republicans who have sided with the Senate Democrats also spoke.
Then they left to prepare for the conference, which was initially set for 3 p.m.
Senators Daniel Inouye, Max Baucus, Charles Grassley and Thad Cochran sat or stood there waiting as did the two House Republicans. But not to be seen were Representatives David Obey, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Charles Rangel and Henry Waxman, all of whom were named to the conference.
After several minutes, Senator Inouye stood up and announced that the House Democratic leadership was still meeting and was still being briefed on the details. So the deal was not as firm as announced a bit ago. Apparently, House Democrats are still haggling over school renovation aid — something Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, has demanded before, and the Democratic whip, Representative James Clyburn, wanted to make sure there were some assurances attached to the way that money would be disbursed by the states, according to my colleague, David Herszenhorn.
Earlier during the Senate news briefing, Mr. Reid proudly pointed to his three Republican allies on the stimulus package — Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine. He singled them out for praise: “I’m really at a lack of words how to express my
admiration/respect for the love of our country, the patriotism and the courage of three brave senators: Specter from Pennsylvania, Snowe and Collins from Maine.”
Whether the tentative compromise will attract any more Republicans remains highly speculative. The House and Senate Republican leadership continued throughout today to call the bill wasteful spending.
Senator Collins, who helped broker a bill that shifted the tax and spending portions a bit in the Senate, said today that she was satisfied with this compromise. “I’m particularly pleased that we have produced an agreement that has a top line of $789 billion,” she said. “That is less than either the House- or the Senate-passed bills. It is a fiscally responsible number that reflects our efforts
to truly focus this bill on programs and policies and tax relief that will help turn our economy around, create jobs and provide relief to the families of our country.”
She also the amount for infrastructure had been enhanced, calling it “the most powerful component in this bill to create jobs. Overall, there is about $150 billion in infrastructure in this bill when you add together transportation, environmental, broadband and other projects.”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/its-a-deal-uh-maybe-not-maybe-a-little-premature/
February 11, 2009, 3:59 pm
It’s a Deal. Uh, Maybe Not. Maybe a Little Premature
By Kate Phillips
Stimulus meeting postponed.A meeting to formalize the House-Senate stimulus agreement was postponed on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
Update | 7 p.m. The House and Senate have reached an agreement. The conference between the two chambers was held at about 5:30 p.m.
The White House released a statement from President Obama:
I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who came together around a hard-fought compromise that will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track. Just today, the CEO of Caterpillar said that if this American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is passed, his company would be able to rehire some of the employees they’ve been forced to lay off. It’s also a plan that will provide immediate tax relief to families and businesses, while investing in priorities like health care, education, energy, and infrastructure that will grow our economy once more. I’m grateful to the House Democrats for starting this process, and for members in the House and Senate for moving it along with the urgency that this moment demands.”
Update | 4:20 p.m. Jeff Zeleny reports: The Democratic leadership from the House and Senate are meeting in the Speaker’s office, trying to salvage the deal that had been announced earlier. There were hard feelings by some House members that an agreement on the economic stimulus had been announced before they had seen the details.
At least some of the differences, aides said, appeared to be over construction spending measures. Aides said the situation would be resolved.
“I think we’re moving very rapidly toward making an announcement of a deal,” Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for the House Speaker, told reporters who crowded the corridor outside Ms. Pelosi’s office.
End update.
We’re told that House members, including Representative George Miller, are still concerned that there is not enough money in the bill for school renovation.
The much-anticipated conference session — where a $789 billion deal on the economic stimulus package was about to become formal — has just been postponed. It was quite a spectacle, with several veteran senators and chairmen waiting for House Democrats, whose absence forced the conference to be put off.
Just moments earlier, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had announced outside the conference meeting room that the deal had been struck, and the three Republicans who have sided with the Senate Democrats also spoke.
Then they left to prepare for the conference, which was initially set for 3 p.m.
Senators Daniel Inouye, Max Baucus, Charles Grassley and Thad Cochran sat or stood there waiting as did the two House Republicans. But not to be seen were Representatives David Obey, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Charles Rangel and Henry Waxman, all of whom were named to the conference.
After several minutes, Senator Inouye stood up and announced that the House Democratic leadership was still meeting and was still being briefed on the details. So the deal was not as firm as announced a bit ago. Apparently, House Democrats are still haggling over school renovation aid — something Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, has demanded before, and the Democratic whip, Representative James Clyburn, wanted to make sure there were some assurances attached to the way that money would be disbursed by the states, according to my colleague, David Herszenhorn.
Earlier during the Senate news briefing, Mr. Reid proudly pointed to his three Republican allies on the stimulus package — Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine. He singled them out for praise: “I’m really at a lack of words how to express my
admiration/respect for the love of our country, the patriotism and the courage of three brave senators: Specter from Pennsylvania, Snowe and Collins from Maine.”
Whether the tentative compromise will attract any more Republicans remains highly speculative. The House and Senate Republican leadership continued throughout today to call the bill wasteful spending.
Senator Collins, who helped broker a bill that shifted the tax and spending portions a bit in the Senate, said today that she was satisfied with this compromise. “I’m particularly pleased that we have produced an agreement that has a top line of $789 billion,” she said. “That is less than either the House- or the Senate-passed bills. It is a fiscally responsible number that reflects our efforts
to truly focus this bill on programs and policies and tax relief that will help turn our economy around, create jobs and provide relief to the families of our country.”
She also the amount for infrastructure had been enhanced, calling it “the most powerful component in this bill to create jobs. Overall, there is about $150 billion in infrastructure in this bill when you add together transportation, environmental, broadband and other projects.”