Under strong pressure from constituents, the US Senate today, Feb. 9, knocked down an attempted GOP filibuster of President Obama's $800 billion economic recovery package.
In strenuous negotiations among a group of senators made up of approximately 15 Democrats and Republicans, a compromise on the economic recovery bill was put together over the weekend.
To overcome a filibuster, 60 Senators must vote to close debate on a bill. Because there are only 58 Democrats in the Senate, Democratic leaders knew they needed to win over at least two Republicans. In the filibuster vote, Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Susan Collins (R-ME, and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voted to end debate and bring the bill to the floor for a final vote on Feb. 10.
In a speech on the Senate floor promoting the compromise package, Sen. Collins talked about the bill's positives. The plan would provide $87 billion in federal matching funds to states for Medicaid to help pay additional health insurance costs faced by unemployed workers and their families. In addition, the bill would give tens of billions in aid to states through a stabilization fund to help balance state budgets and avoid onerous cuts that could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
On public infrastructure investment, Collins touted the bill's $52 billion injection into roads, bridges, and transportation projects that are 'shovel ready.' She noted that for every dollars spent in infrastructure projects, $5 dollars in additional economic activity are created.
Critics of the compromise package, especially in the labor movement, believe this issue is precisely the point. If so much economic activity could be created with targeted funding, why not make this part of the bill larger?, they questioned. Other cuts imposed on the original package made as part of the compromise included an approximately 50 percent cut in the state stabilization fund and billions in cuts for education programs and school renovation projects.
Economists such as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Dean Baker, of the Center for Economic Policy Research, estimated that hundreds of thousands of jobs might not be created as a result of the cuts made in the compromise.
Senate Democratic leaders urged overcoming the filibuster and passage of the bill. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) noted, 'The cost of inaction would be far, far higher than bill.'
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) added, 'Millions of jobs depend on the passage of this bill.'
Final passage of the bill is scheduled for Feb. 10, after which a joint conference committee of House and Senate leaders will hammer out the final bill. While the final bill, known as a conference report, is expected to easily pass in the House with some Republican support, the conference report will face a 60-vote obstacle in the Senate.
According to Senate rules, a bill that has emerged from a joint conference cannot be filibustered and could be passed with a simple majority. A 60-vote majority, however, may still be needed to waive provisions of the Budget Act, as required by Senate rules when a pending bill raises the federal deficit.
According to some sources, telephone calls, e-mails and letters sent to members of the Senate over the past week or so ran 100 to 1 in favor of passage of the economic stimulus package. Polls revealed that Americans strongly favored President Obama's stance on the package and gave a big edge to the Democrats on Congress over the Republicans on the matter.
Republicans opposed funding job-creating programs in favor of extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Privately, they believed a small stimulus package would fail to boost the economy, for which they would blame Democrats and President Obama.
