Senate OKs Weak Stimulus; Now for the Hard Part

[NicholeW.]

Senate OKs Weak Stimulus; Now for the Hard Part
posted by JOHN NICHOLS on 02/10/2009 @ 2:27pm, The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/407017?rel=hp_picks

Skeptical citizens might inquire: How does a Senate stimulus bill that was trimmed to eliminate "waste" (like school construction money that would create jobs in communities across the country) and "pork" (like funding to prepare for a pandemic that would bring a sputtering economy to a complete halt) end up costing almost $20 billion more than a supposedly spendthrift House plan?

The answer, of course, is that the tepid stimulus plan passed Tuesday by the Senate with a "bipartisan" 61-37 majority was not trimmed down to hold the line on spending. It was restructured to cut stimulus allocations by $108 million while dramatically increasing tax cuts--at the behest of Republican Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and the Democrats with whom these alleged moderates cut a deal to pass the stalled bill.