Senate advances stimulus to final vote; there's still time to improve the plan

February 9, 6:12 PMPolitical Issues ExaminerJudah Freed

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With Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in attendance, the U.S. Senate late today voted 61-36 in favor of cloture on the $838 billion economic stimulus bill. The roll-call vote cuts off debate on the measure and requires the Senate to advance the bill to a floor vote, perhaps as early as Tuesday.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks to
the media before the cloture vote on the
Stimulus Bill on Capitol Hill in Washington,
Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. Sen. Kennedy who
is battling a brain tumor make his first his
appearance since having a seizure in
Statuary Hall at the Capitol.
(AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

A minimum of 60 votes was required for cloture, Voting in favor were 56 Democrats and 3 Republicans and 2 independents. The balance of the Republicans in attendance voted against cloture.

My view remains that the Senate is rushing to judgment, that the bill is too complex to be enacted without more study by Democrats and Republicans alike. (See my earlier column giving the hard numbers for the Senate stimulus plan.)

The one piece of good news is that hat likely passage in the Senate, albeit by a narrow margin, will require a House-Senate conference committee to negotiate a reconciliation between the two different bills.

During this interim we need to be vocal about the elements in the plan that we wish to see kept or deleted or changed.  My hope is the the conference committee will emerge with a final stimulus package that deserves genuine bipartisan support.

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