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GOP Wields More Influence Over the Stimulus Bill - The Wall Street Journal Maine Sen. Collins Leads Group of Moderates Seeking to Trim Package to $700 Billion or Less; Obama Calls for Quick Action

February 5, 2009

WASHINGTON-Republicans are exercising increasing influence over President Barack Obama's economic-stimulus plan in the Senate, with Maine Sen. Susan Collins emerging as a leader of efforts to trim the initiative and sharpen its focus on job creation. Sen. Collins, a centrist with allies in both parties, was called to the White House Wednesday to meet with Mr. Obama. She envisions holding the cost of the stimulus package to $700 billion or less, well below the $819 billion package of tax cuts and spending the House approved last week. The target grew out of discussions among a group of moderate Republicans, led by Sen. Collins, aimed at reining in costs and better targeting federal funds toward job creation. The effort amounts to "rebuilding" the Obama package, according to an individual familiar with the talks. The package would include tax cuts and investments intended to create jobs, such as infrastructure projects, but it would step back from spending projects that don't immediately lift the sagging U.S. economy. After meeting with Mr. Obama, Sen. Collins expressed concern about a number of spending provisions, including $780 million for pandemic-flu preparedness. "I have no doubt that the president is willing to negotiate in good faith, that he wants to have a bipartisan bill," Sen. Collins said. The move to scale back the package came as Mr. Obama made a pitch for quick action. "No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger," said Mr. Obama, who separately met Wednesday with two other centrist senators. "But let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential." It is unclear how far Sen. Collins's plan will advance, or how much appetite the Senate will ultimately have for sizable cuts in the package. But the effort dramatizes the fluid nature of debate this week. Other Republicans have successfully pulled the legislation in the opposite direction: Amendments they pushed would add billions of dollars to the budget of the National Institutes of Health, while creating tax breaks to encourage auto purchases. The stimulus package being proposed in the Senate has approached $900 billion. But as it nears a vote, GOP leaders say the plan ignores Republican proposals. Video courtesy of Fox News. The push for more generous incentives paid off again Wednesday, as the Senate, by voice vote, approved an $18.9 billion proposal by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.) to create a tax credit to encourage housing purchases. The tax credit would be equal to $15,000, or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is lower, on the purchase of a primary residence. The provision would apply to purchases made in the 12 months after the date of enactment of the package. A little later Wednesday, the Senate, also by voice vote, approved $2 billion for state agencies to help finance affordable-housing projects that have dried up as a result of the credit crunch. "Thanks so much," said Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R., Mo.). Additional housing measures are expected, possibly a proposal to commit billions of dollars for foreclosure relief. The changes Wednesday pushed the cost of the Senate package to more than $920 billion. "At some point, we're going to have to learn to say no," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). Moreover, the Senate moved to damp growing international criticism of a "Buy American" provision that would require all projects funded through the legislation be built with U.S. products. After negotiations with the White House, the Senate maintained the original mandate, but approved an amendment, by voice vote, requiring the limit to be "applied in a manner" consistent with U.S. trade agreements. President Obama said Tuesday he feared the provision could "trigger a trade war." U.S. business groups vowed to keep pushing for the provision to be removed altogether.

[GOP Wields More Influence Over the Stimulus Bill] As a measure of the "Buy America" provision's popularity, the Senate voted 65-31 to defeat an amendment by Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) that would have stripped the provision from the package entirely. Democrats entered this week's debate knowing they would need Republican support. That is because 60 votes are necessary to ensure passage in the Senate, and Democrats currently only control the chamber with a 58-41 majority. Democratic leaders have provided for open debate. And in a further overture, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) has signaled that Republicans will have a voice in final negotiations, once efforts begin to meld the competing House and Senate stimulus bills. Another complicating factor: Not all Democrats are certain to vote with the White House. Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) is working with a dozen or more moderate Democrats to find ways to scale back the package. The senators have identified more than $50 billion in projects they contend don't meet the test of near-term job creation, including $122.5 million for new and renovated polar ice breakers. Sen. Nelson also met with Mr. Obama Wednesday. He said the president knows the bill needs "scrubbing," and is committed to working with moderates. Sen. Nelson's effort is being coordinated with Sen. Collins, who has been conferring with a half-dozen moderate Republicans, and the two senators might move forward on a bipartisan alternative. Their actions are being closely monitored by Senate Democratic leaders, who want to keep the president's initiative on track. "We're open to changes," said Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin (D., Ill.). But he defended the thrust of the package, saying that "the fundamentals of the bill are sound," a message echoed by White House budget chief Peter Orszag. In an interview, Mr. Orszag said the administration's "portfolio" approach to stimulus, which combines relief for cash-strapped states, tax cuts for businesses and individuals, and a raft of government spending, is designed to spread the impact of government action throughout the economy. "The package, in my view, is basically the right size, and it has basically the right balance," he said.









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02/12/09 Key GOP Senator in Stimulus Deal is Known for Centrist Approach



