Obama Seeks to Restore Some Stimulus Spending
By GREG HITT and JONATHAN WEISMAN
Wall Street Journal
February 11, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The White House is seeking to restore funding cut by the Senate for schools, health insurance and computerizing health records as the economic-stimulus plan headed into a final round of negotiations in Congress, with top lawmakers struggling to bring the price of the two-year package down to $800 billion.
That would be well below the $838.2 billion plan approved Tuesday by the Senate on a 61-37 vote, but would reflect pressure from influential moderates in the Senate to hold down costs. As lawmakers meet to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the legislation, the White House's effort to reshape it is leading to skirmishes among House and Senate Democrats, as well as with the moderate Republicans and Democrats who pushed to cut the size of the original Senate package.
But in pushing for more generous spending, the White House risks alienating moderate Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, who supported the package only after more than $110 billion was trimmed from it. Sens. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) and Susan Collins (R., Maine) are insisting that the tab for the final package come in near $800 billion, and aides in both the House and Senate, as well as lawmakers, suggested that is the target for the negotiations. "That's in the ballpark," said Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.).
Balancing those demands will be crucial, said Sen. Baucus. "Those three votes count," he said. But the Senate's strong insistence on protecting the moderates was not without costs, raising tensions as the day wore on. "It is so difficult to talk with a body that is controlled by three people," said House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123428088162068663.html
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