By Alan King
AFRO Staff Writer
(January 31, 2009) - Just days before a $900 billion stimulus plan hits the Senate floor for a vote, Democratic leaders are already predicting a tough fight and late nights in order to get President Obama's plan passed with bipartisan support. But they remain optimistic that the outcome will be a positive one.
The Senate version comes just days after an $819 billion plan was passed in the House. Eleven members of the president's own party, along with 177 House Republicans, voted against it.
The version passed in the House is two-thirds spending and one-third tax cuts, CNN reported. Much of the $550 billion in spending is divided in the following areas: $142 billion for education, $111 billion for health care, $90 billion for infrastructure, $72 billion for aid and benefits, $54 billion for energy, $16 billion for science and technology and $13 billion for housing.
With additional changes in the Senate version of the stimulus bill, the price tag is approaching $900 billion. The Senate Finance Committee added about $70 billion to fix one tax measure that was intended to place a tax on the wealthy, but now hits many middle-class families.
The Senate bill also adds direct money for seniors, with a plan to send $300 checks to Social Security recipients and disabled veterans. Smaller changes in the Senate version include $108 million to extend worker retraining programs and a provision to block taxes on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits.
The full Senate will vote on its version of the bill Wednesday. Should the Senate and House pass different versions, the two bills would go to conference together. Then, both chambers would have to vote on the conference version.
"When you have two branches of government, three separate entities, working on something, I'm not sure it could have gotten at this stage much better than it is," Vice President Biden told CNBC's John Harwood on Thursday. "It's good. I think you'll see it get better, and I also think you'll see Republicans voting for it."
The president hopes to have the plan passed by Congress and on his desk for signing by mid-February. But Republicans aren't sold on the bill.
"Republicans have appreciated the president's outreach to present ideas, but we are too often met with this response: 'We won and therefore we are going to do it our way,' " Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., told CNN.
Kyl and a few other senators have voiced their concerns over what they say is the lack of tax cuts and too much spending on programs that won't stimulate the economy.
"I do think it is so important that we slow this bill down in order to do it right," echoed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
In the Senate, Republicans will have more chances to do it their way by offering amendments to the Democrats' bill. But apparently some Democrats also are unhappy with too many proposals some say don’t relate to stimulating the economy.
Other opponents of the stimulus bill in its current form are Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Nebr., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, who want to slash what they say is wasteful spending from the bill so moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats can vote for it.
"I want to see the president succeed," Nelson told the media. "But in this situation I want to make sure the actual package delivers the bang for the buck that we're hoping it will."
On Thursday, several groups -- including Americans United for Change, MoveOn.org Political Action, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- announced they will run ads in four states to pressure several moderate Republicans to help make next week's vote a more bipartisan one. The ads are targeting five GOP senators: Collins, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
Another big issue for some Republican senators is housing relief. The main concern appears to be similar to their House counterparts: They want more tax cuts and less spending.
"We look forward to offering amendments to improve this critical legislation and move it back to the package President Obama originally proposed -- 40 percent tax relief, no wasteful spending and a bipartisan approach," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
However, Obama has indicated he's not willing to budge on some big-ticket items, including how the tax cuts are structured.