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The Senate easily approved a $123 billion economic stimulus package Thursday that would add seniors, disabled veterans and their widows to those receiving rebates.
Senators voted 81-16 for the compromise measure that began to take shape in a morning meeting between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). At press time, the House was expected to clear the bill later that night and send it to President Bush.
A potential stalemate was averted by the Senate leaders only hours after Republicans blocked a broader $158 billion package Wednesday that would have included a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits, $1 billion for low-income heating assistance and $5.5 billion in renewable energy credits.
The vote came after an acrimonious week of partisan sniping over the biggest issue on voters’ minds. Republicans said that Democrats had refused to compromise earlier in order to generate bad press that the GOP was stalling rebate checks. But Democrats said they were trying to win Republican support for the broader package, which had been approved by the Senate Finance Committee.
Even the presidential candidates returned for parts of the debate. GOP presidential frontrunner, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), voted Thursday to support the measure but skipped Wednesday’s vote on the Finance Committee bill. Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) were absent Thursday, but had voted for the failed measure on Wednesday.
Despite the bipartisan compromise, Democrats said that Republicans would pay a price at the polls in November for blocking their more inclusive measure.
“What motivated us in this package was substance, OK. If people pay a political price for doing the wrong thing, that’s how this substance is supposed to work,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
In the end, both sides declared victory.
By including seniors, veterans and widows, the final bill allowed Democrats to boast that they had forced Republicans to broaden the bill beyond a deal reached last month between the House and the Bush administration that did not include those groups. GOP lawmakers had initially insisted that the Senate simply accept the House-Bush deal. But earlier in the week, they relented and said they forced Democrats to pare back a “Christmas tree” with unnecessary provisions.
“We all have to acknowledge that the House bill has been improved,” said Reid, who worked through Thursday to win the one additional GOP vote for the Democrats’ preferred alternative. “If we had listened to the House, 21.5 million seniors would have gotten nothing and 250,000 veterans and their widows would have been left behind.”
But some suspect that Reid could only delay the passage for a short time before it came back on him.
“He got his one day of press,” said Bruce Josten, a top lobbyist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “I don’t think he’s going to get two or three days in the press.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said earlier in the day that she stood by the House plan.
But Republicans claimed a victory of their own, by blocking a vote Wednesday on the broader Democratic bill.
“We feel pretty good about not turning this bill into a chance to spend more money,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Democrats are disappointed with the smaller bill. But like Reid, he said the party deserves credit for expanding the bill to reach as many Americans as possible.
“We forced McConnell to say ‘Uncle,’” Baucus said. “Don’t forget, Mitch McConnell was out there saying we should accept the House bill. We forced him to change his mind and accommodate seniors and vets.”
The rebate checks would range from $300-$600 depending on eligibility and up to $1,200 for couples. The rebates would total $106 billion under the plan.
Jessica Holzer contributed to this story.
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