Stimulus bill progressing through the Senate

The stimulus bill is making good progress in the Senate. The Republicans are being given plenty of room to propose amendments, even if most of them are being voted down. Despite the chatter and headlines in the media, the debate in the Senate is quite civil. The ammendment process might even finish up this evening. The final vote is likely to occur tomorrow (Friday.)

The big question is whether President Obama is willing to let the ammended bill go forward as is with a bare 60 (plus or minus) votes in the Senate, or whether he will go along with some changes to make enough moderate Republicans happy to get a more bipartisan mix in the final vote.

Rather than further ammend the Senate bill, President Obama and congressional leaders could simply agree in advance to make a further collection of bipartisan changes when the bill goes to the conference committee. That might encourage more Republican support in the final Senate vote on th bill as is.

In any case, the bill is making great progress.

Sure, the bill is quite the cross between an over-decorated Christmas tree and an over-stuffed sausage, but that is to be expected.

-- Jack Krupansky