red states rule
01-30-2009, 12:12 PM
In other words, Pelosi..you can eat your pork but don't pass the plate to the Senate where some sanity still rules
I hope sanity will rule
Influential Senate Dem Questions Party Support for Stimulus Bill
Sen. Ben Nelson told FOX News he is unsure how many Democrats will support President Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus bill.
An influential Senate Democrat said Friday that it's unclear whether President Obama's $819 economic stimulus bill will win enough support to pass in the Senate.
"I don't even know how many Democrats will vote for it, as it stands today," Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., told FOX News.
Nelson, a moderate Democrat, is famous for gathering lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in a so-called "Gang of 14" to avert a shutdown of the Senate over judicial nominations. He is seeking a similar bipartisan effort to improve the stimulus bill.
Lawmakers are unhappy that the bill, passed by the House on Wednesday, contains billions of dollars for programs that arguably won't spark much job growth.
"What I'm hoping to do is bring together a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats and offer changes that will attract others and improve the bill," he told FOX News. "People want this to succeed."
Asked how many Republicans he can get to vote for the bill, Nelson said he didn't even know how many Democrats would vote for it.
Sens. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. and Susan Collins, R-ME, met in Nelson's office Friday morning to see if more can be done to create jobs in the stimulus bill -- such as a major boost in funding for infrastructure projects, which appeal to many of his colleagues.
"We need to focus this on getting people back to work quickly," Nelson said.
The "Gang of 14" compromise in 2006 displeased many conservatives. Republicans controlled both houses of Congress at the time, and those involved in the compromise group agreed to take some of the party's power options off the table in exchange for Democratic promises not to filibuster Bush's judicial nominees except under "extreme circumstances."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a moderate who was a member of the original "Gang" and a close friend of Nelson's from their time on the Senate Armed Services Committee, got an invite, as has Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Nelson's energy compromise group colleague. On the Democratic side, Nelson has reached out to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a strong ally of President Obama, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and freshman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/29/senates-gang-poised-strike-stimulus/
I hope sanity will rule
Influential Senate Dem Questions Party Support for Stimulus Bill
Sen. Ben Nelson told FOX News he is unsure how many Democrats will support President Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus bill.
An influential Senate Democrat said Friday that it's unclear whether President Obama's $819 economic stimulus bill will win enough support to pass in the Senate.
"I don't even know how many Democrats will vote for it, as it stands today," Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., told FOX News.
Nelson, a moderate Democrat, is famous for gathering lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in a so-called "Gang of 14" to avert a shutdown of the Senate over judicial nominations. He is seeking a similar bipartisan effort to improve the stimulus bill.
Lawmakers are unhappy that the bill, passed by the House on Wednesday, contains billions of dollars for programs that arguably won't spark much job growth.
"What I'm hoping to do is bring together a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats and offer changes that will attract others and improve the bill," he told FOX News. "People want this to succeed."
Asked how many Republicans he can get to vote for the bill, Nelson said he didn't even know how many Democrats would vote for it.
Sens. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. and Susan Collins, R-ME, met in Nelson's office Friday morning to see if more can be done to create jobs in the stimulus bill -- such as a major boost in funding for infrastructure projects, which appeal to many of his colleagues.
"We need to focus this on getting people back to work quickly," Nelson said.
The "Gang of 14" compromise in 2006 displeased many conservatives. Republicans controlled both houses of Congress at the time, and those involved in the compromise group agreed to take some of the party's power options off the table in exchange for Democratic promises not to filibuster Bush's judicial nominees except under "extreme circumstances."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a moderate who was a member of the original "Gang" and a close friend of Nelson's from their time on the Senate Armed Services Committee, got an invite, as has Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Nelson's energy compromise group colleague. On the Democratic side, Nelson has reached out to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a strong ally of President Obama, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and freshman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/29/senates-gang-poised-strike-stimulus/