re: #403 Walter L. Newton

Oh, it’s much worse than that…

The Conference Committee has managed to reconcile the two versions, and the plan is now supposedly below $800 billion.

Democratic aides said that Obama’s negotiating team had prevailed in restoring some lost funding for school construction projects during talks Tuesday, and had also increased aid to state governments above the $39 billion approved in a compromise with a handful of Senate GOP moderates.

Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit would be reduced from $500 per worker to $400, with couples eligible for an $800 credit, instead of $1,000, said a Democratic aide close to the talks. This aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate sailed to approval of its $838 billion economic stimulus bill, but with only three moderate Republicans signing on and then demanding the bill’s cost go down when the final version emerges from negotiations.

Negotiators initially were working with a target of about $800 billion for the final bill, lawmakers said. But GOP moderate Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Tuesday night on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that he was insisting on a figure at around $780 billion.

Baucus had said earlier that $35.5 billion to provide a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit, approved in the Senate last week, would be cut back. There was also pressure to reduce a Senate-passed tax break for new car buyers, according to Democratic officials.

They didn’t cut the spending, but instead limited quite a few of tax cuts offered, including one put forth by Obama. Nice.

As far as bipartisanship is concerned, only three GOPers are involved in the process in any way, shape, or form - Sen. Arlen Specter, Olympia Snows, and Susan Collins. This is a Democratic show, and it’s a farce. They’ve spent a few hours coming up with this mess, and it’s going to cost Americans dearly.