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With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate
Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans
Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of
President Barack Obama's plan for combatting the worst recession in
decades.

      "The American people want us to work together. They don't want
to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis
confronting our country," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of
at least two GOP senators who pledged their votes for the bill.

      Democratic leaders said the concessions they had made to
Republicans and moderate Democrats to trim the measure had cleared
the way for its passage. It seemed likely a final vote would take
place Saturday or Sunday.

      Democrats put the cost of the measure at $780 billion, including
Obama's signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples. Much
of the new spending in the bill would be for victims of the
recession, in the form of unemployment compensation, health care
and food stamps.

      Republican critics said that the price tag was actually higher,
and that billions were ticketed for programs that would not create
jobs. Official cost figures were not yet available.

      The agreement capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in
which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House
chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of
enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority.


      Uncertain of the outcome of the talks, Democrats called Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy back to Washington in case his vote was needed.
The Massachusetts senator, battling brain cancer, has been in
Florida in recent days and has not been in the Capitol since
suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than two weeks ago.

      In addition to Collins, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he would
vote for the bill. Several Democratic senators said Olympia Snowe,
R-Maine, also had agreed to vote for it, but her office said she
was uncommitted.


      The agreement capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in
which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House
chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of
enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority.


      In addition to Collins, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he would
vote for the bill. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, remained
uncommitted.

      Officials said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's vote might be needed for
passage, depending on the number of Republicans who decided to
swing behind the measure. The Massachusetts Democrat, battling a
brain tumor, has been in Florida in recent days and has not been in
the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than
two weeks ago. The senator's office did not comment.

      At $780 billion, the legislation would be smaller than the
measure that cleared the House on a party-line vote last week. It
also would mean a sharp cut from the version that has been the
subject of Senate debate for a week. That measure stood at $937
billion.

      Beyond the numbers, though, any agreement would mark a victory
for the new president and would keep Democratic leaders on track to
fulfill their promise of delivering him a bill to sign by the end
of next week.


      Obama said further delay would be "inexcusable and
irresponsible" given Friday's worst monthly unemployment report in
a generation - 598,000 jobs lost in January and the national
unemployment rate rising to 7.6 percent. Late in the day federal
regulators announced the closure of First Bank Financial Services
in Georgia, the seventh failure this year of a federally insured
bank.


      "The world is waiting to see what we're going to do in the next
24 hours," said Reid who has spent much of the week trying to
balance demands among moderates in both parties against pressure
for a larger bill from liberals in his own rank and file.


      By midday, the majority leader had spoken once with Obama by
phone and five times with Emanuel. He met with Collins and Specter
as well as Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Nebraska Democrat who
had long advocated cuts in the House-passed bill.


      "We're clearly not there yet," Collins said at one point. She
spoke with Obama at the White House earlier in the week, though,
and told reporters as she shuttled between meetings in the Capitol,
"I'm still hopeful that we can achieve a compromise because the
stakes are high and the goal is important."

      One Republican-proposed document that circulated earlier called
for cuts of $60 billion from money Democrats want to send to the
states. That money is targeted to avoid budget cuts for schools as
well as law enforcement and other programs.


      Talk of cuts in proposed education funds triggered a
counterattack from advocates of school spending as well as
unhappiness among Democrats.


      One, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, told reporters he and others
hoped that some of the funds on the chopping block would be
restored next week when negotiations open on a House-Senate
compromise.

      At its core, the legislation is designed to ease the worst
economic recession in generations, and combines hundreds of
billions of dollars in new spending with tax cuts. Much of the
money would go for victims of the recession in the form of food
stamps, unemployment compensation and health care. There are funds,
as well, for construction of highways and bridges.


      But the administration also decided to use the bill to make a
down payment on key domestic initiatives, including creation of a
new health technology industry and so-called green jobs designed to
make the country less dependent on imported oil.


      And Democrats in Congress decided to add additional huge sums
for the states struggling with the recession, as well as billions
more for favored programs such as parks, the repair of monuments in
federal cemeteries, health and science research and more.


      With Obama enjoying post-inauguration support in the polls and
the economy shrinking, Democratic leaders in Congress have
confidently predicted they would have a bill to the president's
desk by mid-February.


      But Republicans, freed of the need to defend former President
George W. Bush's policies, have pivoted quickly to criticize the
bill for its size and what they consider wasteful spending.


      The entire Republican rank and file voted against the measure in
the House, effectively prodding senators to take up the same cause.


      In the intervening days, Republicans have appeared to catch the
administration and its allies off-guard, holding up relatively
small items for ridicule and routinely seizing on comments from
Democrats critical of the House-passed bill.


      At the same time, they have stressed a desire to help the
economy but have said they prefer tax cuts and spending that would
have a more immediate impact on job creation.


      Democrats hold a 58-41 majority in the Senate, including two
independents, but it takes 60 votes to pass the bill because it
would raise the federal deficit.


      Privately, Democrats in Congress have been critical of Obama and
his aides for failing to counter the Republicans more effectively.
In recent days, the president has sharpened his rhetoric against
unnamed critics of the bill whom he accused of trying to
re-establish the "failed policies" of the past eight years.

      As Reid struggled to nail down the necessary votes, the White
House announced Obama would travel to Florida and Indiana next week
to campaign for a stimulus measure. Both states have Republican
senators. The president also is scheduled to hold a prime-time news
conference on Monday where questions about the economy are likely
to dominate.


      Despite the struggle, some Republicans seemed to sense the White
House would ultimately prevail, and sought political mileage.


      Obama "could have had a very, very impressive victory early
on," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who heads the Senate
Republican campaign committee. "But this is not turning out to be
an impressive victory. it is turning out to be a little bit of a
black eye."

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Business and Economic News

Politics and Government News

With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate
Democrats reached agreement with key Republicans Friday night on an
economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's
plan for reviving the economy.

Deal on econ stimulus bill - cut to $780 billion

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