Senate Bill Passes Senate...On to Conference Committee

Yes, the stimulus package passed the House by a vote of 61-37, with only Collins, Snowe and Specter supporting it (the total does not add up to 100 because Gregg sat it out and the Minnesota seat is still vacant). Though the only Senators to support the measure (Snowe, Collins, Specter) came from states that comfortably voted for Obama last November, this means that part of Boehner's gamble hasn't paid off. In a post-passage news conference, Sens. McConnell (R-KY) and Kyl (R-AZ) attacked the bill for turning the United States into a Socialist county like the rest of the industrialized world, and roasted the amount of (including "pork" for improving our schools and energy grid!). You can view it here, or you can also get the link by clicking on the picture of the vote.

Coverage by the Los Angeles Times
Coverage by C-SPAN
Coverage by National Public Radio

Now that the bill has passed, it goes to conference committe, where the major differences between House and Senate versions, deliniated below


Personally, I hope the conference committee sides with the House on most of the issues--you'll note that the House has allocation more money for infrastructure (the actual subject of this blog), as the bipartisan committee decided to cut the spending on infrastructure improvements suchs as roads, schools, and broadband technogoly. This is very unfortunate, since sectors that would be put to work by those measures (i.e. home construction) have been among the worst hit by the recession. The elite chamber also slashes funding to states, which are in worse shape than the federal government and have to fund most of the infrastructure projects not funded by the feds. The one thing I side with the elite chamber on is increased spending to bring our green energy grid into the 21st century, curtail our dependence on foreign oil, and decrease the trade deficit that is a major cause of the recession.

Yes, readers, I tend to side with BIGGER numbers, because I'm a big-government tax-and-spend hippie Greepeace Liberal pinko Commie Socialist...and I feel that bigger spending will give the First Tiger the appearance of actually doing something.

And that's today's rant. Coming up, I report on the conference committee's findings, and I channel Prometheus.

Senate Begins Debate and Key Stakeholder: Illegal Immigrants

The infrastructure package is now in the Senate, after a break for the weekend and to discuss the Holder nomination. The Senate version is near $900B, compared to the $819B in the House package. Republican Senators are again touting plans to put money in people's pockets, but it as of yet remains unclear whether or not they can unify their ranks against the bill. These Senators, as well as a handful of conservative Democrats, have proposed a bevy of amendments, including doubling aid to people who are facing foreclosure, getting rid of many "non-stimulus related measures" (even if they could potentially create jobs) and capping all stimulus spending at $900B. And in a late-breaking (meaning a few minutes before I posted), Associated Press briefing, Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans blocked an amendment by our own Dianne Feinstein to add an additional $25 billion in badly-needed infrastructure money, including an additional $2 billion for desperately-needed mass transit projects, citing concerns that the bill contains too much money already. However, an LA Times article states that Republican Congressmen, particularly those from states that Obama carried, are being forced by constituents to defend their vote against the stimulus bill.

Let’s talk about the effect of the infrastructure bill on illegal immigration, an issue that has hotly been debated.

Many states with large populations of illegal immigrants are also the states hit hardest by the economic crisis. These states are also “too big to fail”, despite having measures such as balanced-budget amendments and majorities required to pass budgets that are almost as bad as the Articles of Confederation. Their governors, both Republican and Democratic, are urging speedy passage of the infrastructure bill. According to a Los Angeles Times article, part of the House package includes a measure that would require all workers receiving jobs under the stimulus package to register with eVerify, a citizenship authenticating website. Critics say that not only does it violate immigrant rights, it could slow relief in the form of infrastructure money. No doubt that this measure was driven in part by the wave of nativism that inevitably follows a downturn in the economy.

In other news, Michael Steele appointed RNC chair in attempt to relate to minorities, who have been further alienated by the aforementioned measure.

So how will we resolve the issue of immigration (which the Republicans so kindly brought up), an issue that is pulling many state governments into the red? By cutting them out of the construction industry, which often employs large numbers of them? Sending them back or not letting them in in the first place are out of the question. So we must do something to give immigrants the tools to achieve the American dream, so that their descendants can be musicians or realtors or MBA trainers or whatever. And that’s my take on immigration, the infrastructure package, and the economy. Keep the paintballs coming.

What’s Really in the Stimulus Package (NPR)

Senate Takes on Stimulus (LA Times)

An Op-Ed about the stimulus (LA Times)

More on the Stimulus Package (LA Times)