Filibuster Turns Back Senate Stimulus Package

WASHINGTON — A $158 billion economic stimulus plan drafted by Senate Democrats that included relief for low-income seniors, disabled veterans, and the unemployed was blocked by a Republican filibuster last night when the Senate fell a single vote short of the 60 needed to consider the measure. Senators Schumer and Clinton both voted for the measure.The defeat by the narrowest of margins nearly ensures passage of a less expensive stimulus plan fashioned by President Bush and House leaders, though the Senate may make some changes. But it keeps the government on track to begin sending hundreds of dollars in payments to most Americans this spring.“Given a chance to act as recession looms, more than 40 Republicans today said ‘no’ to helping 20 million seniors and ‘no’ to 250,000 disabled veterans. They said ‘no’ to those who have lost their jobs and ‘no’ to small business,” the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada, said after the vote.The Senate package, which included numerous provisions not offered by the House plan, attracted powerful supporters. Automakers Ford and General Motors, home builders, realtors, and mortgage bankers joined the AARP to press Republicans to embrace the Senate measure. Senator Obama and Ms. Clinton, left the campaign trail to make rare appearances in the Senate chamber.Mr. Reid tried to ratchet up the pressure on senators, telling Republicans they would not be given the opportunity to have separate votes on whether to add payments for seniors and disabled veterans. They would have only two choices, he said: Accept the whole Senate package or the House bill intact. The Senate plan attracted the votes of all 50 Democrats and eight Republicans, but that was not enough. It was clear the Democrats would fall short when Senator Sununu, a Republican from New Hampshire, whom they had been courting for days, registered his opposition late in the tally.Senator McCain, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president, did not show up for the vote. Asked about his time away from the Senate, Mr. McCain, who was headed back to Washington aboard his campaign plane, said: “It’s very hard. Obviously, I’ve missed a lot of votes. There’s no doubt about it.”The final tally was 58-41, after Mr. Reid changed his vote to “no,” a parliamentary move that allows him to bring the measure up in the future.

Filibuster Turns Back Senate Stimulus Package

Filibuster Turns Back Senate Stimulus Package

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