Jim Geraghty is quite blunt about the consequences of Sen. Kennedy’s being absent for today’s vote, and Sen. Gregg’s return to the Senate: “Guess what, Sens. Snowe, Specter, and Collins? You are providing the decisive votes.”

And Senator Reid is worried about this. He’s trying to scare up another GOP Senator to give cover to these three - something that even his own people are admitting to be a low probability scenario. Roll Call (no link, sorry) is also reporting that he’s trying to pair Kennedy’s yes vote to a Republican’s no (this requires the approval of the Republican in question, by the way) in order to make it a 61/38 vote on a technicality. Just in case this isn’t clear by now: this is contraindicated for any Republican Senator.

Contraindicated.

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He was joking.

I’m certain of it. Iowahawk was joking.

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No, really: right here.

Nope, they’re not restricting it. You can just email ‘em and start.

Yup, they want your input. They think.

So, what’s stopping people from sending in every obnoxiously expensive and/or silly suggestion that they can think of?

Now, who would do a horrible thing like that?

Moe Lane

PS: Idea via… somebody who I am waiting for an email back from before I give credit.

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Rep. Walt Minnick from Idaho: one of the eleven Democrats from the bipartisan opposition to the Democratic debt bill - which would be bad enough, right? - but he’s also ripped apart the monstrosity you guys came up with and turned it into something that might actually work. Via Hot Air:

Blue Dog nips Obama with a better stimulus idea

While President Barack Obama goes on the road to shore up slipping popular support for the $1 trillion stimulus porkfest that he ordered up from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Walt Minnick, a freshman Democrat from Idaho, is pushing a better idea: The Strategic Targeted American Recovery and Transition Act (START).

Minnick is a member of the Blue Dog caucus of occasionally conservative Democcrats. His START plan is a $170 billion “bare bones” pure stimulus approach that would put $100 billion immediately into the pockets of low- and middle-income Americans, then use the other $70 billion for basic infrastructure projects that create jobs. START requires that all funds not spent by 2010 be returned to the Treasury. START also stops stimulus spending when the nation’s Gross Domestic Product increases in two of three previous quarters, and all START payments are required to be posted on a public website.

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[UPDATE] Since Jim Treacher in comments here asked: “Then what are you worried about,” Chuck?

61/36, with Collins, Snowe, & Specter voting for cloture (Gregg is sitting this one out and Coleman can’t participate in this Congress yet). In other words, the Democratic Party now owns an 800 billion dollar debt plan.

They’re welcome to it, in fact.

So can we get to the final vote and the signing, already?  We have midterm elections to plan for.

Moe Lane

Crossposted at Moe Lane.

…any which way (see also here, here, and here). That’s without a “stimulus”: with one, we’re going to see short-term gains at the expense of long-term growth. You can argue that this might not be a bad thing, overall; but if we’re not actually going to need the Obama-Reid-Pelosi debt bill to get out of this recession then the biggest argument against passing it right now just went away. There is no consensus that urgent action is needed: as Rasmussen notes, while Democrats are following the President on this, Republicans are not… and independents are significantly in agreement with the GOP. A plurality of voters oppose this thing. Half the population thinks that we’re at risk at making things worse if it passes. It’s not actually settled that this is emergency legislation, in other words - which means by the White House’s own rule (which is well on the way to having a history of being routinely broken anyway) we should legitimately expect a five day waiting period to assess the bill anyway. But none of that is scheduled. Why?

Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.

Crossposted at Moe Lane.

Whatever it was, I wish to send around a bottle of it to all of our other Senators. (Via RCP; see also Hot Air).

Anyway, Reid just called it for the night, so we’ll get to enjoy this train wreck in action for at least another morning. By the way: the people who will be telling you that this new CBS poll still shows a bare majority in favor of the debt bill are probably not going to mention how that number reflects a 12 point drop, so be sure to interrupt them when they try.

Marvel at the day: here is Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) beating President Barack Obama (D) with a club that I didn’t even know he had any more. As Allahpundit notes, there’s something weird about seeing Graham and Michelle Malkin using the same language. And me, come to think of it: the President is fear-mongering. I wonder why?

“If this is bipartisanship, count me out.” No, you haven’t entered into another dimension where Bobby Jindal has a beard: he really said that. Strange days, huh?

Crossposted at Moe Lane.

Then just go ahead and pass that debt bill of yours, over our objection.

RIGHT NOW.

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This is the column.

My response?

So pass it today, already. You won, remember?

Crossposted at Moe Lane.

Or maybe he doesn’t want to win this one. Would you, in his shoes? Via AoSHQ:

Reid to GOP: It’s your fault if stimulus stalls

As the $820 billion stimulus package heads to the upper chamber, Senate Democratic leaders are launching a pre-emptive strike.

In a Thursday afternoon news conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged Senate Republicans not to line up against the bill, and says Republicans will be blamed for any delay in the landmark economic legislation.

“If we don’t [pass the bill], it’s not our fault, we’re trying,” Reid said. “The president has done a remarkable job covering all the bases on Capitol Hill.”

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