Senators Have Begun To Draft Amendment To Reduce Cost of Economic Stimulus Package

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) have begun to draft an amendment that would eliminate at least $50 billion from the more than $900 billion economic stimulus package currently under consideration in the Senate, CQ Today reports (Clarke et al., CQ Today, 2/4). Nelson said that the amendment would seek to eliminate "nonstimulative" provisions, such as a measure that would provide funds for HIV screenings. According to Nelson, at least 10 Senate Democrats and 10 Republicans support the amendment (Sanchez/Friedman, CongressDaily, 2/4).

In addition, Collins has raised concerns about other provisions, such as a measure that would provide $780 million for pandemic flu preparedness (Hitt, Wall Street Journal, 2/5). Collins said that she seeks a $650 billion stimulus package (Clarke/Krawzak, CQ Today, 2/4). "It is unclear how far Sen. Collins' plan will advance, or how much appetite the Senate will ultimately have for sizable cuts in the package," but "the effort dramatizes the fluid nature of debate this week," the Wall Street Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 2/5).

Obama Calls for Passage, Compromise
President Obama on Wednesday said that the current economic recession will become "a catastrophe" without passage of the economic stimulus package, the AP/Kansas City Star reports (Taylor, AP/Kansas City Star, 2/4). He said that the stimulus package "is not merely a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for long-term economic growth in areas like" health care (Clarke et al., CQ Today, 2/4). In addition, Obama asked Senate Democrats to allow the elimination of certain provisions, some related to health care, to obtain support from Republicans for the stimulus package, according to Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) (Freidman/Sanchez, CongressDaily, 2/5).

Meanwhile, the White House on Wednesday issued a report that outlined how each state and the District of Columbia would benefit from the stimulus package. In an effort to increase support for the stimulus package, the White House issued copies of the report to mayors who planned to meet with their congressional representatives (Abdullah, McClatchy/Kansas City Star, 2/4). According to the New York Times' "The Caucus," some of the "longer-term claims" included in the report "could not be fulfilled simply with the current legislation," such as the claim that the package would establish a national electronic health record system in five years (Wheaton, "The Caucus," New York Times, 2/4).

The White House report is available online.

The Government Accountability Office on Wednesday also released a report that provides state-by-state, quarter-by-quarter estimates of the increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage included in the Senate version of the stimulus package. The report is available online.

Prospects for Passage
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday said that Congress will approve the economic stimulus package by the Presidents Day recess, but the schedule is "tight," as the package has not passed in the Senate (Clarke/Krawzak, CQ Today, 2/4). Senate Democrats hope to pass the stimulus package by the end of the week (Lightman, McClatchy/Kansas City Star, 2/4).

House Democratic aides said that pre-conference negotiations between the two chambers have not begun because of possible changes to the Senate version of the stimulus package. According to CQ Today, the "White House is expected to be deeply involved in the conference negotiations as it tries to broker deals between House and Senate Democrats, and mollify enough Republicans to get the bill back through the upper chamber" (Clarke/Krawzak, CQ Today, 2/4).

Editorial
Obama on Wednesday said the stimulus package is "'not merely a prescription for short-term spending' but 'a strategy for long-term economic growth in areas like renewable energy and health care,'" but "[t]his is precisely the problem," a Washington Post editorial states. It continues, "As credible experts, including some Democrats, have pointed out, much of this 'long-term' spending either won't stimulate the economy now, is of questionable merit or both." The editorial adds, "Even potentially meritorious items, such as $2.1 billion for Head Start, or billions more to computerize medical records, do not belong in legislation whose reason for being is to give U.S. economic growth a 'jolt,' as Mr. Obama himself has put it." The editorial continues, "All other policy priorities should pass through the normal budget process, which involves hearings, debate and -- crucially -- competition with other programs" (Washington Post, 2/5).

Opinion Pieces

• Amy Menefee, Washington Times: "The 'stimulus' bill in Congress would fundamentally change the way health care is delivered to all Americans," because it would "hand over decisions about your care to a group of bureaucrats you won't have the chance to elect," Menefee, director of communications at the Galen Institute, writes in a Times opinion piece. According to Menefee, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, proposed as part of the stimulus package, "would oversee the entire health sector, including research on drugs and treatments known as comparative effectiveness research" and "would concern itself not only with helping patients, but with the costs of treatment." She continues, "Health care spending is indeed a problem," but "having the government decide which treatments are acceptable is beyond frightening -- and it doesn't make sense," noting that having "a board that excludes any treatment on the basis of comparative effectiveness is a danger to the health of those who fall outside the norms -- and with the government setting those norms, any of us could end up as outliers" (Menefee, Washington Times, 2/5).
  
  
• President Obama, Washington Post: "This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education," Obama writes in a Post opinion piece. He states, "In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis," including that "we can ignore ... the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive." He writes, "I reject these theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change," adding, "They know that we have tried it those ways for too long," and the consequences include "health care costs still rise faster than inflation." Obama says, "the actions Americans expect us to take without delay," include efforts Obama says, "the actions Americans expect us to take without delay," include efforts to "protect health insurance for the more than eight million Americans at risk of losing their coverage" and to "computerize the health care records of every American within five years, saving billions of dollars and countless lives in the process" (Obama, Washington Post, 2/5).
  
  
• Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal: The bill assumes that "spending $1 trillion to grow government will trickle down to people who lost jobs," but the "Democrats' spending is horribly mismatched with industries that have suffered job losses," according to a Journal opinion piece by Rove, former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush. He states that the proposal to "spend $88 billion to increase the federal share of Medicaid" will result in "very few" new jobs in sectors that have lost the most jobs. In addition, Rove writes, "There's also $4 billion for health programs like obesity control and smoking cessation, $2 billion for NIH, $462 million for [CDC] and $900 million for pandemic flu preparations," but, he notes, "the health care sector ... added jobs last year" (Rove, Wall Street Journal, 2/5).