House, Senate Reach Agreement on Obama Stimulus Bill

It's been cut from to $900 billion to $838 billion to $789 billion, but a version of Barack Obama's stimulus plan appears to have been agreed upon by negotiators from both houses of Congress. Senator Harry Reid told reporters "The differences between the House and Senate versions, we've resolved" in last-minute meetings from which Republicans claim to have been excluded, though Republican Senator Susan Collins was on hand to tell reporters the agreed-upon version had $150 million in spending on infrastructure, which had been a point of contention in the battle over the House and Senate versions. The revised version also contains a provision reducing the number of Americans subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax. Full votes are yet to come, but it would appear the Democrats can win them without Republican cooperation beyond those three moderate GOP Senators, which seems to be the plan. Photo (cc) jdebner.

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