Press Herald: Maine Senators at center of stimulus negotiations

from Dieter Bradbury at the Portland Press Herald:

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe are playing key roles as the Senate struggles to fashion an economic stimulus package that enjoys bipartisan support.

The two Maine Republicans, moderates with a willingness to work with Democrats, are deeply involved in negotiations to shape a bill that blends tax cuts and targeted spending.

They will meet with President Obama in the White House today as part of a group of senators summoned to discuss the stimulus. Both agree that a stimulus is needed, but both have expressed concerns about the $819 billion bill passed by the House last week.

Snowe and Collins said the House bill, and the $885 billion Senate version drafted by Democratic leaders, include spending provisions that would not boost the economy. They said they wanted to see a more streamlined, amended proposal with spending targeted to quick economic benefits.

Read the whole article

Susan Collins and Ben Nelson on CNN's State of the Union

The Moderate Voice: Collins, Nelson work on Bipartisan Stimulus Bill

from Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice:

... there is some good news today – besides it being Super Bowl Day:

A Democratic Senator and a Republican Senator have been working all weekend trying to remove sticking points from the House bill so that a compromise bill can be presented that’ll have better chance of being passed than the bill in its current form.

The Senators: Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Their goal: to remove all the little pet projects that even a head of cabbage knows don’t really qualify as stimulus and to get the bill centered on what most Americans had hoped would emerge...

Read the whole post