It was going to be that way from day one.

Old school fiscal conservative...old school fiscal conservative...Oh yeah! Bill Clinton! He was a fiscal conservative. He shut down the government in two consecutive budget cycles to get a balanced budget. Hey, that's great. The Republicans in the Senate want to be just like the guy they impeached.

There always was zero chance that more than a handful of Republicans were going to disobey Rush Limbaugh.

However Mr. Reid needs 51 votes, not 60. If Republicans want to filibuster the bill, then the Senate majority Leader should grow a pair and actually make them filibuster, day and night, as long as it takes. Let America see the Limbaugh-led-Republicans blocking any attempt to aleviate the suffering of their country.

However.

Should that actually happen I would recommend that the FBI be called in since such an action would be clear evidence that someone has kidnapped the Senate Majority Leader and replaced him with a look-alike, since such an action would never be taken by the Harry Ried that we have seen for the past two years.

Whenever the welfare of the public and the future of the nation are on the line, the Republican will oppose everything designed to save the nation from the calamities caused by their catastrophic and delusional ideology. Any attempt to involve the Republicans in saving the country are doomed to fail and are a terrific waste of time and energy. The GOP is the problem, why on earth involve them in the solution?

...the majority leader acknowledged that a Republican filibuster is a distinct possibility.

So I guess Harry didn't say: "Go ahead rethugs, make my day, get out there and filibuster. Talk about tax cuts until your freakin' heads explode."

Nah, Harry wouldn't say that...but he should.

“People don’t care about these little items. I think the Republicans are looking for an excuse not to vote for the bill.” --Schumer

Ok, let the Republicans filibuster and bring out every "little item" that Schumer is certain the American people don't care about. Then Schumer can explain why there are so many "little items" of little importance in a bill that according to Obama is supposed to head off an economic dooms day.

The democrats do not want a filibuster with this bill - it would be an embarassment. They need 60 votes.

If they've got the votes, I say go for it. The GOP vision of "bi-partisanship" has always been, and apparently still is, that the democrats concede everything while the Republicans yield nothing. A simple majority vote will suffice. Obama signs it. No veto proof majority required. On to the next thing! The Dems need to get it through their thick head that they are not "going it alone" as the headline on this post says. The electorate gave them the go ahead! We fuckin' cleaned house for them, now get the fuck to work!

why the assumption that injecting this huge mass of money (that we don't have) into the economy is going to be a good thing? Seems that most comments and articles on here focus on saying why Republicans are evil instead of debating the merits of something that is frankly a pretty big deal. Borrowing this amount of money at once is not a small thing.

I am not a Democrat and, while I recognize the obstacles facing Obama, question his choices of Clintonites and retreads in his Administration.

But one thing he should not tolerate is Republican obfuscation and obstruction. We don't have the time or stomach for it. It is growing clearer day by day that the Republicans could care less if the economy falls into depression or how much anyone suffers. All they want is power and the quickest way back is if things go in the dumpster fast.

I mean, come on people, can't you see this? I say f**k them. Just shove their asses out of the way. The sooner the better.

Even with a majority, a motivated President wielding the bully pulpit and popular will behind him, Harry Reid can't legislate his way out of a paper bag.

How long will we be saddled with this lugubrious, incompetent albatross?

Again with the "60 votes needed to pass" crapola. I hope I'm not sounding like a broken record on this folks, but it's important we at least get the basics right.

As another poster has -- finally -- noted, it's 51 votes that the Democrats need (actually, since Nelson has said he'll abstain, and Franken hasn't been seated yet, it's 49, with Biden casting the tie-breaker).

I can tell you that there are more than 3 Republican senators who will vote for cloture because if they don't they're dead meat in 2010. They can then vote against the bill itself if they want to keep their "fiscal conservative" bona fides, without having to wear the "obstructionist" tag to boot.

Amen!

people aren't interested in discussing the merits of legislation, just playing party politics. I'm in neither party, but i guess i am one of the few who want to look at the issues instead of name-calling and attacking of motives. The last thing we need here is unquestioning support of anything: we should have learned by now that crisis legislation needs to be looked at even closer than normal legislation.

The Dems always do.

I agree with you completely but injecting money seems to be the only tool left. The Repubs aren't putting any alternatives forward, just engaging in a pissing contest on the details. Yes, this is a crap shoot.

But what the FUCK is Townhall Magazine advertising on this website? Did somebody lose their goddamn mind?

Harry Reid always takes the easy way out, he seems incapable of getting republicans on board. Of course these days the majority of repbulicans a right wing jerks.

Shut the FUCK up about deficit spending, asshole. For the last eight years you and every other wingnut, christofascist shithead in the country has been all for tax cuts that we couldn't afford and a war we didn't need and to hell with the cost. Well now it's time to spend some money on the American people instead of a religious crusade or a corporate giveaway and you can damn well keep your fucking mouth shut while the grownups fix your fucking mess. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS?