Stimulus Vote Set for Feb 10

Amanda Carpenter | February 07, 2009 7:16 AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says deal had been reached and the Senate will vote on a procedural measure to advance the $780 billion stimulus package Monday evening.

The vote is currently scheduled for 5:30 pm, hours before President Obama is slated to appear in a public, televised press conference at 8:30pm.

The final vote for passage is slated for Tuesday, February 10.

The GOP says the $780 billion figure Reid touts as the price tag for the bill is below the mark. According to their numbers, $46.5 billion was tacked on the bill this week in the form of amendments, bringing the Senate bill's true cost to at least $827 billion.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) said, “According to the figures I’ve been given, the House bill is about $820 billion. The Senate bill, under the compromise, we believe, would be about $827 billion. Bear in mind the interest costs on either of those proposals would be $348 billion. So we're really talking about a $1.1 trillion pending measure.A $1.1 trillion spending measure. We're looking at a $1 trillion deficit for this fiscal year."

McConnell said most Republicans would not support the bill because "

all the historical evidence suggests that it's highly unlikely to work. And so, you have to balance the likelihood of success versus the crushing debt that we're levying on the backs of our children, our grandchildren, and, yes, their children."

After the bill clears the Senate it will be up to a group of senators and house members to settled the differences between the Senate version of the bill and the $819 billion House version in a conference.

The bill's cost is likely to increase again in conference.