WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Senate moderates Wednesday proposed a compromise economic stimulus package of spending and tax cuts that would bridge the difference between a GOP-backed tax cut plan and the Democrats' spending plan.
Neither party has enough votes to win on their own and the Democratic plan failed in a technical vote Wednesday 51 to 47.
Led by Sens. John Breaux, D-La., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, the self-described "Centrist Coalition" introduced a $75.2 billion package composed of about two-thirds tax cuts and one-third spending, far less than either party originally wanted.
Bills with less than 60 votes in support are often vulnerable to parliamentary moves designed to kill them. With the Senate split at 51 to 49, both parties have begun to accept that a negotiated compromise is inevitable.
The procedural vote the Democrats lost Wednesday evening would have added $15 billion to the $15 billion stimulus package introduced by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mt., and passed by the committee in a partisan 11-10 vote last week.
The loss will act as a symbolic acceptance by the Democrats that they need GOP help in passing a bill, according to staff on both sides, which expect compromise talks to commence immediately.
But symbolic or not, Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., was not amused by the point of order request, which he claimed was a partisan maneuver that would hurt the nation's defenses against terrorism, at least for now.
"It is a total facade for (the GOP) to claim that they have raised a point of order," Daschle said from the Senate floor. "If they have an objection, let them offer an amendment and raise it. That's what we do in the Senate -- we offer an amendment. This point of order vote is a vote to kill homeland security at least for the remainder of this year."
The possible compromise vehicle introduced Wednesday by Breaux and Snowe offers $57.4 billion in tax cuts for 2002, including accelerated depreciation for corporate investment, stimulus check for low-income families that did not qualify for earlier tax rebates, and a partial acceleration of the recently enacted income tax cut.
For spending purposes, the bill offers $4.7 billion for tax credits on the purchase of health care and offers another $5 billion for states as block grants to help displaced workers.
The proposal could be offered as an amendment to the Democrat proposal.
