Senate Approves Stimulus Package

After days of heated negotiations and partisan debate, the U.S. Senate today approved president Barack Obama's $838 billion economic stimulus package.

Senators voted 61 to 37 to pass the bill...which is intended to revive the country's struggling economy. Three republicans voted to pass the bill.

The House of Representatives earlier approved an $819 billion plan.

The stage is now set for negotiators from both sides to hammer out one final package. A compromise bill has to be worked out with the House before the bill goes to the president. The main sticking point between the House and Senate will likely be the amount of new spending versus new tax cuts.

President Obama says he'd like a finished bill on his desk in the next few days.

Georgia Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss voted against the legislation, arguing it includes too much spending on items that won’t help the economy and fails to confront the root problems causing America’s economic downturn.

“This legislation is yet another example of Congress throwing money at the symptoms but not getting to the root of the problem,” Isakson said. “While there are some good provisions in this bill, it is primarily spending money on programs that should not be categorized as stimulus and will not do anything to help our economy. Funding studies of global warming or re-seeding the Capitol lawn aren’t going to stimulate anything.”

“Instead of focusing on three major issues – job creation, housing and compassion for Americans who have lost jobs through no fault of their own – to boost the economy, this bill has morphed into a bloated government giveaway,” said Chambliss. “The majority in Congress has been in runaway mode when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars. This legislation is yet another sign that Washington is more concerned with pet projects than with the welfare of taxpayers.”

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham also voted against the legistation. Graham said Monday there's too much money for increasing the size of government and pet legislative projects. He says too little of the funds go where they're needed most, to help banks saddled with failed loans and a slumping housing market.

Here's an idea on how much money $827-billion really is. There are more than 9-million people in the state of Georgia. That would be more than $88,000 for each person in the state. In 1991 it cost about 70 million dollars to build the new Talmadge bridge. $827-billion would pay for more than 11,664 bridges.