Bipartisan stimulus amendments draw interest in Senate

The Senate is turning its attention to two potentially bipartisan amendments that backers hope will draw enough GOP support for the stimulus bill to pass, as Senate Republicans call for adding provisions to aid the housing market and to cut spending from the Senate stimulus bill.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., offered an amendment to give all homebuyers credits of up to $15,000, which he believes will boost the ailing housing market.

The Isakson proposal is expected to be voted on tonight. Some senior Democrats, including Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, said they might back the idea.

The other amendment, still being drafted, will be offered by Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Susan Collins, R-Maine. Nelson said it will cut "tens of billions" of "nonstimulative" spending from the bill.

He added he and Collins largely agree what to cut, including hundreds of millions for computers at USDA and the Interior Department, as well as funding for HIV screening, wildlife management and NASA. He said at least 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans back the proposal and that he and Collins are working separately to build support in their conferences.

Nelson also noted that his talks with the White House and Democratic leadership have not met resistance. "We don't have anybody with their foot on the brake," he said, while adding that leadership is eager to see details.

He declined to describe talks with the White House but said "if we get something that is bipartisan, that is what the White House is interested in." Collins and other moderates were summoned to the White House Wednesday afternoon to meet with President Obama. The president warned that the economic crisis could turn into a "catrastrophe" if the bill isn't passed quickly. "Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential," Obama said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republicans have repeatedly said the stimulus must do more on housing, while spending "needs to be cut down." Supporters hope the Isakson and Nelson-Collins amendments, if passed, will address those demands and help patch together enough support from both parties to ensure passage. The bill topped $900 billion late Tuesday after the Senate approved more amendments, including an $11 billion tax-credit provision for car buyers and $6.5 billion for research funding at the National Institutes of Health.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Wednesday the House will be in session Monday so it could start work on conference talks if needed. The House passed an $819 billion stimulus bill last week, and Democratic leaders hope to finish work on the bill by mid-February. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Wednesday dismissed concerns that the Senate's changes could break that deadline.

"It is our plan to send the bill to the president's desk next week," said Pelosi. For their part, House Republicans continue to express their opposition to the bill. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., and others pointed to recent polls showing declining public support for the package as it stands. But Boehner said he continues to reach out to Obama and Democrats. "There haven't been as many conversations as I would like, but I remain optimistic we can produce a bill that works well,'" he said.

Much of the extraneous spending attached to the measure is also causing heartburn among Democrats, some of whom argue it was handled poorly by House Democratic leaders and that efforts to cut such funding are justified. "The bill has become a Christmas tree for all the pent up spending that Democrats wanted to do," said one frustrated Democratic lobbyist following the issue.

Christian Bourge contributed to this report.