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Cutting a stimulus deal

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor February 5, 2009 11:12 AM

A bipartisan group of senators is meeting today on Capitol Hill to try to make a deal on the stimulus package -- and possibly set the stage for a vote tonight.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine is among the key negotiators as moderate Republicans like her and conservative Democrats strip out objectionable spending that could streamline the bill in shape that could draw at least 60 Senate votes and overcome procedural hurdles that Republican foes could put in the way.

Before going into the closed-door meeting, Collins told CNN that she met with Senator Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska, late into the night Wednesday to find "a way to proceed" and to "more carefully focus the bill."

Critics of the bill say the current $900 billion-plus Senate version includes too many projects that would not create jobs quickly and should not be in the package. Those same critics are even more harsh in the opprobrium of the $819 billion version passed by the House last week without a single Republican voting in favor.

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