THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT:

Obama 1-on-1 with swing senators (DAVID ROGERS, 2/4/09, Politico)

"I talked to him this morning," McCain said of his phone call from Obama. "We'd like to negotiate, we'd like to sit down and try to work something out that would be truly job creating."

It was Obama who reached out to the Arizona Republican, who has been aggressively attacking the president's initiative. Their discussion covered other topics as well, McCain said, but dovetails with other efforts by Obama, including a set of remarkable face-to-face meetings Thursday with swing senators-alone without any aides present.

In McCain's case, his own $421 billion recovery package devotes about 70 percent of its resources to tax cuts - a much greater share than either the House or Senate stimulus bills offered by Democrats.

But included in this number is a $165 billion less-targeted version of Obama's own payroll tax break, as well as a $20 billion homeowner tax credit already adopted by the Senate on Tuesday. And more than many conservatives, McCain is willing to commit new benefits to help the unemployed and families facing foreclosure on their homes.

With 58 votes in their caucus, Senate Democrats have a solid majority for the more than $900 billion package, but they need Republican help to get the 60 needed to waive budget points of order.

GOP Wields More Influence Over the Stimulus Bill: Maine Sen. Collins Leads Group of Moderates Seeking to Trim Package to $700 Billion or Less; Obama Calls for Quick Action (GREG HITT, 2/05/09, WSJ)

Republicans are exercising increasing influence over President Barack Obama's economic-stimulus plan in the Senate, with Maine Sen. Susan Collins emerging as a leader of efforts to trim the initiative and sharpen its focus on job creation.

Sen. Collins, a centrist with allies in both parties, was called to the White House Wednesday to meet with Mr. Obama. She envisions holding the cost of the stimulus package to $700 billion or less, well below the $819 billion package of tax cuts and spending the House approved last week.

The target grew out of discussions among a group of moderate Republicans, led by Sen. Collins, aimed at reining in costs and better targeting federal funds toward job creation. The effort amounts to "rebuilding" the Obama package, according to an individual familiar with the talks. The package would include tax cuts and investments intended to create jobs, such as infrastructure projects, but it would step back from spending projects that don't immediately lift the sagging U.S. economy.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 5, 2009 10:58 AM