COVERITLIVE.COM

12:00

David Gura -

Welcome, everyone. It's good to have you with us. Our plan is to have a political chat every Tuesday, at high noon (ET). Each week, a reporter or editor from NPR's Washington desk -- White House and congressional correspondents, mostly -- will join Ken Rudin, NPR's political editor and Political Junkie, and me, for hour-long conversations.

12:00

David Gura -

We're eager to take your questions, so please send 'em in. We want to focus on the stimulus plan, and President Obama's relationship with the House and Senate, in particular, but we'll probably digress. Ken's here, after all! Now I'm digressing...

12:00

David Gura -

Andrea, I want to start with you. Over the past few days, there has been a lot of attention on the Hill. There was a cloture vote in the Senate yesterday, on the stimulus package, the $800 billion economic recovery package. How did it turn out?

12:02

Andrea Seabrook - Senate Democrats did indeed win the cloture vote -- that is, to cut off debate and (finally) get to a vote on the real deal -- BUT they only won it by 2 votes. They managed to get three Republicans to vote with them, and those three will be key to the negotiations on the final version of the bill.

12:02

David Gura - Questions are coming in fast and furious. Let's go to Robin...

12:02

[Comment From Robin]
What does Obama have to do to get the media to report on the stimulus package on its merits and not on the partisan wrangling (as fascinating as that is)?

12:02

David Gura - Ken, want to take that one?

12:03

Ken Rudin - I think the media have reported on the details of the package in more detail than you give them/us credit for. Part of the details rest in the different ways the House and Senate work. The House, even with a one-vote majority, can push through anything they want. The Senate, because it needs to get to 60 votes, needs to compromise more. Thus, there are more incentives in the Senate version for Republicans -- such as tax cuts. It is particularly important for us -- the media -- to talk about the differences between the two versions, and what compromises need to be made.

12:04

Andrea Seabrook - The answer to that, Robin, is that Obama has to go be president of Mars. In a bill like this one, the politics and the policy are not really separate beasts. One determines the other -- so covering both is necessary.

12:04

Ken Rudin -

Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter is insisting that the bill emerge from conference committee pretty much the way it was passed by the Senate. Let's see if some of the more ideological House Dems agree to that.

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