3 in GOP side with Democrats

Vote on economic-stimulus bill is likely to happen this weekend

WASHINGTON (Winston-Salem Journal) - Senate Democrats emerged last night from days of negotiations to declare that they had reached a deal with at least three moderate Republicans and now have the votes to approve their own version of the economic stimulus package that passed the House last week.

The agreement on what the Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, called "the Obama plan" promised to deliver the new president an important legislative victory. But on the day that another dire jobs report was released, compromise on the bill came only after far more wrangling than the administration expected and with far less Republican support than it had hoped for.

Those involved in negotiations said that the deal on what they billed as a $780 billion package -- about $40 billion less than the House approved and nearly $160 billion less than an earlier Senate draft -- came about after a working group of centrists agreed to reduce spending programs favored by Democrats and tax cuts wanted by Republicans.