They Caved!

From the AP:

Amid stunning new job losses and yet another bank failure, key senators and the White House reached tentative agreement Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan. Two officials said the emerging agreement was for a bill with a $780 billion price tag, but there was no immediate confirmation.

The tentative agreement capped a tense day of back room negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority.

Officials strongly suggested that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's vote would be needed to assure passage. The Massachusetts Democrat, battling a brain tumor, has been in Florida in recent days and has not been in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than two weeks ago. The senator's office did not comment.

Reid met privately in the Capitol with members of his rank-and-file to present the proposed deal.

At $780 billion, the legislation would be smaller than the measure that cleared the House on a party-line vote last week. It also would mean a sharp cut from the bill that has been the subject of Senate debate for a week. That measure stood at $937 billion.

Apparently, the economic stability of America is worth about $157 billion to those RINOs. While this is an unconfirmed report, it's hardly unexpected, so I'm assuming it's true. If so, this would allow the Dems to pass this dog out of the Senate as soon as they put the thing up for a vote.

The next step would be a House/Senate committee, where they would take the bills from both houses and hack out the details of a single, cohesive bill. That bill would then have to come back for another full vote from Congress, and then it would go to the White House, where Obama will sign it into law.

So, while this round is apparently over, the game isn't entirely finished. I'm not sure what, if anything can be done at this point, but I'll keep you posted as I see more analysis and suggestions.

It looks like the downfall of a free and capitalist America is commencing full speed...

There's my two cents.