Tip: Burr Says Keep Burning Up the Phone Lines
Update: Waterpark: Gone
Update: McCain: This Ain't Bipartisanship, Bucko
Update: Carl Cameron Says Negotiations Stalled; No Vote Until Monday?

From Jo:

Richard Burr (R-NC) was on the local talk radio station a little while ago. He said that there might be two or three Rs being courted by the Dems but he also said that he's not even sure if every Dem is going to vote for it. He said to keep burning up the phone lines.

Although I've been warned away from mentioning it Collins, I hear, is increasingly wobbly... in our direction.

Here are the phone numbers -- including for senators' local offices, which you can call if you can't get through on their DC lines.

Heh: Cavuto is dead-panning the importance of one earmark being cut out of the bill: "Waterpark. Out."

A several million earmark to build another water park in California (and you know how California lacks water parks) has been cut.

News alert: Waterpark. Cut.

Correction: It was a Florida water park, not a California one.

The big news remains: Waterpark -- Out.

We Need the Weekend: We really have to derail this for the weekend. Not only do we need the time in the first place, but Senators are going home for the weekend. Where they might hear from their constituents.

At the very least Collins, Snowe, and Specter can grant us a weekend, can't they?

Obama is not pushing us to pass this right now because the economy will collapse due to a 72 hour delay. He's pushing this because the bill becomes less popular day by day. He simply doesn't want to take a loss so early in his term. So he's forcing a vote on a contrived timeline that has nothing to do with economics and everything to do with politics.

If he wins, he has momentum; if he loses, he doesn't. That is the sole reason for his desperation.

Oh, that was a lie. It's not the sole reason for his desperation. He also wants to change the basic fiscal direction of this country for a generation or two and he's afraid he won't be able to do so if the public has longer than a week to think about this proposition.

McCain Stays Solid: He might still screw us over of course. But he's not talking that way:

In a fiery speech Thursday night before House Democrats, Obama rejected the GOP’s characterization that the stimulus package was merely another spending bill.

“What do you think a stimulus is? That’s the whole point. No, seriously, that’s the point,” Obama said at the retreat in Williamsburg, Va.

On Friday morning, McCain fought back.

“The whole point, Mr. President, is to enact tax cuts and spending measures that truly stimulate the economy,” McCain said. “There are billions and tens of billions of dollars in this bill which will have no effect within three, four, five or more years, or ever. Or ever.”

He also rejects calling the bill "bipartisan" if only a handful of Republicans vote for it. Which is a good sign-- if Mr. Bipartisan says it's not bipartisan, it's not bipartisan.

The good news is that McCain can be a self-righteous prick and he's being so here. Obama seems to be pissing him off with refusing to take McCain's objections and priorities seriously. And that is driving him into Prick Mode, which is a great mode for us, so long as he's being a prick to Obama.

Stalled; No Vote Today? Carl Cameron reporting that Reid can't get Collins, Snowe, and Specter on board.

Still: Waterpark? Gone.

BTW, I seem to have been right. The only Republican votes the Democrats are hoping for are Snowe, Collins, and Specter. McCain and Graham seem solidly ungettable, at least without some serious, serious concessions.

Update: Carl Cameron Says Negotiations Stalled; No Vote Until Monday?&bodytext=From Jo: Richard Burr (R-NC) was on the local talk radio station a little while ago. He said that there might be two or three Rs being courted by the Dems but he also said that he's not even sure...&topic=world_news"> posted by Ace at 04:18 PM

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