The U.S. Senate is meeting for a rare Saturday session today to debate
a plan to inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the struggling
U.S. economy.
The Democratic majority in the Senate and a few Republicans reached a
compromise on the plan Friday, after agreeing to reduce the cost of the
package by about 110 billion dollars.
Senate leaders say they have enough support to pass the measure, which now totals about 780-billion dollars.
In his weekly address today, President Obama praised the two sides for
coming together. He called for the plan to be enacted swiftly.
Republican leaders remain opposed to the measure. They have complained that the bill is costly and wasteful.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says more of the
money should be given to families in the form of tax cuts.
Any Senate bill that is passed must be reconciled with an earlier
version approved by the House of Representatives, before being sent to
President Obama for his signature.