Obama needs just two Republican senators
to defy their party he turns to the
veteran leader of the Senate Democrats
none of the Republicans who wanted to do
something help wanted to be the 60th
vote so I had to get 61 votes on
everything and it was very hard the only
ones I had any hope of getting Specter
from Pennsylvania and then I had the two
senators from Maine Maine senator Susan
Collins a Republican read identifies as
vulnerable is invited to the Oval Office
I was shocked when I walked in expecting
to see the economic advisors other staff
taking notes and and instead it was just
the president and me I told him I
thought the package was too big he told
me that his economists were telling him
that a smaller package would not do the
trick it would not boost the economies
sufficient late Senator Collins agrees
to meet behind closed doors with a group
of 17 other senators
when senators from both parties meet
outside the control of the leadership
it’s called a gang this gang of 18 came
together with the primary focus of
wanting to reduce the cost by at least a
hundred billion Obama reluctantly agrees
to the cuts because it looks as though
this will buy him the votes he needs but
the Republican leadership leans hard on
Republican members at the gang of 18
although we had a number of Republicans
who joined those first few meetings
gradually the numbers diminished greatly
I didn’t know if we could get this done
and I told the president then I had to
wait till his helicopter landed to get
him the bad news saying I’m not sure I
can get this done I received this phone
call from Harry Reid to come over to his
office and I really debated whether or
not to go I went into the room and the
room was already filled with Democratic
leadership Collins from Maine objects to
a 16 billion dollar program for school
construction I knew that that would
create huge opposition on my side of the
aisle because we’d be redefining the
federal role in education and then the
conversation kind of shifted over to
health clinics and there was a
suggestion made that we could take some
of those resources and put them into
constructing community health clinics
even in the state of Maine and she lit
up and showed some real interest
on this vote the yeas are 61 the nays
are 36 three-fifths of the Senators duly
chosen and sworn having voted in the
affirmative the motion is agreed to
[Music]
to defy their party he turns to the
veteran leader of the Senate Democrats
none of the Republicans who wanted to do
something help wanted to be the 60th
vote so I had to get 61 votes on
everything and it was very hard the only
ones I had any hope of getting Specter
from Pennsylvania and then I had the two
senators from Maine Maine senator Susan
Collins a Republican read identifies as
vulnerable is invited to the Oval Office
I was shocked when I walked in expecting
to see the economic advisors other staff
taking notes and and instead it was just
the president and me I told him I
thought the package was too big he told
me that his economists were telling him
that a smaller package would not do the
trick it would not boost the economies
sufficient late Senator Collins agrees
to meet behind closed doors with a group
of 17 other senators
when senators from both parties meet
outside the control of the leadership
it’s called a gang this gang of 18 came
together with the primary focus of
wanting to reduce the cost by at least a
hundred billion Obama reluctantly agrees
to the cuts because it looks as though
this will buy him the votes he needs but
the Republican leadership leans hard on
Republican members at the gang of 18
although we had a number of Republicans
who joined those first few meetings
gradually the numbers diminished greatly
I didn’t know if we could get this done
and I told the president then I had to
wait till his helicopter landed to get
him the bad news saying I’m not sure I
can get this done I received this phone
call from Harry Reid to come over to his
office and I really debated whether or
not to go I went into the room and the
room was already filled with Democratic
leadership Collins from Maine objects to
a 16 billion dollar program for school
construction I knew that that would
create huge opposition on my side of the
aisle because we’d be redefining the
federal role in education and then the
conversation kind of shifted over to
health clinics and there was a
suggestion made that we could take some
of those resources and put them into
constructing community health clinics
even in the state of Maine and she lit
up and showed some real interest
on this vote the yeas are 61 the nays
are 36 three-fifths of the Senators duly
chosen and sworn having voted in the
affirmative the motion is agreed to
[Music]
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