House of Reps Stimulus Bill Debate - the Backroom SECRETS

This just appeared on the House Servers, to the best of my knowledge it is the correct version…

Not sure how folks are expected to go through 424 pages before 9am when the debate starts, but it is what it is.

Here are the links:

H.R. 1 – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:

• Text of the Conference Report-Division A

• Text of the Conference Report-Division B

• Joint Explanatory Statement – Division A

• Joint Explanatory Statement – Division B

Here’s something Congress ought to do instead of this boondogle…

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

We're receiving E-mails from Capitol Hill staffers expressing frustration that they can't get a copy of the stimulus bill agreed to last night at a price of $789 billion. What's more, staffers are complaining about who does have a copy: K Street lobbyists. E-mails one key Democratic staffer: "K Street has the bill, or chunks of it, already, and the congressional offices don't. So, the Hill is getting calls from the press (because it's leaking out) asking us to confirm or talk about what we know—but we can't do that because we haven't seen the bill. Anyway, peeps up here are sort of a combo of confused and like, 'Is this really happening?'" Reporters pressing for details, meanwhile, are getting different numbers from different offices, especially when seeking the details of specific programs.

Worse, there seem to be several different versions of what was agreed upon, with some officials circulating older versions of the package that seems to still be developing. Leadership aides said that it will work out later today and promised that lawmakers will get time to review the bill before Friday's vote.