The Senate played the role on Monday that the Founding Fathers envisioned with the Cash for Clunkers legislation, keeping the stick shift in first gear instead of blindly approving a bill to keep the program running.
Signs were that the plan will be approved later this week, but there was clearly some reluctance about shifting $2 billion more into the program.
That was obvious at the outset of Monday's session of the Senate, when there was no quick move to bring up the bill that zoomed through the House last Friday with bipartisan support.
One possible pothole seemed to be smoothed over, as two Senators, Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) withdrew what were initial objections to the extra money.
The reason was data released by the Transportation Department, which showed that when you compare the fuel mileage standards of the cars turned in (the clunkers) versus the vehicles purchased by consumers, there was a difference of almost 10 miles per gallon to the good.
Several months ago, the Senate barely mustered 60 votes to keep the $1 billion in a war spending bill for the Cash for Clunkers program, mainly because Senators like Feinstein and Collins thought it wouldn't provide enough of an increase in fuel mileage.
"The best solution is to continue and extend the program as it is," Feinstein told a news conference on Monday.
Realistically, this bill will probably get through the Senate this week. But it will probably take a few days, until critics have made their point.
Stay tuned.
The Senate played the role on Monday that the Founding Fathers envisioned with the Cash for Clunkers legislation, keeping the stick shift in first gear instead of blindly approving a bill to keep the program running. Signs were that the plan will be approved later this week, but there was ...