Classic Senate... Easy to reach compromises when you agree to everyone's tax cut without paying for them. There is no need to make choices or decide whether the tax cut is worthwhile if we don't have to pay for it. -- Anonymous House Democratic leadership aide, regarding Senate housing stimulus package

Help me out with this one... This is pretty peculiar. The Senate Finance Committee announced today a set of tax relief provisions "for homeowners, homebuyers, and homebuilders," to accompany the Senate housing stimulus package. A vote on the title and the bill could come as early as tomorrow. The provisions are described, with estimated costs, here, and summarized below:

Housing Stimulus -- Possible Senate Vote on Dodd-Shelby: A Senate vote on the Dodd-Shelby housing stimulus bill may come as early this afternoon, pending negotiations by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), chair and ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. New York Times: Regarding the bipartisan support for the bill, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid : "This is not April Fool's," he said. "This is serious business."

Reuters: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - IBM is under investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over an $80 million bid it made in 2006 to modernize EPA financial systems and has been suspended from seeking new contracts with all U.S. agencies, the company said on Monday. ... International Business Machines Corp, the world's largest provider of computer services, said it only learned on Friday of the temporary suspension from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tied to possible violations of ethical bidding provisions on an EPA contract IBM had submitted in March 2006. ...