Senate Gives Stimulus Bill Final Approval

Senators weigh in on the stimulus, voting in favor 60-38, precisely the number needed for passage. Republicans Snowe, Collins, Specter vote in favor, as expected. Vote was held open until roughly 10:30 pm, so Ohio Sen. Brown could return from a memorial service for his mother and cast a vote to block a possible GOP filibuster. Plus: NYT on how the stimulus plan tightens the reins on Wall St. pay. And: WashPost declares it "the start of a new ideological era that places the federal government at the center of the nation's economic recovery."