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Washington -- The Senate passed legislation Sunday that will send nearly $197 million to Michigan to upgrade airports and regional transit options, buy energy-efficient buses, beautify streets, expand bike paths and bolster police programs in Detroit to reduce shootings and carjackings.
An estimated $3.9 billion goes to more than 5,000 home-state projects sought by individual lawmakers in both parties.
Republican Sen. John McCain issued a list of pork projects included in the bill and urged Obama to veto it.
Spending for the programs that didn't go through the regular channels includes millions for music and arts, fisheries and botanical gardens and transportation and medical research studies.
McCain noted $2.7 million goes to supporting surgical operations in Outer Space, a program studied at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
"Maybe we need to support surgical operations in outer space. Do we need it at the University of Nebraska? No," said McCain, who then added really only "Trekkies," or Star Trek fans, actually think the U.S. should pay for surgeries in outer space.
WASHINGTON — After months of turmoil, President Barack Obama is calling Senate Democrats to the White House to say it's time to come together and pass legislation embracing a wholesale remodeling of America's health care system.
"We're not going to get all that we want but we're going to get so much more than we have," liberal Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said.
The overall measure, costing nearly $1 trillion over a decade, is designed to expand coverage with a new requirement for nearly everyone to purchase health insurance,