Senate Democrats last night laid the groundwork for another test vote on a newly revised plan that would extend long term jobless benefits, renew a series of tax breaks and much more.  Do they have 60 votes?  

That answer may still be no, as Democrats were making no guarantees on Wednesday evening, even after some hard bargaining.

After several days of talks with a handful of Republican Senators, Democrats unveiled a new and improved plan that made a series of changes to further reduce the cost of the package.

For example, the plan would chop about $8 billion in extra spending designed to help states prevent layoffs of teachers and government workers.

It would also used about $2 billion in unspent money from the Stimulus law and the Pentagon to pay for extra spending in the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night laid down the changes and moved to "fill the tree" - a parliamentary maneuver designed to block any Republican amendments to the plan - setting the stage for a cloture vote on Thursday or Friday.

The revised plan would increase the federal deficit by about $36 billion.  The original deficit price tag was $77 billion, with some Democratic wish lists pushing it well over $100 billion.

But the changes evidently are not enough for Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, or Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, leaving Democrats short on votes to shut off debate.

Democrats have threatened that if this bill is not approved, then they will completely stop work on the jobless benefits bill and all of the extras included in this legislation.

Stay tuned.