WASHINGTON — President Obama took his case for more than $800 billion in economic stimulus directly to the American people Monday, accusing Republicans of playing politics with a plan that’s “exactly what this country needs.”
Fresh from a visit to Elkhart, Ind., where the unemployment rate has soared above 15%, Obama used his news conference to press Congress to pass his package of new spending and tax cuts.
“I can’t afford to see Congress play the usual political games,” Obama said. “What we have to do right now is deliver for the American people.”
The president touched on other topics — from the war in Afghanistan to Iran — but the nearly hour-long news conference was dominated by the economic issues that have confronted his administration in its 3-week-old infancy.
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As the Senate prepares to vote today on an $838 billion stimulus plan and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner prepares to unveil the administration’s plan for using the second $350 billion in financial bailout funds, Obama said both initiatives were needed to get the country out of “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”
“Do you just want government to do nothing, or do you want it to do something?” he said, referring to those who have said the stimulus plan is too big. “It’s a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they presided over a doubling of the national debt.”
Republicans defended their opposition to the stimulus plan within minutes of Obama’s exit. “The spending bill … is filled with unnecessary and wasteful programs that will saddle future generations with massive debt,” said Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman.
The prime-time news conference in the ornate East Room of the White House was part of a campaign-style push for the economic stimulus package. Obama wedged the event in between his visit to Indiana and today’s scheduled trip to Fort Myers, Fla. On Thursday, he’ll be in Peoria, Ill., where Caterpillar recently announced plans to cut more jobs.
“If there’s anyone out there who still doesn’t believe this constitutes a full-blown crisis, I suggest speaking to one of the millions of Americans whose lives have been turned upside down because they don’t know where their next paycheck is coming from,” Obama said before taking 13 questions.
The president addressed other issues, including:
• Afghanistan. He said his foreign policy team is reviewing its policy in Afghanistan in hopes of rooting out terrorist havens along the border with Pakistan. “This is going to be a big challenge,” Obama said, but warned that “I’m not going to allow al-Qaeda or (Osama) bin Laden to act with impunity.”
• Iran. He held out the possibility of direct diplomatic engagement with Iran. “We want to do things differently in the region,” Obama said, noting he already has sent a special envoy to the Middle East. “We will be looking for openings … where we can start sitting across the table face-to-face.”
• Major League Baseball. He said superstar Alex Rodriguez’s admission that he used steroids several years ago “tarnishes an entire era.” But he credited Major League Baseball for taking the issue seriously. “Our kids, hopefully, are watching and saying, ‘You know what? There are no shortcuts.’ ”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-09-obama_N.htm
President Obama yesterday played down what he called “modest differences” between Republican and Democratic lawmakers working to craft an economic recovery package and expressed optimism that action on a massive spending plan will be finalized soon.
“We hope to be able to get a bill to you in the next couple of weeks so we can put America back to work and start digging ourselves out of this deep hole that we’re in,” Obama told Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) at the White House yesterday morning.
Later in the day, Obama hosted the Democratic congressional leadership for an hour-long West Wing meeting to discuss the bill’s status in the Senate, where lawmakers began formal debate yesterday.
The meeting was “productive,” press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement afterward, adding that the president and the Democratic leaders agreed on the urgency of working to “achieve the bipartisan consensus that the president has sought throughout this process.”
But two Democratic sources with knowledge of the meeting said the president took a blunt tone with the lawmakers, urging them to drop whatever needs to be cut from the bill to gain bipartisan support and to pass Congress soon.
One source said Obama appeared to be frustrated by the public perception that the recovery bill was becoming laden with partisan pet projects.
The legislative leaders left the White House without comment yesterday evening.
The Senate is expected to begin voting this afternoon on a growing list of amendments to the legislation after the House passed an $819 billion spending package last week with no Republican support.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said yesterday that he still hopes to complete debate by the end of the week. That would give House and Senate negotiators a week to reconcile the two measures before the Feb. 13 deadline set by congressional leaders for sending a final bill to Obama.
Congressional budget analysts reported yesterday that the Senate version would cost $884.5 billion over 10 years, a significant increase from the House version. Much of the difference is due to the Senate’s decision to protect millions of taxpayers from the bite of the alternative minimum tax for another year, at a cost of about $70 billion.
The addition of the AMT provision helps to increase how quickly money is likely to be spent. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate measure would pump $694 billion into the economy by the end of fiscal 2010, or about 78 percent of the overall cost of the bill. Under the House version, only about two-thirds of the money would be spent by the end of 2010.
On Capitol Hill, GOP lawmakers hope to add more tax relief to the bill and target the foreclosure crisis, but will also seek to strike spending measures that Democrats inserted into the legislation.
The lengthy debate, with votes expected throughout the week, is a departure from the usual Senate routine in recent years, when the majority blocked most amendments from the minority, often resulting in acrimonious procedural delays. So far this year, Reid has kept the floor open, and he has vowed that on the stimulus bill the Senate will consider “as many amendments as people feel is appropriate.”
Republican leaders expressed optimism that they will get an open hearing on their ideas in large part because of Obama, who has courted them assiduously in recent weeks and who has sent signals that he is willing to consider GOP changes through the final negotiating process.
Republican amendments will seek to lower mortgage rates and to cut income tax rates for the bottom two brackets. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said one target would be a “Buy American” provision that critics warn could spark a global trade war. Republicans also strongly oppose the hefty state aid portion of the bill that would help cash-strapped state and local governments to meet soaring Medicaid, education and other public-service costs.
Democrats also will seek changes to the bill. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) want to add tax changes to allow companies to repatriate offshore profits. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) are collaborating on an amendment that would cut the overall package by about $200 billion, through the elimination of various non-stimulative provisions.
And Sens. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) will attempt to secure their long-sought earmark reform legislation by attaching it to the must-pass bill.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/02/AR2009020201577.html?hpid=topnews
