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Obama, lawmakers to meet on stimulus plan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-23 18:43

WASHINGTON -- US Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama are having a hard time finding common ground on an economic recovery plan as Republican resistance to the stimulus package emerges in the House.

US President Barack Obama speaks as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens to his remarks at the State Department in Washington January 22, 2009. Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama are having a hard time finding common ground on an economic recovery plan as Republican resistance to the stimulus package emerges in the House. [Agencies]

The president and top Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate planned to meet Friday to discuss the status of the spending and tax cutting legislation that Obama has demanded to confront an ever weakening economy.

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The stimulus legislation, priced at about $825 billion and likely to grow, advanced in House committees this week. Republicans, who are in the minority, were unable to make inroads with their proposals.

The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday approved $275 billion in tax cuts on a party-line vote of 24-13. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, also working on the bill, cleared $2.8 billion to expand broadband communications service. And on Wednesday night,the House Appropriations Committee approved a $358 billion spending measure on a 35-22 party-line vote.

Democratic leaders have promised the measure will be ready for Obama's signature by mid-February.

On Friday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was expected to unveil a Senate version of the tax cutting portion of the bill. The legislation could have a more bipartisan look in the Senate, where it takes 60 votes out of 100 to overcome procedural blocks.

Obama is scheduled to meet with House Republicans next week, at their request. But by then the House bill could be on the floor awaiting a vote.

"Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. "But that doesn't mean we don't want it to have sustainability and bipartisan support, and the president is working hard to get that done."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, protested: "While we appreciate the chance to work with the president, it appears that House Democrats are going to continue to barrel ahead without any bipartisan support."

Obama's meeting with the bipartisan leadership Friday comes in the midst of increasingly grim economic news. Government reports showed the number of new jobless claims was up and new home construction hit an all-time low in December. Microsoft Corp. said it would slash up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, while chemical maker Huntsman Corp. said it would cut more than 1,600 employees and contractors combined.

Republicans have been seeking deeper tax cuts and have said there was no reliable estimate of the bill's impact on employment.

"Our plan offers fast-acting tax relief, not slow-moving and wasteful government spending," Boehner said, referring to a study by the Congressional Budget Office that questioned administration claims that the money could be spent fast enough to reduce joblessness quickly.

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