Facing opposition from Republican lawmakers to parts of his economic recovery plan, President Barack Obama called Congressional leaders to a meeting on Monday to drive home his message of urgency. With hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their jobs, many their homes, and a rapidly shrinking economy, Obama is under pressure to move swiftly to get his nearly $900 billion plan through Congress by mid-February.
Senior Republican senators warned on Sunday their party was unlikely to back the stimulus bill without changes to cut waste and to ensure the package provides an immediate boost to the deteriorating economy.
"The thing I want all of them (lawmakers) to remember, and the thing I am thinking of every single day, is the thousands of people being laid off from their jobs right now," Obama said in an interview with the NBC television network.
"They can't afford politics as usual and old habits are hard to break, but now is the time to break them because we have an urgent situation."
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are due to meet Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House on Monday. A Democratic Senate aide said Obama had called the meeting to discuss the next steps on the stimulus bill.
Obama has held a series of meetings with Republican Congressional leaders since taking office on January 20 in an effort to win backing for his plan, which passed the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives without a single Republican vote last week.
The bill is now being considered by the Senate, where Democrats also have a majority.
"I've done extraordinary outreach to Republicans because they have some good ideas and I want to make sure those ideas are incorporated," Obama said.
While he does not need Republican votes to get the bill passed, winning their support is an early test of Obama's commitment to his campaign promise to try to end divisive politics.
Republicans are unhappy with some of the spending priorities in the bill, which proposes a mix of tax cuts, public works projects and direct aid to struggling states.
"I am confident that by the time we have the final package on the (Senate) floor we are going to see substantial support," Obama told NBC.
A number of U.S. companies announced layoffs last week and new figures showed the economy shrinking at its fastest rate in nearly 27 years. The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits hit a record high.
NEW FINANCIAL STRATEGY
Obama announced on Saturday that his Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would unveil a new strategy soon to regulate and revive the financial sector and get credit flowing again to businesses and families.
In the NBC interview, he said the plan would be unveiled once the Senate passes his stimulus bill. He has set a mid-February deadline for the bill to be passed.
"I have confidence that we are going to get the economy back on track, but it is going to take a number of months before we stop falling and then a little bit longer to get back on track," Obama said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he doubted the economic stimulus bill can pass the Senate in its current form.
"If we're going to spend anywhere near this ... it needs to be timely, temporary and targeted," the Republican told CBS's "Face the Nation."
McConnell offered a Republican plan to provide government-backed, 4 percent fixed mortgages to credit-worthy home buyers, saying it could save them an average of $5,600 a year.
A senior Democratic senator said the plan had merit and the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Richard Durbin of Illinois, said Democrats were open to Republican amendments to the stimulus package.
"We've said to them, 'We're open about this. Come to us with your ideas, if you want to make changes and offer amendments,'" Durbin said on "Fox News Sunday".
Senator Charles Schumer of New York said he and fellow Democrats had been listening to their Republican critics and had dropped, for example, $200 million to fix up the National Mall and millions of dollars for family planning.
http://www.reuters.com
No comments:
Post a Comment