Articles
Associated Press: Dems Feel Urgency to Enact Stimulus Plan
01/22/2008
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democratic leaders said
Tuesday that they feel urgency to enact an economic stimulus plan and are
confident they can work with President Bush to craft it quickly. The president
also expressed confidence but said any deal must be done right, not just fast.
''The urgency that we feel at home is now even more urgent
as we see the impact of our markets on others,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
said after lawmakers of both parties met with Bush at the White House.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the goal is to get a
deal through Congress and on Bush's desk within roughly three to four weeks,
before lawmakers break for the Presidents' Day recess.
''I really feel good that we have an opportunity to do
something together,'' Reid said.
Earlier, Bush himself said he was confident that Congress
and the administration will be able to approve a stimulus package to jump-start
the economy and calm fears of recession that have shaken financial markets
worldwide.
The unusual bipartisan harmony and pledges for fast action
underscored how rattled the American public is -- and how leaders of both
parties want to be seen as responding to those concerns quickly.
The lawmakers, like Bush, would not discuss the specifics of
what a compromise plan would look like. They say that is a matter for private
negotiation.
The president has broadly outlined a stimulus plan that
would include tax cuts for individuals and businesses. Bush said any plan, to
be effective, would need to represent roughly 1 percent of the gross domestic
product, or about $140 billion to $150 billion. Democrats have their own ideas.
So far, all sides are stressing cooperation, not potential
division about the details.
''This is about one thing in this package: Is it a
stimulus?'' Pelosi said ''So whatever it is that we are considering, it must
meet that one criterion: Does it stimulate the economy? Does it put money into
the hands of those who will spend it?''
When the Democratic leaders were asked if they agreed with
Bush's statement that the economy is ''inherently strong,'' Pelosi said, ''I
certainly hope so.''
Reid predicted that the House -- led by Pelosi and Minority
Leader John Boehner and working with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- would
pass a package first and send it to the Senate. He said the size of a deal
proposed by Bush was ''a good number.''
The action came on the same day that the Federal Reserve
Board announced that it cut a key interest rate by three-quarters of a
percentage point.
Bush invited the bipartisan congressional leadership to
discuss an emergency rescue package centered on tax rebates and business tax
cuts but also likely to include increases in unemployment benefits and food
stamps.
''I've got reasonable expectations about how fast something
can happen,'' Bush said as the session began. ''But I'm also optimistic
something will happen.''
Speaking in a packed Cabinet Room, Bush said both the
administration and Congress want to find a solution quickly, but that he knows
the legislative process can prove tedious
''Everybody wants to get something done quickly, but we want
to make sure it gets done right,'' the president said. ''And make sure that
everybody's realistic about the timetable. Legislative bodies don't move
necessarily in an orderly, quick way, and therefore these leaders are
committed, and they want to get something done.''
Later, as he announced the creation of a council charged
with improving the nation's basic understanding of managing money, Bush noted
the mortgage crisis. Banks, brokerages and insurers have announced staggering
write-downs, largely due to bad subprime mortgage bets.
''I just wonder how many people, when they got subprime
mortgages, knew what they were getting into,'' Bush said. Despite the economy's
woes, he said he was confident in the long-term strength of the
On Wall Street, stocks plunged at the opening of trading
Tuesday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials down about 400 points after the
Fed's announcement of its rate cut failed to assuage nervous investors.
The slumping of the global economic market since Bush
proposed the outline of an economic package added a greater aura of urgency to
the talks at the White House. It also raised the question of whether Bush is willing
to go for an even more expensive package. White House press secretary Dana
Perino did not rule that out, although she said Bush believes he has proposed
the correct figure, and no one is pushing for a bigger one at this point.
Paulson, the administration's point man on the stimulus
bill, discussed details with top lawmakers in both parties in advance of the
meeting between Bush and leading lawmakers.
''I have been very encouraged by the way that both parties
have come together, bipartisan support for moving quickly to do something that
will make a difference this year in our economy that will be meaningful, that
will be temporary and something that we can hopefully get done quickly,''
Paulson told reporters.