President-elect Barack Obama urged dubious lawmakers today to work with him “day and night, on weekends if necessary” to approve the largest taxpayer-funded stimulus ever, warning in almost apocalyptic terms that a dire economic future was certain without it.
Obama’s speech, an extraordinary move for a president-in-waiting that reflected the grim urgency of the times and perhaps the crack in congressional support, came amid a flurry of new activity in the negotiations on Capitol Hill over the massive proposal’s details.
Not long after Obama spoke, some senators from his own party publicly criticized his plan to include tax cuts.
Emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, several Democrats expressed deep skepticism that the kind of business and individual tax cuts Obama has been discussing would do much to create jobs or increase consumer spending.
Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said a proposed $3,000 tax credit for companies that hire or retrain workers wouldn’t spur job creation if those companies’ products still weren’t selling. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said a tax cut giving workers only about $10 to $20 more per week wouldn’t change purchase patterns.
Meanwhile, Obama’s economic advisers were on Capitol Hill briefing Democratic lawmakers on details of the president-elect’s plan. And the Senate Democratic caucus planned a late afternoon meeting, followed by a news conference by Majority Leader Harry Reid and other caucus leaders.
Making a case for action, Obama warned in his speech that “a bad situation could become dramatically worse” if Washington doesn’t go far enough. He talked of the possibility of double-digit unemployment and $1 trillion in lost economic activity, stark predictions that recalled the days of the Great Depression in the 1930s.
But, he said, “We are still the nation that has overcome great fears and improbable odds. If we act with the urgency and seriousness that this moment requires, I know that we can do it again.” (AP)
