In a bipartisan meeting with House and Senate leaders, President-elect Barack Obama suggested the price tag for his forthcoming economic stimulus package might need to be as high as $1.3 trillion.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Obama, in a closed-door session with top Republicans and Democrats, “has indicated that there’s at least 20 economists that he’s talked with, and all but one of those believe it should be from $800 billion to $1.2 trillion or $1.3 trillion.”
Obama’s final proposal is likely to seem like a relative bargain, though, according to top Democratic aides.
After meetings earlier in the day with just Democratic lawmakers, staffers said Obama estimated the cost of his stimulus plan at about $775 billion, including $300 billion in tax cuts.
The president-elect attended three meetings in the Capitol Monday, capping off his visit with the bipartisan closed-door session.
Obama came specifically to talk about the stimulus, which he said he wanted to pass quickly and without becoming “bogged down in a lot of old-style politics on either side.”
So far, Obama’s new style seems to be working, as Republicans from both chambers emerged from the meeting tentatively pleased with the plans, particularly the tax cut.
“I think we’re glad that the president-elect believes that tax cuts are, in fact, stimulative and will, in fact, help get our economy moving,” House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, though he added that he is “a little concerned about the size of the package.”
Republicans said they were also encouraged by Obama’s apparent willingness to hear their ideas and even incorporate them into legislation. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said his meeting with Obama Monday left him “convinced” that GOP ideas will be incorporated in the stimulus package.
McConnell wants Congress to refrain from simply giving billions of dollars in aid to the states, as proposed by some Democrats, and instead loan the money at a 5 percent interest rate.
Such a move, McConnell said, would discourage states from spending the money on reported projects such as “mob museums and water slides” that have turned up in state requests for federal money.
Neither House nor Senate leaders indicated when they would try to pass the stimulus, though it is looking more likely that the House will take it up later this month, according to top Democratic aides.
“We know what the time constraints are,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after the meeting. “They are dictated by the sense of urgency that the American people have about their economic well-being.”
Obama said he wants the package to pass with considerable Republican support. To earn that support, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Democrats must propose legislation “that does not have waste and earmarks and pork-barrel spending.”
