WASHINGTON — President Obama pressed aggressively for his massive economic recovery plan Saturday, laying out the most detailed benchmarks to date of a stimulus package that would cost at least $820 billion and warning that the nation’s economy could become dramatically worse without major federal investment.
With Congress preparing to take up the stimulus bill this week, Obama described what he would do with a recovery package aimed at saving or creating as many as 4 million jobs. The White House outlined a medley of proposals designed to appeal to Republicans who have resisted the scale of federal spending and to average taxpayers, many hard-hit by the recession, who have not felt the benefit of earlier government bailouts.
In his first weekly presidential radio and video address, Obama said his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is critical to jump-starting the economy, which lost 2.6 million jobs last year. The plan, he said, would protect workers from losing health-care coverage; modernize public schools, roads and sewer systems; lower energy costs and taxes; and make college more affordable.
This week, the new administration will step up its lobbying efforts to ensure that Obama’s signature legislation passes Congress by mid-February. Obama, who met with his chief economic advisers Saturday, plans to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to court Republican leaders, while top administration officials will fan out on today’s political talk shows to press their case.
“Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four,” Obama said Saturday. “And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future.
“In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.”
Some congressional Republicans, however, remain opposed to his package, saying it includes too many spending programs that may not provide immediate economic relief and arguing that the roughly $225 billion in tax breaks in the Democrats’ plan is not enough. Obama wants to cut taxes by $1,000 for 95 percent of workers and their families.
“Unfortunately, the trillion-dollar spending plan authored by congressional Democrats is chock full of government programs and projects, most of which won’t provide immediate relief to our ailing economy,” House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said Saturday in his party’s response address.
Boehner spokeswoman Antonia Ferrier described the White House proposal as “just another unfocused, runaway bill loaded with slow and wasteful Washington spending on every conceivable goal.”
A bonus for businesses in Obama’s plan is a provision that would allow them to carry back their losses into taxes filed for the previous five years, which will produce a windfall, said Clinton Stretch, a tax expert at Deloitte Tax LLP. “That puts cash very quickly in the hands of businesses, which are, by definition, struggling,” said Stretch, a contributor to Democratic campaigns.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Saturday that she is committed to having a stimulus bill passed and ready for Obama to sign by the President’s Day holiday on Feb. 16.
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