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Stimulus Bill Needs More Time

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The Associated Press

Published: January 5, 2009

WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats said Sunday that President-elect Barack Obama probably will have to wait until next month before getting the chance to sign an economic aid bill his team once hoped would be on his desk by his swearing-in Jan. 20.

"It's going to be very difficult to get the package put together that early," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said. "But we certainly want to see this package passed through the House of Representatives no later than the end of this month, get it over to the Senate, and have it to the president before we break" in mid-February.

Obama planned to meet today with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to talk about enacting a massive spending plan. The president-elect also scheduled a separate meeting with the entire Democratic and Republican leadership teams.

Reid said they will do their "very, very best" to get a package finished as soon as possible, but he was unwilling to set an artificial deadline for completion.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky warned Democrats against trying to move quickly without the GOP's input.

"This is an enormous bill. It could be close to a $1 trillion spending bill," McConnell said. "Do we want to do it with essentially no hearings, no input, for example, in the Senate from Republican senators who represent half of the American population? I don't think that's a good idea."

Instead of giving all that money to states as grants, McConnell suggested it go as loans.

"It will make them spend it more wisely," McConnell said. "The states that didn't need it at all wouldn't take any."

Democrats understand that the GOP has to be involved in anything they do, said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.

"Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid both know that we can't pass the economic recovery plan that this nation desperately needs without bipartisan cooperation," Durbin said. "We've got to put aside a lot of the squabbling that in the past and come together under this new administration and new leadership, to get the American economy back online."

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