(CBS/AP) President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet with congressional leaders at the White House on Monday afternoon in an effort to press Congress to move swiftly on the $800 billion-plus economic stimulus package.
"Very modest differences" should not get in the way of swift congressional passage of a massive economic stimulus package, Mr. Obama said Monday.
The president spoke to reporters as he and Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, the Republican vice chairman of the National Governors Association, were about to meet in the Oval Office about the plan.
Douglas agreed with Mr. Obama, saying that a stimulus package is essential to getting the country moving again. Douglas is among the several Republican governors who are breaking with their GOP colleagues in Congress to ask for approval of the plan.
On Sunday, Mr. Obama said he was confident congressional Republicans will come around to support the final version of the legislation, repeating what his top aides and officials have been telling reporters in recent days, that the final package would be close to its objectives - to save or create 3 to 4 million jobs - and Republicans would be able to back it.
"I am confident that by the time we have the final package on the floor that we are going to see substantial support, and people are going to see this is a serious effort. It has no earmarks. We are going to be trimming out things that are not relevant to putting people back to work right now," Mr. Obama said. - CBS News Story
Obama's Confidence hopefully is a sign of what is to come. The packages as they currently stand are small part stimulus and large part big Government Spending. Republicans are gaining support from many Democrats who see this as a spending package and not much of a stimulus package. More and more Democrats are joining the ranks with the Republicans to pull out the unnecessary spending to put together a true package for the economy. It isn't brain surgery. Most lawmakers know that if this bill passes as is, the people that vote for it will be held accountable come the next election cycle. They know that as it sits, this will be deficit spending that will do little to help the economy, thus delivering crushing blows to those who voted in favor of it. Obama doesn't want a bill to pass that pits his party against the Repubs next election cycle, especially if it fails. That is the reason for the big push on bipartisanship. To not give the Repubs any ammunition during the elections, Obama doesn't want to spend the last two years of his term in a lame duck status like Bush did. He needs to keep his support in the Congress.
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