WASHINGTON: As President Barack Obama begins his fourth week in the White House, his top aides are urging Democratic and Republican lawmakers to set aside political differences and quickly approve a massive economic stimulus package this week. After a weekend of partisan attacks on the airwaves, squabbling resumed yesterday when the Democratic-led Senate, with the help of just a few Republicans, was expected to vote to end debate on an $827 billion rescue package and clear the way for passage of the measure today. With the world watching to see how the new president and Congress respond to the worst US financial crisis in 70 years, partisan political fireworks were in full evidence at the US Capitol. They have produced results: A collection of private and public polls shows that the public’s support for the economic recovery package has eroded as Republicans intensified their criticism of the plan. In an effort to offset the growing criticism, Obama yesterday addressed the nation for the first time in a prime-time appearance as president to explain why the economic bill is necessary now.
Democrats have backed him by turning their arguments against the former majority party, chastising Republicans on Sunday’s talk shows for presiding over six years of “bloated spending.”
Lawrence Summers, the president’s top economic adviser, accused Republicans of overseeing massive increases in government spending over the past eight years and now conveniently turning into fiscal conservatives.
“On the bloated spending issue, this comes from a party who controlled the federal government — House, Senate and White House — for six years,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
Republicans were not deterred and continued Sunday to attack the stimulus plan as wasteful spending that would not help the nation’s troubled economy, although they appeared unlikely to step the plan from making its way to President Obama’s desk. They may, however, be able to delay it.
Obama has asked for a stimulus package to be on his desk by Feb. 16. Preliminary deadlines for passage have been pushed back.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers also scrapped on Sunday’s political shows about how the second half of the financial bailout should be spent. “I know we’re in trouble. I know America needs a stimulus. We need tax cuts. We need to spend money on infrastructure and on other programs that will immediately put people to work. But this is not it,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CBS’s “Face The Nation.”
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to announce today the Obama administration’s spending plan for the remaining $350 billion in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
Obama is not only finding resistance from his lawmakers on the Hill.
