Senate Democratic leaders unveiled their $56 billion economic stimulus package on Thursday, less than an hour before leaving to meet President Bush at the White House to continue the fragile negotiations on the financial rescue bill.

Calling it “an economic recovery package that will help middle-class families struggling in the weakening Bush-McCain economy,” Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) pitched the plan with the familiar mantra of “not forgetting Main Street.” The plan includes a $7.5 billion down payment on $25 billion in loans for the struggling auto industry.

Byrd said the plan compensates for “failing to invest in America … the Bush administration has fiddled while Rome has burned.”

After working to strike a deal on an economic stimulus earlier this year, the Bush administration and congressional Republicans have expressed opposition to the Democrats’ new proposal, citing its price tag and the contents of the plan.

At press time Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said attaching the economic stimulus bill to the bailout package would be a mistake because it would slow down the financial rescue bill.

The proposal was released at 3:13 p.m., just ahead of a scheduled 4 p.m. meeting between Bush and members of Congress. Democrats have been talking about a second stimulus bill for months.

Senior Democratic aides downplayed the significance of the timing, however. One said it was merely “coincidental,” while another emphasized that a stimulus plan has always been part of Democratic demands and Thursday’s proposal was nothing new.

Democratic sources did indicate openness to how the bill is presented — either as an amendment to the continuing resolution that is pending before the chamber, or as a standalone bill.