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President-elect Obama and congressional Democrats are bending to the will of the diminished Republican conferences in order to pass the massive stimulus package that will be the centerpiece of Obama’s first days as president.
They’re dramatically slowing the pace in order to give Republicans a voice in hearings. Obama said he wanted legislation to his desk by Presidents Day, replacing Inauguration Day as the new deadline for getting the package to the White House.
And they’ve gone big for tax cuts — the conservative Republican mantra for decades. A $300 billion effort to slash taxes has become an accepted part of the package.
“The monopoly on good ideas does not belong to a single party,” Obama told Republican and Democratic leaders in their closed-door meeting Monday afternoon. “If it’s a good idea, we will consider it.”
Republicans took note that the negotiations have been going their way. They recalled that initially, Democrats talked about ramming through a bill focused on public works projects without hearings, except for one in a committee with no Republicans.
“The different-ness is a dramatic expansion of the amount that goes to tax relief,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
But GOP officials also remained wary.
“I remain concerned about wasteful spending that might be attached to the tax relief,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “Simply put, we should not bury future generations under mountains of debt and create 600,000 new government jobs.”
But the overall size of the package remains a big question mark, and a potential disagreement between the two chambers. House aides say there’s a general agreement around the amount of $775 billion.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), pressed for a figure on the overall size, said that Obama was talking about much larger numbers from his discussions with economists.
“He has indicated that there’s at least 20 economists that he’s talked with,” Reid said, “and all but one of those believe it should be from $800 billion to $1.2 trillion or $1.3 trillion.”
To the surprise of some, congressional liberals offered up little initial resistance to the sudden turn to tax cuts, which has been a conservative mantra since Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who comes from the liberal wing of her party, spent the day repeatedly praising the changes Obama was making.
“I commend President-elect Obama for agreeing to work in a bipartisan way,” Pelosi said.
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