"I have heard that people's attitudes are beginning to change, from a period of intense concerns -- and I would call it near-panic -- to being more relaxed and beginning to see the effects of changes and the liquidity that is being pumped in the system," the president said.
Bernanke did not endorse specific ideas and declined to offer an estimate for the scale of a stimulus package. But his support earlier this year helped pave the way for a $168-billion package that included tax rebate checks for millions of Americans.
"With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters, and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by Congress at this juncture seems appropriate," Bernanke told the House Budget Committee.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) urged Bush and congressional Republicans "to once again heed Chairman Bernanke's advice" and work with Democrats "to enact a targeted, timely and fiscally responsible economic recovery and job creation package."
Adding a jobs component is crucial, given the rising unemployment rate, said Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a close ally of Pelosi's.
"The rebate made sense then, but there's a question of whether it makes sense now," he said. "There's very real concern that we need to do something now, but it has to be about jobs; it has to be about real investment in the country."
Republicans also seized on Bernanke's comments, pointing to his recommendation that a stimulus package should be designed so that its "peak effects" would hit when the economy is weak. At the same time, it should have limited long-term effects on the ballooning federal budget deficit.
"House Republicans agree with Chairman Bernanke that action to strengthen our economy is needed, and it should come in the form of pro-growth policies that create new jobs, lower energy costs and protect taxpayers -- not hundreds of billions in new government spending masquerading as 'economic stimulus,' " Boehner said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters that the president was "open to ideas . . . that would stimulate the economy and help us pull out of this downturn faster."
As recently as last week, however, the White House expressed opposition to infrastructure spending, saying it would not boost the economy quickly.
