WASHINGTON — The drive for quick action on a huge economic stimulus package has become entangled in the push and pull of Washington politics and now may not clear Congress until mid-February.
Democrats had hoped to have the roughly $775-billion emergency measure on President-elect Barack Obama's desk when he entered the Oval Office on Jan. 20. But it is bogging down in a welter of competing ideas, ideologies and agendas, and may be further slowed by Obama's desire to win over as many Republicans as possible.
Economists from across the political spectrum warn that if the stimulus package comes too late or loses focus, it could fall short of rescuing the economy from the worst recession since the Depression. That could mean more job losses and another hit to consumer confidence.
"Businesses are effectively shut down. And there's no other response except a response from you, from the government," economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com said during a House Democratic forum Wednesday. "Confidence has been shattered. . . . The only way out is through aggressive and quick government action."
Obama will make the case for urgent congressional action in a speech today. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is so concerned about a delay that she threatened, in an interview Wednesday, to cancel her chamber's Presidents Day recess and hold the House in session if legislation had not reached Obama's desk by the Feb. 16 holiday.
"A failure to act quickly can only lead to more job losses and more economic pain for Americans," she said at the forum.
There is broad agreement on the need for an economic stimulus. But for political and procedural reasons, Congress has difficulty operating at high speed. And some members are resisting fast action because of broad dissatisfaction with the $700-billion financial industry rescue fund, which they say was flawed and passed in haste by Congress last fall.
The size and scope of the stimulus, which under Obama's formulation would include complex tax cuts and targeted government spending, make the legislative process difficult, said Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Further complicating the matter is that Obama is not yet president, and that his Cabinet selections have not been confirmed.
"If I had hearings, who would I call?" asked Rangel, who echoed the need to act quickly. "All we have is the broad concepts, and we have the responsibility of putting that into legislative form."
