U.S. President Barack Obama worked hard to push his massive stimulus plan forward on Tuesday as the Senate continued the debate on the over 800 billion U.S. dollar spending bill.
One day after expressing optimism that action on the massive plan will be finalized soon, Obama Tuesday accepted interviews with all five major U.S. television news outlets -- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News, a move to seek public support.
There is "no magic bullet," he told Fox News, and adding that he was working with Congress on the stimulus plan and "we are closer to getting it right."
Also on Tuesday Obama named Republican Senator Judd Gregg as the commerce secretary in another effort to build bipartisan cooperation in his government.
Obama announced his choice for the key cabinet post at a White House press conference, and urged the Senate to rapidly confirm the nomination so Gregg could start to work on the boosting trade of the country that is currently in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
"With the stakes this high, we cannot afford to get trapped in the same old partisan gridlock," Obama said.
Gregg also echoed the president, noting "this is not a time for partisanship" and "this is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout at each other."
To seek the union for his massive stimulus plan, Obama also spoke by phone with some GOP governors who are supporting the economic recovery plan being considered by Congress.
White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama held talks with Governors Charlie Crist of Florida, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and Jodi Rell of Connecticut, who have signed a letter supporting a recovery plan that they believe will "help them make it through tough budget times."
Gibbs noted the plan will help governors avoid making cuts in valuable services such as public safety.
"We hope to be able to get a bill to you in the next couple of weeks so we can put America back to work and start digging ourselves out of this deep hole that we're in," Obama told visiting Vermont Governor Jim Douglas at White House Monday.
The Senate, which began debate on the stimulus plan on Monday, continued the battle on Tuesday as Republicans sought to prevent the massive stimulus bill from becoming a Democratic spending bill.
"We all agree that something must be done to jump-start the economy, and this week we'll have the opportunity to debate ideas to dramatically improve the bill passed by the House," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "We agree with President Obama that we should trim things out that don't put people back to work."
Obama has voiced repeatedly that the bill, aimed at boosting employment, social spending and consumption, was necessary to recover the ailing economy.
Congressional budget analysts said that the Senate version would cost 884.5 billion dollars over 10 years, a significant increase from the House 819 billion dollar version.
A Democratic source told reporters that there was a consensus that when all possible additions or changes to the bill have been decided, the total cost should not exceed 900 billion dollars.
The Senate measure includes 325 billion dollars in tax breaks and 560 billion dollars in direct spending to spur the economy by putting more money in the hands of consumers, encouraging businesses to save or create jobs, and funding infrastructure projects to boost employment.
The House measure combines roughly 275 billion dollars in temporary tax cuts for both individuals and businesses along with about 544 billion dollars for job-creating investment projects, health industry improvements, expanded aid for the poor and unemployed, and improving education.
The Senate measure would pump 694 billion dollars into the economy by the end of fiscal 2010, or about 78 percent of the overall cost of the bill, while the House version would only pump two-thirds of the money by the end of 2010.
Some Republicans tried to propose additional income tax cuts for middle-class workers.
The provision may be hard to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but the Republicans may garner more support for efforts to strip out spending that they do not believe will generate jobs quickly, said U.S. media.
Democrats, who have 58 of the 100 seats in the Senate, will need at least two Republican votes in the Senate to avoid procedural roadblocks which could stymie the measure.
"I count the votes. I know the reality. We need Republican support to pass this measure, so we're trying to find" a balance that will get that support, said Senator Richard Durbin.
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said that he hopes to complete debate by the end of the week.
That would give House and Senate negotiators a week to reconcile the two measures before the Feb. 13 deadline set by Congressional leaders for sending a final bill to Obama, according to the U.S. media.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2009)