Fast passage of stimulus vital, president-elect says

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that he and Congress will "hone and refine" his nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan, as he seeks to patch fissures with senior Democrats over key features of the package.

Obama declared that the need for quick passage was made more urgent with the release of a Labor Department report showing another 524,000 jobs lost in December, increasing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, the highest in 16 years, and raising the total job losses for last year to 2.6 million.

Obama said that the jobs report was a "stark reminder" that "the American people are struggling." He added that behind the numbers are "real lives." "Clearly the situation is dire," he said at a news conference.

Labor and business groups alike also said the mounting job losses show the need for a stimulus package. "Only a substantial investment in infrastructure and in America's productive enterprises, such as manufacturing, will ensure that this recession doesn't become a 21st-century Great Depression," Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said in a statement.

Obama said he welcomed input on the package from lawmakers in both parties. "If members of Congress have good ideas, if they can identify a project for me that will create jobs in an efficient way that does not hamper our ability over the long term to get control of our deficit, that is good for the economy, then I'm going to accept it," the president-elect said.

"What we can't do is drag this out when we just saw a half-million jobs lost."

A team of Obama officials went to Capitol Hill yesterday to brief House Democrats on the measure and again heard criticism of some of Obama's proposed tax cuts, particularly a $3,000 tax credit for job creation.

"Spend more on infrastructure. That was a recommendation made in the caucus," said Representative Earl Pomeroy, a North Carolina Democrat. Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said money will be added to have state and local governments buy foreclosed homes.

Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, said that areas of broad agreement and universal sentiment of the need to act far outweigh areas of disagreement. "Please don't get the idea there was some sort of breakdown here," she told reporters.