Democrats to push second economic stimulus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Congress are planning to push a second election-year economic stimulus bill, despite White House warnings that such a measure would be premature, leading lawmakers said on Wednesday.
"The continuing dramatic weakening of the economy has made it more pressing" for Congress to pass such legislation, House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters.
Hoping to build on a $168-billion economic stimulus bill already enacted, Hoyer said new legislation would focus on broadening food stamps for the poor, extending jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and investing in construction and other public works projects to create domestic jobs.
The legislation would be in addition to a series of steps Congress wants to take to shore up the U.S. housing industry, which is plagued by foreclosures that threaten to undercut the global economy.
The outline of a second economic stimulus plan was being presented to President George W. Bush by congressional leaders on Wednesday at a White House meeting.
"It's too soon to talk about a second stimulus package when you haven't even implemented the first stimulus package." White House spokesman Tony Fratto said on Tuesday. That sentiment was reiterated on Wednesday by spokeswoman Dana Perino.
But with elections less than seven months away, Democrats in control of Congress are eager to show they are addressing economic concerns, which have been showing up at the top of voters' worries, even above the unpopular Iraq war.
Democrats' urgency was in evidence when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced she was indefinitely shelving a Colombia free trade agreement, in part so that lawmakers could concentrate on helping the U.S. economy.
Under the first stimulus package that Bush supported, rebate checks will be mailed to taxpayers starting in May in the hope they will spend the money and bolster an economy that has been shedding jobs and may already be in recession.
Democrats are discussing attaching their second stimulus to Iraq war funds scheduled to be debated in coming weeks, a move that would make it more difficult for Bush to veto the domestic spending initiative.
But a group of fiscally conservative House Democrats warned last week that an economic stimulus bill that adds to government debt "will meet our firm opposition on the House floor."
Hoyer would not divulge the likely size and cost of the second stimulus, but said Democrats "don't want to do something that's not big enough to make an impact" on the economy.
The Senate, in its fiscal 2009 budget blueprint, has made room for about $35 billion in additional stimulus if the economy does not adequately respond to the first measure.
According to government statistics, nearly 1.3 million U.S. workers have been unemployed for more than six months, about 17 percent of all jobless people.
Democrats, noting 232,000 jobs have been lost this quarter, argue Congress should not repeat past mistakes of waiting too long into a recession before providing more unemployment benefits, which they say will help the broad economy.
