Obama Plugs Stimulus Plan on Capitol Hill

Democrats say bipartisan, White House support crucial to measure

(NEWSER) - Nancy Pelosi says she hopes to quickly push through a $61 billion economic stimulus package but will need the support of President Bush and the current crop of Senate Republicans, Reuters reports. Pelosi said a "lame duck session" could come as early as Nov. 16. "It depends on what the White House is going to do," she said of the prospects of getting a bill signed. More»

Why the left can't seem to govern

(NEWSER) - Congressional Democrats killed Bill Clinton’s agenda, and Jimmy Carter’s agenda, and it looks like they’re gunning for Barack Obama’s, too, writes Jonathan Chait in the New Republic. George Bush didn’t win the popular vote and had just 50 GOP Senators, but was still able to enact a sweeping far-right agenda, thanks to “near-total partisan discipline”—something Democrats can’t seem to muster. More»

(NEWSER) - Even the stimulus couldn’t rouse Republicans “into any human feeling,” writes Derrick Jackson of the Boston Globe. “With the collective livelihood of America at stake,” Republicans opted for full-blown obstinacy, crying about the deficit while conveniently forgetting that their president had turned a $128 billion surplus into a $1.2 trillion deficit. It’s a dumb strategy, one that’s only “extending Obama’s honeymoon.” More»

Prez still didn't get much GOP support

(NEWSER) - President Obama promised a new spirit of cooperation in Washington, and in his relationship with Congress, he did his best to deliver, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama left congressional leaders wide leeway in crafting the stimulus bill and stayed in close touch with members. Joe Biden stayed on pivotal senators like Susan Collins, calling her back repeatedly in rural Maine. More»

Obama presses stimulus in first news conference as prez

(AP) - Barack Obama said today the crisis gripping the US is the "winter of our hardship" as he pounded home the need for Congress to set aside petty differences and pass an $800-plus billion stimulus fund to fight an economic collapse not seen in 80 years. In opening remarks at his first news conference as president, Obama again spoke of the dire state of the American economy and financial system and pushed Congress to act. More»