Obama: Pass stimulus or recession lasts ‘years’

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama urged Congress Thursday to work with him "day and night, on weekends if necessary" to approve the largest taxpayer-funded stimulus ever, warning in almost apocalyptic terms that a dire economic future was certain without it.

Obama's speech, an extraordinary move for a president-in-waiting that reflected the grim urgency of the times, came amid a flurry of new activity in the negotiations on Capitol Hill over the massive proposal's details. And not long after Obama spoke, some senators from his own party criticized his plan to include big tax cuts.

Emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, several Democrats expressed deep skepticism that the kind of business and individual tax cuts Obama has been discussing would do much to create jobs or increase consumer spending.

Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said a proposed $3,000 tax credit for companies that hire or retrain workers would do little to spur job creation if those companies' products still weren't selling. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said he doubted that a tax cut giving workers only about $10 to $20 more per week would change purchase patterns.

Meanwhile, Obama's economic advisers were on Capitol Hill briefing Democratic lawmakers on details of the president-elect's plan. And the Senate Democratic caucus planned a late afternoon meeting, followed by a news conference by Majority Leader Harry Reid and other caucus leaders.

Some Republicans were critical of Obama's plan, though they agreed on the need for a stimulus.

Making a case for action, Obama warned in his speech that "a bad situation could become dramatically worse" if Washington doesn't go far enough. He talked of the possibility of double-digit unemployment and $1 trillion in lost economic activity, stark predictions that recalled the days of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

But, he said, "We are still the nation that has overcome great fears and improbable odds. If we act with the urgency and seriousness that this moment requires, I know that we can do it again."

Since his November election, Obama has deferred to President George W. Bush on foreign policy matters such as the Middle East. But, with the economic situation worsening, Obama has waded in deeply on that front, an issue certain to define and dominate his early presidency.

It was the fourth day in a row that he had made a pitch for a huge infusion of taxpayer dollars to revive the sinking economy he will inherit from Bush.

Obama's events have increasingly taken on the trappings and air of the presidency. Thursday's speech — coming 12 days before he takes over at the White House — was a particularly showy move. Presidents-elect typically stick to naming administration appointments and otherwise staying in the background during the transition period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, but Obama has clearly made the calculation that a nation anxious about its economic outlook needs to hear from him differently and more frequently.

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