House OKs $819B stimulus bill with GOP opposition

[obama democrat]

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the
Democratic-controlled House approved a historically huge $819 billion
stimulus bill Wednesday night with spending increases and tax cuts at
the heart of the young administration's plan to revive a badly ailing
economy. The vote was 244-188, with Republicans unanimous in
opposition despite Obama's frequent pleas for bipartisan support.

"This recovery plan will save or create more than three million new
jobs over the next few years," the president said in a written
statement released moments after the House voted. Still later, he
welcomed congressional leaders of both parties to the White House for
drinks as he continued to lobby for the legislation.

Earlier, Obama declared, "We don't have a moment to spare" as
congressional allies hastened to do his bidding in the face of the
worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The vote sent the bill to the Senate, where debate could begin as
early as Monday on a companion measure already taking shape.
Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's
signature by mid-February.

A mere eight days after Inauguration Day, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said
the events heralded a new era. "The ship of state is difficult to
turn," said the California Democrat. "But that is what we must do.
That is what President Obama called us to do in his inaugural
address."

With unemployment at its highest level in a quarter-century, the
banking industry wobbling despite the infusion of staggering sums of
bailout money and states struggling with budget crises, Democrats said
the legislation was desperately needed.

"Another week that we delay is another 100,000 or more people
unemployed. I don't think we want that on our consciences," said Rep.
David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and
one of the leading architects of the legislation.

Republicans said the bill was short on tax cuts and contained too much
spending, much of it wasteful, and would fall far short of
administration's predictions of job creation.

The party's leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, said the measure "won't
create many jobs, but it will create plenty of programs and projects
through slow-moving government spending." A GOP alternative, comprised
almost entirely of tax cuts, was defeated, 266-170.

On the final vote, the legislation drew the support of all but 11
Democrats, while all Republicans opposed it.

The White House-backed legislation includes an estimated $544 billion
in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and
businesses. The totals remained in flux nearly until the final vote,
due to official re-estimates and a last-minute addition of $3 billion
for mass transit.

Included is money for traditional job-creating programs such as
highway construction and mass transit projects. But the measure
tickets far more for unemployment benefits, health care and food stamp
increases designed to aid victims of the worst economic downturn since
the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Tens of billions of additional dollars would go to the states, which
confront the prospect of deep budget cuts of their own. That money
marks an attempt to ease the recession's impact on schools and law
enforcement. With funding for housing weatherization and other
provisions, the bill also makes a down payment on Obama's campaign
promise of creating jobs that can reduce the nation's dependence on
foreign oil.

The centerpiece tax cut calls for a $500 break for single workers and
$1,000 for couples, including those who don't earn enough to owe
federal income taxes.

The House vote marked merely the first of several major milestones a
for the legislation, which Democratic leaders have pledged to deliver
to the White House for Obama's signature by mid-February.

Already a more bipartisan — and costlier — measure is taking shape in
the Senate, and Obama personally pledged to House and Senate
Republicans in closed-door meetings on Tuesday that he is ready to
accept modifications as the legislation advances.

Rahm Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman who is Obama's chief of
staff, invited nearly a dozen House Republicans to the White House
late Tuesday for what one participant said was a soft sales job.

This lawmaker quoted Emanuel as telling the group that polling shows
roughly 80 percent support for the legislation, and that Republicans
oppose it at their political peril. The lawmaker spoke on condition of
anonymity, saying there was no agreement to speak publicly about the
session.

In fact, though, many Republicans in the House are virtually immune
from Democratic challenges because of the makeup of their districts,
and have more to fear from GOP primary challenges in 2010. As a
result, they have relatively little political incentive to break with
conservative orthodoxy and support hundreds of billions in new federal
spending.

Also, some Republican lawmakers have said in recent days they know
they will have a second chance to support a bill when the final House-
Senate compromise emerges in a few weeks.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, sought to strip out all the spending
from the legislation before final passage, arguing that the entire
cost of the bill would merely add to soaring federal deficits. "Where
are we going to get the money," he asked, but his attempt failed
overwhelmingly, 302-134.

Obey had a ready retort. "They don't look like Herbert Hoover, I
guess, but there are an awful lot of people in this chamber who think
like Herbert Hoover," he said, referring to the president whose term
is forever linked in history with the Great Depression.

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Liz Sidoti and Ben Feller
contributed to this story