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(AP) - Senate moderates from both political parties
worked to cut as much as $100 billion from economic stimulus
legislation and clear the way for the bill's passage as President
Barack Obama urged lawmakers to "rise to this moment."


      With the economy showing fresh signs of weakness, Obama said
Thursday, "The time for talk is over. The time for action is
now."

      Senate Democratic leaders said they hoped for passage of the
legislation by Friday, and prospects appeared to hinge on agreement
to a series of changes that would trim the size of a bill costing
well over $920 billion.


      Senate centrists met privately, and emerged saying they had made
progress toward an accord.


      "The president made a strong case for a proposal that would be
in the neighborhood of $800 billion," said Sen. Susan Collins,
R-Maine, who met with Obama at the White House on Wednesday.


      Obama has issued a series of increasing dire warnings in recent
days as the Senate debated the legislation at the heart of his
economic recovery plan, and Thursday was no different.


      Appearing before employees at the Department of Energy, he
called on lawmakers to "rise to this moment. No plan's perfect,"
he said. "There have been constructive changes made to this one
over the last several weeks. I would love to see additional
improvements today."


      Democratic congressional officials said the president had
invited some of the Senate moderates to the White House to discuss
possible changes in the measure.


      In an op-ed piece in The Washington Post, the president argued
that each day without his stimulus package, Americans lose more
jobs, savings and homes. 


His message came as congressional leaders
struggle to control the huge stimulus bill that's been growing
larger by the day in the Senate. The addition of a new tax break
for homebuyers Wednesday evening sent the price tag well past $900
billion.


      "This recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5
million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our
nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may
not be able to reverse," Obama wrote in the newspaper piece.


      He rejected the argument that more tax cuts are needed in the
plan and that piecemeal measures would be sufficient. His latest
plea came on the same day the economy dealt with another dose of
bad news: A big jump in jobless claims and another round of weak
retail sales.


      Initial jobless claims rose to 626,000, a 26-year high, the
Labor Department said. And the number of claims by people
continuing to apply for unemployment benefits reached a new record
of nearly 4.8 million.


      The housing tax break was the most notable attempt to date to
add help for the crippled industry and gave Republicans a victory
as they work to remake the legislation more to their liking.


      "It is time to fix housing first," Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.,
said Wednesday night as the Senate agreed without controversy to
add the new tax break to the stimulus measure, at an estimated cost
of nearly $19 billion.


      Three swing-vote senators met with Obama at the White House on
Wednesday to discuss possible cutbacks.


      For their part, Senate Republicans signaled they would persist
in their efforts to reduce spending in the measure, to add tax cuts
and reduce the cost of mortgages for millions of homeowners.


      Despite bipartisan concerns about the cost, Republicans failed
in a series of attempts on Wednesday to cut back the bill's size.


      The most sweeping proposal, advanced by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.,
would have eliminated all the spending and replaced it with a
series of tax cuts. It was defeated 61-36.


      Democrats also upheld a so-called Buy American provision that
requires projects financed by the measure to be built with
domestically produced iron and steel.


      But with Obama voicing concern about the provision, the
requirement was changed to specify that U.S. international trade
agreements not to be violated.


      Additionally, Democrats turned back an attempt to strip out a
provision that Obama has said was essential. It would provide a tax
cut of up to $1,000 for working couples, including those who do not
make enough to pay income taxes.


      Isakson said the new tax break for homebuyers was intended to
help revive the housing industry, which has virtually collapsed in
the wake of a credit crisis that began last fall.


      The proposal would allow a tax credit of 10 percent of the value
of new or existing residences, up to a $15,000 limit. Current law
provides for a $7,500 tax break but only for first-time homebuyers.


      The House approved its own version of the bill last week.

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Politics and Government News

President Barack Obama warned on Thursday that
failure to pass an economic recovery package could plunge the nation into an even longer, perhaps irreversible recession, as senators searched for compromises to whittle down the enormous bill.

Obama stresses urgency for stimulus bill

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