"We are not going home without an economic recovery package," she said at a news conference. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, at a difference appearance, agreed that allowed enough time to get the job done.

"But we ... don't want to make big mistakes that exacerbate the — the problem we already have, which is a dramatic, eye-popping deficit," he added.

Lawmakers in both parties were digging into the details — few of which have been made public — and not always liking what they saw.

Democrats emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee had little positive to say about Obama's tax cut proposals. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., was critical of a proposed tax break for workers and their families.

"Twenty bucks a week. How much of a lift is that going to give?" he said. Nor did he sound positive about a proposed tax break for businesses to create jobs. "If I'm a business person, it's unlikely if you give me a several thousand dollar credit that I'm going to hire people if I can't sell the products they're producing," he said.

Conrad and others said Obama's blueprint included about $10 billion in tax incentives related to energy, out of about $300 billion overall — a slice they said was too small.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., added, "Just giving people $500 or $600, while certainly welcome when there is all this economic hurt, may not be the best stimulus." He cited evidence that taxpayers used money from the last economic stimulus measure to pay down their debt, rather than make new purchases.

Republicans noted forecasts of a record $1.2 trillion deficit for the current year and said too much additional spending could be harmful. "We can't buy prosperity with more and more government spending," said Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader.

In his speech, Obama said more bad news was just ahead. He predicted that on Friday, "We are likely to learn that we lost more jobs last year than at any time since World War II."

There were two government reports released within hours of his speech, both showing more weakness in the economy.

One said consumer borrowing — credit card use and items such as new auto loans — plunged by $7.94 billion in November, a record amount in dollar terms.

A second said more men and women were drawing jobless benefits last week than at any time since the 1982 recession. Joblessness was 6.7 percent in the government's most recent report before Friday's new figures.

In his speech, Obama said there was plenty of blame to go around for the current economic situation. He cited "an era of profound irresponsibility that stretched from corporate boardrooms to the halls of power in Washington, D.C."

Yet he also projected an air of confidence about the future.

"We can restore opportunity and prosperity. We should never forget that our workers are still more productive than any on Earth," he said. "Our universities are still the envy of the world."

Pelosi, at her news conference, outlined a schedule for the House to follow. It envisioned committee action in the next few weeks, followed by a vote in the full House after Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has also talked of getting legislation to the White House by early February.

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Contributing: Stephen Ohlemacher, Liz Sidoti and Andrew Taylor