Obama team hammers out stimulus plan

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is still negotiating the nuts and bolts of its economic-stimulus plan with Congress, but no deal has been reached, Vice President-elect Joseph Biden said Tuesday.

It is clear that the Obama team is trying to line up support for the package prior to the start of the new Congress to minimize the surprises and pitfalls of the legislative process.

By getting the votes now, Obama is trying to avoid the fate of former President Bill Clinton's first economic package in 1993.

That plan got bogged down in bitter politics, and part of it had to be jettisoned to get it passed. In the end, only Democrats voted for the measure, which included tax hikes on the wealthy.

Republicans were then able to translate their opposition of the tax hikes into sweeping victory in the midterm elections of 1994.

Biden said the plan would not be made public until after "we've negotiated a bit more with our colleagues in the House and Senate."

Although the main elements of the stimulus plan have been widely discussed, the final price tag has not been disclosed. The Obama team has said it will create 3 million new jobs.

Asked if the plan would cost $800 billion, Biden replied: "I am not prepared to give you that number, but it will be substantial."

Obama will propose a spending plan designed to overhaul the nation's infrastructure, schools, broadband networks and energy consumption, according to several sources.

Biden stressed that the president-elect will not allow Congress to include special projects, or what are called earmarks, to the package. Legislators love to add pet projects to bills that are on the fast track toward passage.

Biden said the broad outlines of the stimulus program are not controversial. "We're all in the same ballpark. There is overall agreement on the scope ... and the nature of the investment we are going to make."

Top Obama economic adviser Larry Summers, who also spoke briefly to reporters Tuesday, said the U.S. economy clearly was in crisis and that a massive stimulus plan was necessary.

The economy suffers from low output and low productivity relative to their sustainable rates, said Summers. "The American economy is falling short of where it could be," he said.