Obama 'at doorstep' of an economic plan

by Mark Silva

President Barack Obama, standing "at the doorstep'' of securing an expected $800-billion-plus economic stimulus from Congress, said today that the fate of the nation's staggering economy hangs on jobs that can be created with the plan.

Obama, standing at a suburban Virginia construction site serving a planned new federal security facility, made another in a series of pitches for public support for the stimulus, as House and Senate leaders today negotiated the differences between them. With leaders voicing confidence about a quick agreement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today predicted that the negotiated plan will be ready for House action on Thursday.

"Not far from where we're standing, back in Washington, we continue to have a debate about our economic plan,'' Obama said at a highway construction site in Springfield, Va. "I am here today... to see why enacting this plan is both urgent and essential to our economy.... The time to talk is past.''

With conflicting versions of an economic stimulus plan having passed both the House and Senate, the president said, "Now we've got a final version to my desk so that I can sign it, so that people here in Virginia and across the country can use it....

"Look around us, look at this construction site, right where we're standing,'' he said. "We're surrounded by unmet needs... and that's the core of my plan, putting people to work, doing the work that America needs done... There's a lot of work that needs to be done.... We've seen the consequences of a bridge collapse in Minneapolis. We've seen the consequences of levee failure in New Orleans... money that's wasted on fuel... in traffic.

"Across the country, states need help, and with my plan, help is what they will get,'' Obama said, touting the stimulus package as "the largest investment in our nation's infrastructure since President Eisenhower created the Interstate highways.''

In Virginia alone, he said, the plan will create or save 100,000 jobs. Caterpillar, which manufactures heavy machinery used at construction sites such as this, has announced 20,000 layoffs, he noted - and on Thursday, he plans a stop at a Caterpillar plant in Peoria, Ill.

"What's at stake here is not abstract numbers... We're talking about real families,'' Obama said. "We're at the doorstep of getting this plan through Congress, but the work is not over.''

The president suggested, to those who call the stimulus too big to be put in place efficiently: "I understand these concerns, but I'm confident that we can do things differently and better...'' As president, he said, he expects "to be judged'' by its success.

"So much depends on what we do at this moment,'' Obama said. "It's about the future of our economy.. and our country.

Twice this week, the president has flown to distant venues - Elkhart, Ind., and Fort Myers, Fla. - to pitch his plan. On Thursday that tour will continue in Peoria.

Today, it was a brief journey from the White House.

The presidential motorcade, with its newly commissioned matching armored Cadillac limousines, rolled around the orange-plastic-weave runoff-fencing of a suburban construction site - the completion of a highway serving a new federal security facility - and Obama stepped out in a dark blue suit on an unseasonably mild winter day, in the low 60s, buttoned his coat and walked up a hill to greet Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The president could be heard calling out: "Good weather.''

Obama and Kaine got a close look at some construction plans, the warm winter sun on their shoulders as a camouflage-suited and black-bereted Army officer explained the lay of the land. His explanation and Obama's questions to him were lost to the din of the lotus-like clicking of the news cameras.

"We're talking about a very critical project in Virginia,'' Kaine said, turning to face the cameras. "We are trying to finish the Fairfax Parkway...

"There are a whole series of small businesses in this area that will also find traffic difficult... if we cannot finish this project,'' said Kaine, hailing the stimulus bill under debate in Washington as the key to completing this project and the jobs that come with it.

"Transportation challenges in northern Virginia are huge... and if we can use construction to stimulate the economy... we can also build that platform for greater economic success,'' Kaine said, calling the stimulus "critical... for a nation that needs to put people back to work.''

After brief remarks by both, the president returned to the motorcade, and it rolled away - another day, another pitch, for a plan which Democratic leaders hope to complete quickly.