WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s team and congressional staff are scrambling to come up with details of a plan to pump up the economy with $650 billion or more in government spending over the next few years.
The aides met in the basement of the Capitol on Friday to devise ways to pump public money into science, energy, education, health care and infrastructure programs, as well as to help the poor and unemployed.
They hope unleashing a torrent of spending in the near term will create jobs and lift the economy. Some Obama aides think the plan could swell to about $850 billion after negotiations with Congress
Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress want to enact the still-emerging plan as soon as possible after he takes office Jan. 20. They hope to agree on an outline by Christmas, said a House Democratic leadership aide, who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks.
The plan would be the largest investment in public infrastructure since the federal highway system was established in the 1950s. It also would provide tens of billions in dollars of aid to financially strapped states.
Obama declined Friday to put a price tag on his plan but said the economic problems require a bold approach.
“I’m not going to give you a number because we’re still making these evaluations,” he said at a Chicago news conference. “But you are exactly right that what we’ve seen, in terms of the evaluation of economists from across the political spectrum, is that we’re going to have to be bold when it comes to our economic recovery package.”
