Obama gets tough on need for stimulus plan

The White House is upping the pressure on the need for a massive economic stimulus package, as US Senators continue to wrangle over the details. President Barack Obama says no plan will be perfect and everyone should work to make it stronger. “A failure to act and act now will turn crisis into a catastrophe, and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future,” said Obama.

Republican Senators are trying to limit the ballooning size of the stimulus package, the cost of which has already gone above the equivalent of 700 billion euros. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said: “The President has tried to set some priorities. Unfortunately Democrats just keep throwing more money on top of an already incredibly bloated bill. At some point we’re going to have to learn to say no.” In one of the latest amendments to the package, Senators agreed to help the housing market with an expanded tax credit for home buyers. But some other attempts to scrap spending projects in favour of more tax cuts have so far failed.More about: Barack Obama

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