WASHINGTON - With the economy the No. 1 issue just eight weeks from Election Day, majority-party Democrats are trying to push a second stimulus package through Congress to follow the tax rebate checks sent out earlier this year.
So far, Republicans aren't joining the march, echoing the reservations expressed by presidential nominee John McCain and the White House.
Pressure is building for lawmakers to do something - anything, perhaps.
Democratic leaders plan to forge ahead with a $50 billion stimulus package in the short time Congress will be in session between now and the election.
"It's about jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs - a four-letter word," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday, discussing possible contents of a stimulus package.
She spoke just days after the government reported that the unemployment rate bolted to 6.1 percent in August, the highest rate in five years. Economists took the jump as a recession warning.
Also, business growth is slowing, food and energy prices remain high and the housing and financial markets remain distressed.
The shape of the stimulus package is still undecided, but proposals to repair roads, extend federal unemployment benefits, increase home energy subsidies, provide disaster assistance payments and provide aid to automakers are expected to be considered.
Campaigning Monday in hard-pressed Flint, Mich., Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama urged Congress to pass a second stimulus package "so that people would have a little more money in their pockets." He wants the package to include a tax rebate for individuals and aid to states for education, health care and other costs.
Despite the darkening economic clouds and growing Democratic passion for a new stimulus package, passage of such legislation could still be a long shot.......
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