WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON - Last month after taking office, President Barack Obama called upon Congress to pass a large economic stimulus bill quickly in an effort to bolster the flagging economy. The House gave him what he wanted yesterday, and the Senate followed suit late last night.
And with a White House signing ceremony expected early next week, one of the biggest experiments in government economic policy since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Depression will begin: a $787 billion attempt to create millions of jobs and pull the nation out of an increasingly dangerous financial crisis.
It reflects a quick victory for Obama on his first big legislative initiative, thanks in large part to an unusually solid display of unity by congressional Democrats and a pragmatic willingness to sacrifice cherished provisions in order to win over the handful of Republican Senate votes needed to avoid a GOP filibuster and secure final passage.
At the same time, Obama failed to obtain the wide bipartisan support he had sought. No Republicans voted for the bill in the House yesterday, and just three supported it in the Senate. And while Democrats cheered and applauded yesterday, Republican leaders denounced the bill as overstuffed, wasteful and unlikely to help revive the economy.
The Republicans' near-total opposition presages even harder fights to come on health care reform, new aid to banks and other major issues on the president's agenda.
The bill provides billions for infrastructure repair, school renovations, aid for cash-strapped states, and aid for the unemployed in the form of health care subsidies and extensions of unemployment benefits.
It also features a set of tax cuts designed to leave more money in the hands of businesses and individuals.
Republicans heaped particular criticism on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"It's a one-party bill," said Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican whip, after the bill passed in the House by a 246-183 margin. "We weren't allowed to write one word of this bill."
Obama met with leaders of both parties at the White House and in a trip to Capitol Hill, and he increased the share of the package devoted to tax cuts in an effort to lure GOP support.
But many congressional Democrats were reluctant to make further concessions, and it appeared that the GOP made a strategic decision to stand fast against the bill.
