In effort to build support,Obama details stimulus

This is not a short-term program to boost employment, Obama said. Its one that will invest in our important priorities like energy and education,health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive.

The speech was part of a campaign by the White House to build momentum behind the plan and propel it to passage by mid-February. The White House released a report on Saturday revealing details about the package,which would pay for projects,like laying 3,000 miles of transmission lines for a national electric grid,securing 90 major ports and guaranteeing health insurance for 8.5 million Americans in danger of losing coverage.

The administration plans to press the lobbying effort in coming days. Obama,who hosted Congressional leaders on Friday and met with his economic team on Saturday,will visit Capitol Hill in the coming week to talk with Republican lawmakers.

But House Republicans are stiffening their resistance to the magnitude of spending in the plan developed by House Democrats on Obamas behalf. About two-thirds of the $825 billion is reserved for spending and the rest for tax breaks.

Representative John A Boehner of Ohio,the House minority leader,has called for more tax cuts. Boehner,pushed a Republican plan to lower federal income tax rates in two lowest brackets. The Republican plan would also give tax breaks to small businesses,home buyers and unemployed. Our plan is rooted in the philosophy that we cannot borrow and spend our way back to prosperity, Boehner said.

Boehner cited numbers to counter Obamas,saying the House Democratic plan included $600 million for the federal government to buy new cars,$650 million for digital television coupons and $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. He said,The plan would spend a whopping $275,000 in taxpayer dollars for every new job it aims to create.

The White House report offered details about how Obama intended the money to be spent. The Obama plan would double the generating capacity of renewable energy over three years,enough to power six million American homes. It would retrofit two million homes and 75 pe r cent of all federal buildings to better protect against the weather,saving low-income homeowners an average of $350 a year in utility costs and the government $2 billion a year.

The White House also envisions using loan guarantees and other financial support to leverage $100 billion in private sector investment in clean energy projects over three years. The plan would help 8.5 million Americans keep healthcare coverage by providing workers who lose insurance with tax credits to pay for continuing coverage under the federal law known as Cobra,and by expanding Medicaid coverage for low-income Americans who lack access to Cobra.