Still, Democrats are wary of slowing down the economic stimulus by provoking the opposition of Republicans, who have warned in recent days that the package must be neither excessive nor rushed. They are also fielding concerns from fiscally conservative Democrats.

In his address on Saturday, Obama, just off a two-week vacation, also announced that, as expected, he would begin meeting in Washington on Monday with Congressional leaders of both parties in a bid for bipartisan cooperation.

“Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don’t act swiftly and boldly,” Obama said, “we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double digit unemployment and the American dream slipping further and further out of reach.”

Obama has pledged to “create or save” three million jobs over the next two years. In his address, he omitted the word “save,” suggesting he would create three million jobs, a goal that many economists consider unattainable under current conditions.

His plan, he said in his address, would “put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow” through spending and tax incentives to double production of renewable energy; make government buildings more energy efficient; build and renovate roads, bridges and schools; and modernize health care technology.

A main factor slowing down the Obama team’s drafting, it is now apparent, has been the difficulty of reconciling his sometimes conflicting directives.

The president-elect called for including in the plan only proposals that would quickly stimulate the economy. Typically that means one-time spending that gets money into consumers’ hands quickly to spark demand for goods and services.

... contd.