ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
And I'm Melissa Block.
This was the week that politicians of all stripes acknowledge that the economy is in trouble. This morning, President Bush attached a dollar figure to the economic stimulus package he's been hinting at all week. He said, he'd like to see as much as $150 billion in tax rebates and other measures to keep the economy from slowing any further. And he says he's ready to work with Congress to make it happen.
But as usual, the devil is in the details, and as NPR's Jim Zarroli reports, one of many unanswered questions, is who would get the rebates and who would not.
JIM ZARROLI: It was as one reporter put it a sort of love fest, at least, in public. Both President Bush and congressional leaders said they really truly were ready to set aside their ideological differences and focus on the kind of measures that will stop the economy's drift.
President GEORGE W. BUSH: And I believe there's enough broad consensus that we could come up with a package that can be approved with bipartisan support.
ZARROLI: President Bush said he thought that in order to be effective, any stimulus package should be about 1 percent of the nation's gross domestic product or a little less than $150 billion. That's the top end of what congressional leaders are calling for.
Not only is the White House ready to work with Congress to get a package out, it's ready to do so quickly, said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Secretary HENRY PAULSON (U.S. Department of the Treasury): And then I can tell you when we get the legislation, we're going to run like a bunny here to get the relief out.
ZARROLI: Speed is a essential right now because if U.S. officials wait too long, the stimulus will come too late to do any good. David Wyss, the chief economist at Standard & Poor's, says that means both sides have to be willing to set aside their pet projects.
Mr. DAVID WYSS (Chief Economist, Standard & Poor's): So they can keep it simple. They got a shot at getting this thing through quick. The danger is that one side or the other decides to hang a lot of ornaments on the Christmas tree.
ZARROLI: One ornament is the president's tax cuts which are now set to expire after 2010. Democrats have said that demanding an extension of the cuts as part of a stimulus package would be a deal breaker. The president today said he still thinks that the cuts are critical but he's willing to put off a fight to later.
Another potential stumbling block is the question of who should get the rebates. A lot of republicans think the rebates should only go to people who end up having to pay income tax, but Democrats say they should go to everyone who works whether they owe taxes or not. Again, David Wyss.
Mr. WYSS: Politically, as long as everybody gets the same amount, I don't think the Democrats have too much trouble with giving the rich people the same amount as the poor people. But of course, a lot of people on the other side would like it to be more proportional to the taxes paid, which doesn't give you as much boost.
ZARROLI: Today, the Bush administration was tight-lipped. Treasury Secretary Paulson repeatedly refused to answer reporters' questions about what kind of stimulus package the White House wants. The most he would say was this…
Sec. PAULSON: The president, again, is focused on broad-based tax relief for those who are paying taxes.
ZARROLI: Paulson also made clear that the White House wants the stimulus package to go to businesses as well as individuals. For their part, Democrats in Congress seem willing to consider that. Democrats have been working on a broader package of cuts that would be targeted at lower and middle-income individuals.
But New York Senator Charles Schumer didn't want to talk about that today.
Senator CHARLES SCHUMER (Democrat, New York): Other than to say I think there's a pretty strong belief among Democrats that - you know, and among economists, that the UI extension works very well..
ZARROLI: UI is unemployment insurance. And Democrats say they want to make sure it gets extended. Economist David Wyss says they're likely to get their way.
Mr. WYSS: My guess is that's going to be done, one way or the other because it's always done when the economy goes into recession.
ZARROLI: Beyond that, both sides say they're willing to negotiate and they have plenty of incentive to try. There is little political downside to a stimulus package and plenty of risks to doing nothing particularly if the economic slowdown becomes a recession.
Jim Zarroli, NPR News.
BLOCK: You can find more about the Democratic and Republican plans to boost the economy at npr.org.