Obama to Make Sales Pitch on Stimulus Package
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The president's stimulus plan is teetering on the edge of the Senate, and the White House has all hands on deck trying to sell the plan. But with just three Republican senators currently on board, plenty of the GOP are pushing back. Jim Acosta live in Washington this morning. Good morning, Jim.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Here is a window into the way Washington works. The Senate version of the bill now is roughly 60 percent spending and 40 percent tax cuts. That's roughly the political breakdown of the Senate, almost 60 percent Democrat and 40 percent Republican. Despite all the political wrangling that is going into this legislation, the White House is not sending out its top strategists to debate the stimulus. Instead, it's the administration's top economists who are warning the public of dangers of doing nothing.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): If at first you don't succeed, sell, sell again, and the sales pitch from top White House economists is sobering.</s>LARRY SUMMERS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: It's worse than I think most economists like me ever thought we would see.</s>CHRISTINA ROMER, DIRECTOR, COUNCIL OF ECON. ADVISERS: You know, the numbers that are coming out that I certainly have been watching since I joined the transition, are quite frankly truly frightening.</s>ACOSTA: On top of that, the administration is navigating through a near stimulus stalemate, with just three Republicans supporting the Senate bill's massive $827 billion price tag. The legislation more than $1 billion a page.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We're laying multi trillion dollars of debt on future generations of Americans. I can't support such a thing.</s>SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: Every economist agrees that government spending in a recession is essential. So this bill isn't perfect, but it's essential.</s>ACOSTA: The Senate package is roughly the same size as the House version but huge cuts in education and aid to states will be hard to swallow for House democrats and both versions have to be reconciled.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We will have a bill that will pass the House when we come out of the process with the Senate.</s>ACOSTA: All eyes are on Speaker Nancy Pelosi who's called some of the cuts very damaging. Other House leaders say they're listening.</s>REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: Nobody should say it's my way or the highway at this point in time. Let's get something big and done now.</s>ACOST: Highways are just what the administration has in mind, insisting its plan will put people to work. New transportation secretary and former Republican congressman Roy Lahood told John King on "State of the Union," the stimulus will inject money into worthy projects.</s>RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: There aren't going to be any earmarks or boondoggles, this money will be spent correctly by the book with no shortcuts.</s>ACOSTA: Here's a number. Three. That is how many Republicans have signed onto the stimulus plan not just in the senate but in the entire Congress. Still leading Senate Democrats say the bill could get to the president's desk by the end of the week. Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Jim Acosta, live in Washington. Thanks, Jim.</s>ROBERTS: Well, today, President Obama is trying to reshape the debate over his stimulus plan and convince the American people that it will make their lives better. He's visiting a town in Indiana that has an 15 percent unemployment rate that twice as high as the national average. My next guest is dealing with similar economic problems in his city. Democratic Mayor Virg Bernero joins me now from Lansing, Michigan. Mr. Mayor, we had you on the air on Friday, and it proved to be quite invigorating and enlightening. So we thought we bring you back again today for more commentary. First of all, let me ask you, when the president appears today in Elkhart, Indiana to try to sell the stimulus package, what are you hoping to hear from him?</s>BERNERO: Well, look, we need the stimulus. I mean, I like what I've been hearing, and I think he's looking out for the little guy. He's trying to make sure that the little guy isn't left behind. We've seen the rescue packages not on his watch for Wall Street and now Main Street America. You know the working people need some help, and I think President Obama understands that. But you know, we've talk about this, John, I mean, unless we do something about trade. Unless we do something real, this stimulus. This is essential. I mean, it's a lifeline. It's a shot in the arm, the American worker needs, but this stimulus will be nothing but a mirage if we don't deal with the underlying problems that got us here to this economy. The good jobs are leaving America. You know, the American dream is in danger. Our standard of living has been outsourced. And so we've got to do something about those problems or this will be very ephemeral. It will be very temporary. The American worker is fed up. They're beaten down. They're sick and tired. They need help.</s>ROBERTS: And there are an awful lot of people in this country who would absolutely agree with you on that point, Mr. Mayor. But to the finer point here in the stimulus package, in the Senate version which will be voted on tomorrow, tens of billions of dollars have been removed, some $40 billion which was going to states and local municipalities such as yours, may not see the light of day. What do you think about peeling those provisions back from the stimulus package?</s>BERNERO: Look, you know, we need a balance in the stimulus, the idea of tax cuts as long as it's going to middle class and low and middle income people, that's fine. That will be helpful, money in the pocket will be helpful, but I still say, John, the best stimulus is a good job.</s>ROBERTS: Right.</s>BERNERO: These people want stimulating good jobs. We have productive people in America and they need to be productive in good jobs.</s>ROBERTS: So if you don't get that money for states and local governments, infrastructure projects and you have laid out a whole plan of what you would do with that money, can you do what you need to do to stimulate jobs in Lansing?</s>BERNERO: Look, we -- no, we need the infrastructure. There's no question about it. And the infrastructure spending is a great investment. It's a two-fer. Because it puts people to work right now. And look, we can't have any economic development if we don't have infrastructure. Our infrastructure is crumbling. In Lansing and across this country, we had to borrow $3 million just to make our roads passable last year. We have, of course, now things are thawing out and once again we see the potholes and the trouble because over decades they have not been maintained. We do not have the money to do that. The stimulus, the infrastructure -- I don't think anybody argues with that. There's no debate that it's wasteful, that is needed and it will put people to work, that's great. And so I hope the president -- I know he'll keep fighting for that and they ought to do what's reasonable. We need that stimulus.</s>ROBERTS: But there are some lawmakers who are saying while the infrastructure spending may be a good idea, what they're concerned about is oversight and accountability as to how that money is spent. Senator John Ensign on the Republican side raised some concerns about that over the weekend. Let me just let you hear what he said about it.</s>SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: So we have to be concerned about the amount of spending that is in his bill. It has to be responsible. I believe in infrastructure spending if it's done and it's done right. But what we shouldn't do is just spend money for the sake of spending money.</s>ROBERTS: So he's saying he wants to see accountability. And I know that you ran into some trouble with your own city council who thought that your plan, that they hadn't been fully consulted on your plan. They said hey, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mayor Bernero, where is the accountability here? You just came up with this plan, and you didn't tell anybody about it, how do we know that the money is going to be spent appropriately?</s>BERNERO: Well, mayors everywhere will feel understand and feel my pain when it comes to council relations, but we're doing much better now. Look, it's hilarious to hear senators talk about oversight when it comes to spending money. We're accountable at the local level. I'll put our record, local government, mayors across this country record up against the U.S. Congress any day of the week and you ought to talk, you look at opinion polls and see who Americans trust. They trust their mayors and their local officials. Because they can come right down to city hall and demand answers and they'll get those answer. I don't mind oversight. They can put all sorts of oversight. Give us the money for infrastructure. We know what potholes need to be repaired, OK. Our residents know where the potholes are. They'll tell us. We'll fix those roads. We'll fix those bridges. We know where the problems are. We're not in Washington with our head in the clouds. We need that infrastructure money. We need the investment. And the American worker needs investment and commitment. These are the people that gave away the store. Give me a break. These are the folks that colluded with Wall Street to create this mess that shipped our jobs overseas. And now they're going to lecture as about accountability. Please.</s>ROBERTS: Mayor Virg Bernero, it's good to catch up with you again this morning. Let's do it from time to time here as the stimulus package makes its way through Capitol Hill.</s>BERNERO: Fantastic. Thanks a lot, John.</s>ROBERTS: All right. See you again soon. Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Whew. I'm totally awake now. Stimulating debate. $600 million spent on new rides for government officials. Whether buying your congressman a green car could save you money in the long run. And Congressman Dennis Kucinich wants to hold bailed out banks' feet to the fire. He will join us live to tell us exactly how he plans to do that. It's 37 minutes past the hour.