WORLD> America
Obama to detail economic vision
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-05 21:46

Now, a day after arriving in Washington, he plans to make the trip to Capitol Hill himself.

Linda Fowler, professor of government at Dartmouth College, said Obama's trek to the Hill is "unusual and potentially quite important" since it is more than just a courtesy call.

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"I think it sends an important symbolic message in the sense that it is a very definite break with the Bush-style of policy-making," Fowler said.

Eight years ago, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott got a pre-inauguration meeting with Bush - but to get it, they had to fly to Texas, where the not-quite-yet president-elect received them at his ranch in Crawford.

Obama's early moves suggest that he will do things differently. At 2:30 p.m. Monday, the president-elect will meet Reid and Pelosi in Reid's office. At 3:15 p.m., he'll meet for 45 minutes with the House and Senate leaders and whips from both parties in an ornate room off the Senate floor - a room named after Lyndon B. Johnson.

Front and center at the meetings will be the stimulus package, which could cost $775 billion or more over two years and will include a huge investment to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, provide jobless benefits, pump money into ailing state budgets, invest in energy projects and cut taxes for workers and businesses.

In details provided to Politico Sunday evening, Obama's plan will include a $500 tax credit for individuals and $1,000 for families to offset payroll taxes -- ideas designed to encourage Americans to spend extra cash. In addition, Obama's team is considering a massive tax credit for employers making new hires or averting layoffs and a rewrite of rules to allow for broader tax deductions for businesses.

Those points may help Obama sell the plan to Republican leaders. But the president-elect will have to determine how much further he's willing to go to win over Republicans - especially when doing so risks angering Democrats.

One issue that may hang in the balance: A proposal to allow bankruptcy courts to renegotiate mortgage rates of distressed homeowners. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has sought the measure as a way to help stabilize the mortgage crisis, but some in the GOP call it a deal breaker because of its potential for passing on costs to other borrowers.

Another negotiating point: McConnell is suggesting that money in the stimulus package for state governments come in the form of loans rather than grants. But it's not clear whether Democratic lawmakers - many of whom represent states with huge budget problems - would be open to the idea.