House speaker suggests second stimulus may be needed

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on Tuesday she is open to the idea of another economic stimulus package if necessary, given the depth of the economic crisis.

"We have to keep the door open," Pelosi told reporters after a meeting with economists. Her comments followed those of Moody's Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi, who said another stimulus is a "reasonable possibility" given the economic crisis.

Unemployment rose to 8.1 percent in February as the economy lost 651,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported last week.

While another stimulus would require more tax dollars upfront, it would "cost taxpayers less in the long run," said Zandi, who added it would be a mistake not to respond aggressively. For now, House Democratic leaders said they intend to wait to see what effect the $787 billion stimulus enacted last month has on the recession. "We have to make sure the recovery works," said Pelosi, who characterized it as a "fiscally sound package." She also pledged that funding in the stimulus was a one-time event that would not be factored into the baselines of future annual spending bills.

Meanwhile, Senate Democratic leaders are looking to wrap up work on Tuesday on a $410 billion fiscal 2009 omnibus spending bill, with the Senate expected to hold roll-call votes on about five of the remaining seven Republican amendments. Those votes are expected to be followed by a vote to cut off debate, followed by a vote on final passage. Senate aides said an amendment by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., which eliminates automatic cost-of-living increases for lawmakers, represents the toughest vote because it would allow political challengers to accuse senators who vote "no" of voting to increase their pay in a recession. Lawmakers have already voted against receiving pay raises in 2010.

Reid is trying to make a vote against the Vitter amendment easier by giving colleagues a chance to vote on a similar stand-alone bill he has placed on the calendar, GOP senators and staffers said.

"I assume he's going to pull it off the calendar and ask for a [unanimous consent agreement] to pass it and draw votes away from me," Vitter said. Republican aides said that while adoption of Vitter's amendment would force the House to confront the pay raise issue, Reid's standalone bill would never come up in the House, allowing senators to say they voted against a pay raise without altering the omnibus bill with the knowledge that the Reid bill will never become law. "It's a pretty transparent attempt to provide cover for people," said Vitter.

While the Senate wraps up work on the omnibus, the House is preparing another short-term continuing resolution that would keep the government funded in case Congress needs more time to finish work on the bill. The omnibus is made up of nine of the 12 annual fiscal 2009 appropriations bills Congress has not approved. Programs covered by the bills are being funded at fiscal 2008 levels by a continuing resolution that expires on Wednesday.