Pelosi, Reid seek meeting with Bush on stimulus

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Friday asked President Bush to meet with them to discuss an economic stimulus package after he returns from a Middle East trip.

The Democratic leaders expressed their concern over the “deteriorating state of the economy” and said they would urge Bush to work with the congressional majority to jointly fight off a potential recession.

{mosads}“Prominent economists associated with Republican and Democratic administrations have called on us to supplement monetary policy with an immediate fiscal stimulus,” Reid and Pelosi said in a letter to Bush. “These same economists have stated that the most effective and responsible stimulus policies adhere to three simple principles: they must be timely, targeted and temporary.”

The Democrats expressed their desire to work with the White House and congressional Republicans “to immediately develop a legislative plan based upon these principles so it can be passed and implemented into law without delay.”

Reid and Pelosi also cautioned Bush not to announce a plan on his own until both sides had met to discuss the issue.