White House cool on second stimulus

The White House said Tuesday that an additional economic stimulus package doesn't seem likely to pass the House on its own, but the president is willing to look at it if Democratic leaders provide more details.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said that with Congress not set to return for a lame-duck session until Nov. 17, she isn't sure what level of urgency congressional leaders are talking about.

{mosads}Perino said that right now the most important thing for the economy is the aggressive and prudent implementation of the financial rescue package.

"The government is determined to use the tools that it has at its disposal because of the economic rescue package to save this economy," she said.

Perino said early looks at the congressional plan indicate that some of the items are "not necessarily things that we think would stimulate the economy."

Congressional Democrats have said their economic plan could cost as much as $300 billion, according to reports, and much of the package would include infrastructure projects that Democrats say would add jobs to the struggling economy.

Perino said there is "a lot of skepticism" about how much the roads and bridges aspect would do to stimulate the economy.

Perino stressed that the administration is working as quickly as possible to implement the financial rescue package, noting repeatedly that it was only signed into law 11 days ago.

The president announced Tuesday morning that the administration is injecting $250 billion into banks to try and free up credit and get the markets moving.

Perino cautioned that it will take some time for these actions to take effect, but she noted that "the markets are responding."

The House tried to pass a $61 billion stimulus package last month, but it failed in the Senate.