High noon for stimulus

President Obama will meet with skeptical House and Senate Republicans on Tuesday as he seeks to prevent partisanship from boiling over on the economic stimulus bill while GOP lawmakers lobby for major changes to the measure that is moving quickly through Congress.

The outcome of the two separate meetings with chamber Republicans will be telling, because Obama is unlikely to revamp the legislation that is scheduled for a House floor vote on Wednesday.

{mosads}Republicans are expected to press the president strongly on the stimulus bill, and if the meeting becomes tense, it would quickly remind voters that partisanship in the nation’s capital — despite Obama’s vow to reduce it — is alive and well.

There are risks for Republicans as well. If they are highly critical of the popular president, Democrats could portray them as “childish” — a pointed word used by Obama in his Inaugural address to denigrate political gamesmanship.

Unless there are changes to the stimulus bill, a vast majority of House Republicans will vote against it. And even if Obama agrees with Republicans on policy changes, they will likely have to be made in the form of amendments or in conference with the Senate, because the House Rules Committee was expected to clear the $825 billion bill for floor debate Monday night.

Senate Republicans have been less vociferous in opposition than their House counterparts, though not one GOP senator has signed on to Obama’s bill.

The purpose of Tuesday’s meetings with Republicans has more to do with lessening the potential tone of opponents than with picking up votes, said Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University and longtime congressional scholar.

“Voting against it is one thing, but making a big oppositional pageant is something [Obama] wants to avoid,” Baker said.

Republicans have been pleased with Obama’s commitment to bipartisanship, but they stress that actions speak louder than words.

Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) said on Monday that Obama must reduce the earmarks in the stimulus bill. While Democrats have claimed the legislation does not have earmarks, others have countered that the language is written in a way to avoid attracting the “earmark” label.

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Obama needs to present the GOP some areas where he can give, whether it be on tax breaks or earmarks.

“It’s possible for Obama to gather Republican support,” Blunt told The Hill on Monday.

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had discussed the idea of Obama meeting with Republicans long before the president’s Inauguration.

“He was invited to come up and spend some time with us and talk about whatever it was he wanted to talk about,” Kyl said. “I don’t know exactly what he’ll bring up, but I’m sure there will be some comments, questions, and an exchange with him.”

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) said Obama needs to seek more tax cuts and also suggested that he rein in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has scaled back minority rights in the House.

Barring a change in the political winds, Obama’s first economic stimulus package will attract far less bipartisan support than President Bush’s last one.

A year ago, the $152 billion economic stimulus bill passed the House 385-35 and cleared the Senate 81-16.

While this year’s economic stimulus legislation is much larger than the 2008 version, it is Obama’s No. 1 priority. If the bill is approved by Congress with minimal GOP support, the partisan nature of how the legislation got to his desk will be a key storyline when Obama signs the measure.

{mospagebreak}In recent days, Democrats have noted that they won the 2008 elections, taking back the White House and significantly increasing their majorities in Congress.

During a meeting with Democrats and Republicans late last week, Obama reminded the GOP of November’s results, saying, “I won.”

Along those lines, Democrats say they are willing to work with Republicans but are not going to meet them halfway because voters soundly rejected the GOP’s economic plan last fall.

{mosads}“The issue here is that the legislation is moving and Republicans have a choice to make: work in a bipartisan way to see this legislation become law or continue to advocate for policies of the past that have resulted in millions of jobs lost and the American economy in crisis,” a Democratic leadership aide said. “We hope they choose to work with us, because the challenges are just too great.”

Kyl, acknowledging Obama’s “I won” comment, said, “Well, that’s true. And so he gets to decide what he wants in his package. The question is, do you want Republican votes or not? If you want Republican votes, then you’ll have to take some Republican ideas.“

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on Monday that Obama will meet with House Republicans around noon, and then with Senate Republicans. He added that Obama is looking forward to the opportunity to “defend and discuss” his economic plans with congressional Republicans.

Asked whether Obama is prepared to make significant changes to the economic stimulus bill if that’s what it takes to get Republicans on board, Gibbs responded, “Well, we’ll see what he hears [on Tuesday].”

Meanwhile, some conservative Democrats in the House, the so-called Blue Dogs, are growing more frustrated with how the stimulus bill has grown in scope over the last week.

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said many of his fellow Blue Dogs had “a lot of concerns” with the size of and provisions in the marked-up bill, and voiced those concerns to leadership last week.

“I think we’re kind of wandering from Obama’s vision,” Cooper said. “We shouldn’t wander too much from what the president wants. This is his vision. We should want to help him succeed.”

And if Congress keeps steering the bill in the direction of “a congressional barbecue,” as Cooper described it, then “we’re going to lose [Democratic] votes,” he said. Cooper voted against the 2008 stimulus package.

An aide to a Blue Dog leader made it clear late last week that Cooper was not speaking for the entire group. And Blue Dogs continued to suggest they were prepared to support the stimulus bill provided that promises of real, long-term fiscal reform measures are kept.

“Blue Dogs want [statutory pay-go] in short order, and they are very firm on that,” the Blue Dog aide said.

Pelosi should have a better indication of how many caucus fires she needs to put out after the results of a preliminary whip count on Tuesday afternoon, a veteran Democratic aide said.

“Right now it seems throughout the caucus like nobody’s happy with this,” the aide said. “Maybe that’s the sign of a good bill — that nobody’s happy with it. But there are problems with the Blue Dogs, the New Dems, the liberals, even all of the freshmen who voted to disapprove of the bailout.

“And the real problem comes after Wednesday when it comes back from the Senate and it’s even bigger,” the aide said.

J. Taylor Rushing and Sam Youngman contributed to this article.

Chart: Differences in tax provisions proposed by Senate and House Democrats for the economic stimulus legislation (.PDF)