Pelosi: House should have stimulus bill ready soon

[December 09, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House of Representatives is ready and committed to having an economic stimulus bill ready by early January.

Pelosi said Tuesday that members of the House are "working on that right now." And she also said that a major part of the discussion is what elements are needed to both restart the economy and stabilize the job market.

Pelosi told NBC's "Today" show that "this is a priority" for Democrats and said that "we have been begging" for over a year to do this.

The California Democrat did not put a pricetag on such a stimulus bill, but she did say it would have to be larger than initially envisioned because of the deterioration in the health of the economy. Congress passed a $168 billion stimulus plan last year and President Bush signed it into law.

[Associated Press]

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