On Monday, January 5, President-elect Barack Obama flew into Washington to meet with key Congressional members to finalize an economic stimulus package. Obama has hopes that he will sign the stimulus package by the first week of February. The package includes infrastructure and energy products and $300 billion in tax cuts for middle class workers. The total cost of the economic stimulus package is expected to be around $775 billion, although there are estimates that it could cost over a trillion.

Congressional Republicans worry that in their haste, President-elect Obama and Congressional Democrats will push through an unnecessarily expensive bill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, has stated, “This is an enormous bill. Do we want to do it with essentially no hearings, no input … from Republican senators?”

            President-elect Obama had originally hoped for the package to finalized and ready to sign for his inauguration on January 20, but both top Democrats and Republicans have stated that this would be very difficult to achieve. Resistance towards passing this bill could create a backlash, especially for the Republican Party, which is still reeling from the loss of the White House and both Houses of Congress.

Stan Greenburg, a Democratic pollster from Greenburg Quinlan Rosner, stated that it would be a final marginalizing act for Republicans if they filibustered, especially “when the Republican brand seems to be declining and many Americans aren't sure what the GOP stands for.” However, there are signs that moderate Republicans will support the stimulus package, which is all that Congressional Democrats need to successfully pass the bill.