THE U.R. VS THE DEMOCRATS:

Hill leaders say no stimulus by Jan. 20 (MIKE ALLEN, 1/4/09, Politico)

House leaders had hoped for a vote the week of Jan. 12 on a stimulus bill that’s likely to total $800 billion or so.

That way, the House could send the bill over to the Senate — or even get it to the new president’s desk — in time for the Inauguration on Jan. 20. But House Democratic sources now tell Politico a vote the week of Jan. 19, or even later, is more likely.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said on “Fox News Sunday” that he doubts such a large bill can pass in time for the Inauguration.

"[I]t's going to be very difficult to get the package put together that early so that it can have sufficient time to be reviewed, and then sufficient time to be debated and passed," Hoyer said. "But we certainly want to see this package passed through the House of Representatives no later than the end of this month, get it over to the Senate, and have it to the president before we break for the [Presidents Day] break [in] early February. ...

"We're going to move quickly. We're going to move as quickly as possible, given our responsibilities to make sure that we're passing a package that will work."

Hoyer added: "I'm for public hearings and I hope we're going to have public hearings."