STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to testify today before lawmakers on that issue, as NPR's Brian Naylor reports.
BRIAN NAYLOR: Here's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
NANCY PELOSI: Again, it's about confidence. And I think nothing would restore more confidence in the American people than if we could come up with a bipartisan initiative right away that says we are working together.
NAYLOR: Democrats say a stimulus package could be on the president's desk in as few as 30 days. Pelosi met with Republican House leaders yesterday to present a united front on the urgency of the problem. House Minority Leader John Boehner spoke to reporters afterwards.
JOHN BOEHNER: There's no question there's a threat to the economy. And so there is an agreement that we will work together to try to bring forward a package that truly is stimulative that will happen quickly, and those conversations are going to continue in the coming days.
NAYLOR: Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York.
CHARLES SCHUMER: Direct injections of cash into the economy, through both immediate consumer and government spending, are the shots in the arm needed to ward off a recession. In fact, many economists believe that spending stimuli have a greater immediate effect on the economy than tax cuts.
NAYLOR: The Joint Economic Committee Schumer chairs heard testimony yesterday from a panel of economists. Former Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers says any stimulus should add up to $75-100 billion and maybe twice that.
LAWRENCE SUMMERS: Economic cooling is a much greater risk today than economic overheating. There is sufficient weakness in the economy now to justify stimulus legislation that will take effect as rapidly as possible.
NAYLOR: Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling.
JEB HENSARLING: Perhaps one thing we agree on in Congress is that a stimulus package is needed. But we think it is more important, those of us on this dais today thinks it's more important to stimulate paychecks than stimulate welfare checks.
NAYLOR: Brian Naylor, NPR News, the Capitol.
INSKEEP: You can learn more about some of the options for jumpstarting the economy by going to our Web site, npr.org.