STEVE INSKEEP, host:
It's Morning Edition from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
ARI SHAPIRO, host:
And I'm Ari Shapiro. The 111th Congress has barely been seated, and its first order of business is a big one: President-elect Obama's stimulus package. Some lawmakers are saying it could cost a trillion dollars. Congressman David Obey is one of the men leading the package through the House. He's a Democrat from Wisconsin and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and he joins us from his home outside Washington. Good morning.
Representative DAVID R. OBEY (Democrat, Wisconsin; Chairman, House Appropriations Committee): Good morning.
SHAPIRO: You've said you're worried that this stimulus package may not be big enough. Whether we're talking about 750 billion or a trillion dollars, that's a lot of money. How much do you think it's going to take?
Representative OBEY: Well, the answer is nobody knows that. But most of the major economists who are respected on both sides of the aisle are telling us that this is the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. And the last thing we want to do is to wind up doing half measures, and then have to come back and do a double dose later on down the year. It's crucial that we get money pumped into the economy now in order to prevent huge job loss that could otherwise occur in the next six months alone.
SHAPIRO: It looks right now as though the biggest chunk of the stimulus package would go for a tax cut. It's about 40 percent of the package, and we're talking about, maybe, $300 billion here - about $500 per worker. Is $500 per worker really going to help that much?
Representative OBEY: Not alone, it certainly isn't. That's why you have to have a combination of other things that are happening. I mean, we have an opportunity here not only to deal with the job loss that we're looking at, but we have an opportunity in doing that to try to make investments that will make the economy stronger over the long haul.
SHAPIRO: Let's talk about the infrastructure projects that this stimulus package is expected to fund. These are road, bridge-building, etc., projects. How does Congress decide which ones get priority?
Representative OBEY: We don't. On the transportation infrastructure, for instance, we will provide funding through the regular formula for distribution of funds to states.
SHAPIRO: What does that mean?
Representative OBEY: It is states that will determine which projects are going forward. We simply want to make sure that the projects that are funded are those which can put shovels in the ground very early so that you do, in fact, begin to create jobs almost immediately.
SHAPIRO: Some people have said the projects that are ready to go from day one are least likely to be the innovative kinds of projects that could transform America into a functioning, 21st-century economic engine.
Representative OBEY: Well, with all due respect, we have an emergency on our hands, and we don't have the luxury of deciding whether we're going to use some old reliable hoses or find a nice, shiny, new one at the hardware store. We've got to use whatever equipment we have at hand because every month that we delay, we see a rapid, downward, death spiral of this economy. I think everybody understands that governors and state highway commissions have a pretty good idea what's needed at the state level. There are going to be no earmarks in this package in the House. We're going to leave it up to the people who know the most about what's ready to go.
SHAPIRO: So people who are saying this is going to turn into a Christmas tree loaded down with every lawmaker's pet project, you're saying, no, absolutely not, zero earmarks?
Representative OBEY: I can't control what happens in any other body, but I can certainly refuse to bring a bill to the floor if it has earmarks, and that's what I will do.
SHAPIRO: There are also a lot of state legislatures that are meeting, and, as I don't need to tell you, states are in big trouble right now. Some have said they expect to get help from this package. New York, California, Florida have all been very open about this. How much help can they expect to get from the federal government?
Representative OBEY: I am concerned that we will not provide enough help for them. The fact is that we can not afford to have states raising taxes and cutting back services at the same time at the federal level, we're cutting taxes and increasing public investments because that would run counter to the stimulus effort and weaken our economic-recovery actions. This has to be a common effort to recognize that this is a crisis at the federal, state and local level.
SHAPIRO: Representative David Obey of Wisconsin is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Congressman Obey, thank you very much.
Representative OBEY: Thank you.