President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet with congressional leaders at the White House on Monday afternoon in an effort to press Congress to move swiftly on an $800 billion-plus economic stimulus package, Associated Press reported. Obama said Sunday he was confident Republicans will come around to support the final version of the legislation, repeating what his top aides and officials have been telling reporters in recent days, that the final package would be close to its objectives _ to save or create 3 to 4 million jobs _ and Republicans would be able to back it. With the president continuing to forecast a dire short-term economic outlook, senators from both parties signaled a readiness to negotiate, particularly on Republican proposals aimed at reinvigorating the housing market. The housing collapse in the second half of last year set in motion the worst U.S. economic decline in 80 years «It's going to take a number of months before we stop falling,» Obama said in a television interview linked to NBC's coverage of the U.S. professional football championship, the Super Bowl.
