Dems divided over stimulus plan cuts

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Some Democrats in the U.S. Congress say too much has been sacrificed from the $820 billion economic stimulus measure to gain Republican support.

In negotiations to gain the crucial votes of a few moderate Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Democratic negotiators have slashed some big-ticket items that were included in the version passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, The New York Times reported Sunday. That includes $40 billion in aid to states and localities avoid wide-scale cuts in services and layoffs of public employees.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday called the emerging Senate cuts "very damaging" and said she was "very much opposed to them."

Meanwhile, an overwhelming number of economists from both parties now say a government stimulus package -- even a flawed one -- is urgently needed to help prevent a steeper slide in the economy, The Washington Post reported.

"Most of the things in the package, the big dollar amounts, are things that are pretty quick stimulus and need to be done," Alice Rivlin, who was former president Bill Clinton's budget director, told the newspaper. "Is it a perfect package? Of course not. But we're past that. Let's just do it."