Biden says deal near on US economic stimulus plan

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The incoming Obama administration is nearing agreement with congressional Democrats on a huge emergency spending bill intended to jolt the weak U.S. economy and create 3 million jobs over two years, Vice President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

Asked whether an agreement on the shape of a massive economic stimulus bill would be reached by Christmas, Biden said, "I think we're getting awful close to that."

But he refused to divulge how much the measure would cost taxpayers. In recent days, some government sources have talked about moving a bill through Congress next month with a price tag in the range of $675 billion to $775 billion.

Others have speculated on a possibly even larger overall expenditure to pay for road and bridge rebuilding, investments in mass transit systems, middle-class tax cuts and expanded aid for states and the poor.

Reacting to the worsening economy, which the government on Tuesday said shrank by an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the third quarter, Biden noted that the incoming administration has had to raise its job-creation goals to 3 million, from earlier projections of 2.5 million, over the next two years.

Biden added, "We don't think it's going to require any significantly larger increase in investment to do that."

In upbeat comments about the outlook for the economic stimulus legislation Congress will consider when it convenes on Jan. 6, Biden said, "It's clear that we're all on the same page, including our Republican colleagues" on the need for a "substantial" bill to create jobs.

He added, "We're all getting very close to an overall number and we're getting close to the specific kinds of investment."