Obama pushes stimulus with hard-hit Americans

ELKHART, Indiana (Reuters) – Warning against paralysis in Washington, an energized President Barack Obama began a new drive on Monday to win passage of an $800 billion economic recovery plan he said would help put millions back to work. "Endless delay or paralysis in Washington in the face of this crisis will bring only deepening disaster," Obama told a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, a city whose jobless rate has soared in the past year. The president, in office three weeks, is trying to regain momentum after a week in which a key cabinet nominee withdrew in a flap over unpaid taxes and his push for a stimulus plan hit unexpected snags in the Democratic-controlled Congress. The House of Representatives has approved an $819 billion economic recovery plan, while the U.S. Senate is expected to pass an $827 billion measure, but fashioning a compromise could be difficult because the two versions differ on tax cuts and spending. Obama flew to Elkhart, a center for recreational vehicle manufacturing, to appeal directly to voters hard hit by the recession, and he scheduled his first White House news conference for Monday evening to make a national appeal for Congress to move quickly on his economic plan. "I am calling on Congress to pass this bill immediately," Obama said. "Folks here in Elkhart and across America need help right now, and they can't afford to keep on waiting for folks in Washington to get this done." Obama said an independent, bipartisan board would oversee spending to make sure the money was not wasted.