By David Alexander
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama went to the U.S. Capitol on Monday to campaign for swift passage of a huge spending and tax-cut package he hopes will stem a deepening recession.
"The reason we're here today is because the people's business can't wait," Obama, who takes office on January 20, told reporters at a start of a meeting with Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
"We've got an extraordinary economic challenge ahead of us," Obama said. "We're expecting a sobering job report at the end of the week."
According to a Reuters poll, economists are expecting Labour Department data on Friday to show payroll jobs dropping by 500,000, bringing job losses for all 2008 to about 2.5 million.
Obama's Capitol visit came on the eve of the opening of the new Congress where passage of a stimulus package, expected to cost about $775 billion (531 billion pound) over two years, will be the top objective.
Democrats had initially hoped to have such a package ready for Obama to sign the day he takes office on January 20.
But they now say it will take at least a month or so longer to put together an initiative that can draw needed bipartisan support to clear a possible Senate Republican roadblock.
Obama planned meet later on Monday with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and then hold talks with key lawmakers of both parties, including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader John Boehner.
(Writing by Thomas Ferraro; additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by David Wiessler)
