Reed

Rhode Island’s U.S. senators are discussing the possibility of a second economic stimulus package, a position that puts them at odds with President Obama.

Mr. Obama has said that the $787-billion stimulus, approved four months ago, needs more time to filter through the economy and reverse job losses. On Sunday, the vice president, Joe Biden, argued that it is “premature to make the judgment” on the massive recovery package.

But Rhode Island’s senators may be running out of patience. Since Mr. Obama signed the stimulus, the jobless rate in Rhode Island has risen from 10.5 percent to 12.1 percent.

Of the $155 million in stimulus funds the state has spent, only $1.6 million have gone to the so-called shovel-ready transportation projects designed to hold down unemployment. The bulk of the money has plugged holes in the state budget and propped up social-service programs.

“We may very well need to do a second stimulus,” Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse told ABC News on Monday, responding to a question about a Providence Journal story about the stimulus. “It is probably needed.”

In May, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed defended the stimulus after Governor Carcieri, a Republican, questioned the pace of federal spending. Now, Reed, too, is suggesting that the stimulus might not be strong-enough medicine for the ailing economy.

“The only way we’re going to get the economy out of the slump is to get people back to work and to stabilize housing values,” Reed said in an interview with MSNBC. “I don’t think we should rule out a second stimulus package.”

The White House declined to comment on the dissent from the Rhode Island Democrats, saying Biden had addressed the issue over the weekend.

In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Biden defended the stimulus, although he joined critics in questioning the pace of the spending. “What we have to do now,” he said, “is we have to properly, adequately, transparently and effectively spend out the $787 billion.”

From the start, Mr. Obama has said that the stimulus would be rolled out gradually, and substantially more money is scheduled to be spent in the 2010 fiscal year than in 2009. The White House estimates that the package will preserve or create four times as many jobs in its second 100 days as in the preceding 100.

Critics, however, say the architects of the stimulus underestimated the severity of the economic crisis.

On Sunday, Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-most powerful Democrat in the House, acknowledged that the stimulus was not meeting expectations. “I don’t think anybody can honestly say that we’re satisfied with the results so far of the stimulus,” he said.

Economist Paul Krugman, writing in his New York Times column on Tuesday, put it more bluntly. “OK, Thursday’s jobs report settles it,” he said. “We’re going to need a bigger stimulus.”

In Rhode Island, the effects of the stimulus will almost certainly be clearer in the coming months, as tens of millions of dollars in transportation spending finally reaches struggling construction companies and their suppliers.

In all, Rhode Island expects $1.1 billion in direct stimulus aid, not counting the billions of dollars that could come in competitive grants from federal agencies.

But as the jobless rate goes up across the country –– it hit 9.5 percent in June –– so will the pressure on lawmakers to funnel more money into the economy.

That Rhode Island’s senators are even contemplating a second stimulus suggests that the pressure on them is already high.

It would appear that the stimulus –– passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by a Democratic president –– should be popular in a state where only 11 percent of registered voters are Republican.

But on Monday, Whitehouse strayed far from Mr. Obama’s stimulus talking points. “The sooner we can get these jobs out to people, the better off they will be and the sooner the economy can begin to turn around in a way that means something to regular people and not just to bank executives,” Whitehouse said. “We’ve got a job to do to speed that up.”

bgedan@projo.com