Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Fox News: Democratic congressional leaders practically declared victory Wednesday afternoon, as the House of Representatives prepared to vote on the $819 billion economic stimulus package.

The massive recovery package has stirred consternation among Republicans who say their ideas are not being adequately considered. But Democrats have a comfortable majority in the House and stressed that fact in a talk with reporters.

“If there is somebody who is disgruntled, so be it. But we will have an overwhelming vote,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. She and more than a half-dozen other Democrats touted the bill and chided Republicans for pushing what they called the kind of failed policies that led to the economic crisis.

“The Republicans are talking about process. I think when you lose the argument on substance, on policy, what do you do? You talk about process and you talk about personality,” she said.

Meanwhile, House Republican leaders were standing firm in their opposition to the stimulus plan. Just ahead of the House vote, they insisted that their own plan, focusing on tax relief, would create twice as many new jobs — 6.2 million — as the plan Obama is pushing, while costing about half as much.

House Minority Leader John Boehner said Republicans remain “disappointed” in the stimulus plan coming to a vote. He says it includes a “lot of wasteful spending that won’t create jobs.”

He says the GOP plan for “fast-acting tax relief” would “create jobs and preserve jobs in America.”

As the House debated a slew of amendments on the floor Wednesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs downplayed the disagreements over the bill.

“Tonight starts the beginning of what we know is going to be a long process,” Gibbs said, adding that the White House hopes the bill can be signed by mid-February. “Tonight will be a very important first step.”

The House measure had been estimated to cost $825 billion, but the Congressional Budget Office updated the bill’s price tag to $816 billion after accountants recalculated the cost. That total rose by $3 billion when the House approved on a voice vote a Democratic amendment for mass transit.

Earlier Wednesday, President Obama tried to assure skeptics who say the package is too costly and contains too many measures that will not stimulate job growth.

He called for “bold and swift” action and said that the stimulus package before Congress will make critical investments in the private sector as well as the national infrastructure.

“We will invest in what works,” Obama said, pledging to release information about how the money is spent.

In an earlier appearance, Obama said he’s confident the bill will pass but preferred not to speculate on how much Republican support he will get when the roll is called. Obama had said earlier that Republican support would back up his argument that a new style of bipartisan politics is needed in Washington.

Asked whether he was confident of getting Republican support, he replied only: “I’m confident we’re going to get it passed.”

His program is expansive — and expensive. Republican support remained in doubt in the hours leading up to the vote.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell also expressed skepticism about the bill pushed by House Democrats.

Senate committees were working on a separate version of the measure that enjoyed only slightly more support from Republicans. Congressional leaders have promised Obama they would send him the measure, which could be the single largest bill ever to go through Congress, by mid-February.

The president’s first days in office have been dominated by his efforts to drum up bipartisan support for the sweeping plan to help pull the country out of the year-old recession that he inherited from President Bush. The increasingly troublesome economy — and the federal government’s response to it — is the first major test of Obama’s presidency. How he handles the volatile situation, and the effect of his stimulus package on the economy, could set the tone for his first year in office, if not his entire term.

He is casting the measure as the first step toward turning around the moribund economy while laying the foundation for long-term objectives, like developing alternative energy sources and rebuilding the country’s highways.

The House measure includes about $550 billion in spending and roughly $275 billion in tax cuts in hopes of spurring the economy and helping those directly affected. Much of the spending would be for items such as health care, jobless benefits, food stamps and other programs that benefit victims of the downturn.