The next, 111th, Congress begins work on January 6th, and the talk is all stimulus. The proposed $775 billion package to aid the ailing U.S. economy was originally planned to be presented for President Obama’s signature right on the Inauguration day of January 20th. But looks like President Obama will have time to spray the Oval Office with FabrezeTM that night, instead of being tied up by a signing ceremony. Both the Senate and the House leadership already hedged the expectations for a speedy passage of a huge spending bill, saying that getting the stimulus right is more important than getting it fast. Over the weekend, Obama's aides announced that President-elect wants to see about 40 percent of the stimulus package, or approximately $300 billion, go to tax cuts. This will undoubtedly earn some Republican support, but is also intended as a follow-through on the campaign promise of “Making Work Pay.” The largest piece of the proposed tax relief would go to people who pay income taxes or who claim the earned-income credit, in other words, low- and moderate-income, giving them a credit of $500 per individual or $1,000 per family. There are some attractive tax credits for businesses included in the proposal, such as business losses write-offs and one-year tax credit for companies that make new hires or forgo layoffs. Of course, what exactly will end up in the stimulus will be subject to much "horse-trading" over the next 6-8 weeks (the Congressional leadership has now set the target date for the legislation to pass by the next Congressional recess on February 13th). Economists are waiting with abated breath, but majority seem to agree that the bigger the stimulus, the better. The Federal Reserve Presidents who had gathered for an economic conference in San Francisco over the weekend spoke in favor of “pulling out all the stops” in government’s efforts to stem the recession’s tide, since this appears to be the worst recession in most professional memories.