TODAY'S PAPERS: Republicans Refuse To Play Ball on Stimulus

All the papers give front-page play to the massive economic stimulus package that will come up for a vote in the House today, which USA Today says is President Obama's "first test of the bipartisanship he pledged in his campaign." Obama visited Capitol Hill yesterday to urge Republican lawmakers to support the $825 billion stimulus plan, but most Republicans are still unconvinced even as they were careful to praise the president for listening to their concerns. The New York Times goes with a two-story lead examining the stimulus package's effect on education as well as a look at how the bill would provide Democrats a fast-track way to fund many initiatives that have long been priorities for the party. The Wall Street Journal points out that the Senate version of the bill is now getting close to reaching the $900 billion mark. The Washington Post leads with a look at how Obama's advisers are discussing several options to prop up the nation's financial system. They're all bound to be unpopular and, as a bonus, there's absolutely no guarantee that any of them will work. It seems the White House will try a combination of several programs instead of hoping that one plan provides the magic touch, which raises the risk that the response will be seen as haphazard. None of the ideas being discussed are new: a federal protection against losses backed by mortgages and loans, a new institution to buy up toxic assets, and an injection of taxpayer money into troubled firms in exchange for ownership, which could result in "nationalization in all but name." The Los Angeles Times leads with data that show more than 236,000 homes went into foreclosure in California last year, which is more than the previous nine years combined, and a record 404,000 borrowers defaulted on their payments. While previous foreclosures could mostly be blamed on people who took on mortgages they couldn't afford, now it looks like many of those who are defaulting are doing so because of the loss of a job or income in a state that now has 9.3 percent unemployment.To continue reading, click here.