Source: Lori Montgomery, Washington Post ( Free Registration )

With fears rising that the nation stands on the precipice of a prolonged recession, House Democrats are contemplating a huge infusion of public cash—as much as $300 billion—to stoke economic growth by creating public jobs and padding the wallets of struggling consumers.

A spending package of that magnitude would be far larger than anything Congress has previously considered and would be nearly twice as big as the stimulus measure President Bush signed in February. At a two-hour “economic summit” hosted yesterday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), an array of influential economists told lawmakers that a truly massive spending package is needed to forestall economic disaster.

“There was a good deal of sentiment among economists for something really big,” said Brookings Institution economist Alice M. Rivlin, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board who attended the meeting. “People are really worried that we could be slipping into a deep recession.”

Read Full Article: Large, new stimulus package considered