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President Barack Obama said his administration and Congress will reach agreement within weeks on an $825 billion stimulus plan to cope with what may be an “unprecedented” economic crisis.

While there are “some differences” between his administration and lawmakers on the details, Obama said the legislation is “on target” for passage by mid-February.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented, perhaps, economic crisis that has to be dealt with,” Obama said today as he began a meeting with nine Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House, his first such session with lawmakers since taking office on Jan. 20. He also called for greater oversight of spending by financial institutions that get bailout money.

Obama is confronting a weakening economy and eroding investment values. Average home prices in November dropped 8.7 percent from a year earlier, the most in at least 18 years, the government said yesterday. Housing starts fell 16 percent last month, the number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits climbed to a 26-year high, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has lost 7.9 percent since the start of the year.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was among those in the meeting, said afterward that lawmakers expect to get the legislation to Obama’s desk before the Feb. 16 President’s Day holiday, when Congress is scheduled to take a break. “If not, there will be no recess,” the California Democrat said.

Democrats’ Plan

Legislation crafted by House Democrats includes $358 billion for public works projects, $192 billion in other spending and $275 billion worth of tax cuts. The Senate has begun work on part of its version of the stimulus plan, which includes $275 billion in tax provisions, including cuts for businesses and producers of renewable energy that differ from the House package.

Congressional Republicans say Democrats are moving too quickly to enact proposals that may prove ineffective.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, gave Obama a list his party’s ideas at the meeting, including reducing the two lowest income tax rates to 5 percent and 10 percent from 10 percent and 15 percent. That would save a married couple up to $3,200 a year in taxes, Republicans said.

The Republican plan also proposes more generous tax breaks for small businesses, making unemployment benefits tax-free, and providing a $7,500 tax credit to home buyers who can make a minimum down-payment of 5 percent. The Republicans urged Obama to reject future tax increases to offset the cost of additional government spending.

Differences

“I recognize there are still some differences around the table and between the administration and members of Congress,” Obama said, adding that both sides are unified in seeing the need to take action.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said there was “significant discussion” of a Congressional Budget Office analysis released earlier this week that most of the public-works spending in the stimulus plan won’t take place until sometime after 2010 payday loans for bad credit.

White House budget director Peter Orszag, in a letter to lawmakers, said the administration is “committed” to ensuring that “at least” 75 percent of the $825 billion economic stimulus package is spent by the end of the next fiscal year.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he was pleased by the tone of the meeting and the willingness of Obama and the Democrats to listen to Republican ideas.

Deadline

“I do think we’ll be able to meet the president’s deadline,” McConnell said after coming out of the White House.

Boehner said he remains concerned about the size of the spending portion of the stimulus plan. “We believe spending nearly $1 trillion is more than we ought to be putting on the backs of our kids and their kids,” he said.

Obama, a Democrat, has scheduled a meeting with all House and Senate Republicans for next week.

The president criticized the way some companies getting federal bailouts are spending their money, and he said stricter accountability will be part of any future assistance.

He cited “the reports that we’ve seen over the last couple of days about companies that have received taxpayer assistance then going out and renovating bathrooms or offices or in other ways not managing those dollars appropriately.”

Redecorating

While Obama didn’t mention any individuals or companies, his comments followed reports that John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch & Co. chief executive officer ousted yesterday, spent $1.2 million redecorating his downtown Manhattan office last year as the company was firing employees.

Thain oversaw the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America Corp. last month. Merrill’s $15.4 billion fourth-quarter loss forced Bank of America to seek additional aid from the U.S. government, which last week agreed to provide $20 billion in capital and $118 billion in asset guarantees.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president has directed his economic team to come up with new restrictions on the second half of the $700 billion financial-rescue plan so the money won’t “line the pockets of people” who’ve gotten financial assistance.

“The American people need to be greatly assured that their hard-earned money is not going to the bonuses or the remodeling of an office at a bank that’s in trouble,” Gibbs said.

The restrictions would follow principles already outlined to Congress by Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council, and Timothy Geithner, Obama’s nominee for Treasury secretary, Gibbs said.

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