A second stimulus package is in the works.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Democratic leaders are putting together a second economic stimulus package costing as much as $150 billion and are likely to call Congress back shortly after the election to vote on the measure, according to several Democratic leadership aides.

The details are still in flux, but one aide said the price tag would be "somewhat north of $100 billion" and would include "a heavy emphasis on help to state and local governments." One way to help states would be to fund the mandatory state match for Medicaid programs so that states would not have to slash education and other programs to cover it.

Before Congress recessed last week for the election, the House of Representatives passed economic aid measures totaling $61 billion to fund infrastructure projects, money for states' Medicaid costs, and unemployment assistance. But these bills failed to attract enough support in the Senate and the White House opposed them.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, traveling in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday, said, "With all that happened in the past few weeks, it probably has to be more like a $150 billion to invest in our economy, to create jobs, to help the states, to help men and women across the country."

Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders are scheduled to meet with a group of economists on Monday in Washington to discuss the size and the components of a stimulus plan, the Democratic aides said. These aides indicated that in addition to aid to states struggling with their own budgets, the package could include things similar to what the House passed before, such as infrastructure money, an extension of unemployment benefits, food stamps, and more money for low-income energy assistance.

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(CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner are releasing the following statement on the progress of the economic bailout deal:

"We continue to work closely with Secretary Henry Paulson, Chairman Ben Bernanke, and with Democratic and Republican members of the House and Senate to improve the Administration’s initial proposal to stabilize the financial markets. Our shared goal is to make the proposal more accountable to taxpayers.

Working in a bipartisan manner, we have made progress. We agree that key changes should be made to the Administration’s initial proposal. It must include basic good-government principles, including rigorous and independent oversight, strong executive compensation standards, and protection for taxpayers.

We are committed to continuing to work cooperatively, and on a bipartisan basis to safeguard the interests of American taxpayers."

(CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sending a letter to President Bush pressuring him to offer a "comprehensive and effective systemic response to ongoing market turmoil."

"We need to hear from you about a comprehensive and effective systemic response to ongoing market turmoil — one that will restore stability, grow our economy, create jobs, and insulate hardworking, middle-class Americans on Main Street from Wall Street’s crisis," Pelosi writes in the letter.

She also says Congress will be willing to stay on Capitol Hill beyond the target adjournment date of September 26 to deal with the problem.

Full letter after the jump

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Obama's campaign manager briefed House Democrats Wednesday.

(CNN)– Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe briefed House Democrats Wednesday on the campaign's strategy to win the White House and bolster the Congressional Democrats’ majority in November.

According to several Democrats who attended the closed door meeting, Plouffe explained the campaign’s plan to enlarge the electoral map by committing resources to states that have traditionally voted Republican.

Rep Jan Schakowsky, D-Il, a national co-chair Obama's campaign, said Plouffe explained "various ways to get to 270 electoral votes." He gave a power point presentation with an analysis of the 18 states the campaign sees as the key battlegrounds.

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Boehner is leading a group of Republicans to ANWR.

(CNN) – As congressional Republicans step up criticism of Democrats for not allowing votes on legislation that would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, House GOP Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, is expected to announce Thursday that he’s leading a group of 10 House Republican freshmen on a trip to ANWR next week, a senior Republican aide told CNN.

Calling the trip the "American Energy Tour," the Republican Members will stop first at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado on Friday, July 18. From there the group will travel to Alaska and visit Prudhoe Bay on Sunday, July 20th, and then embark on an aerial tour of the potential drilling area in ANWR. The group will also meet with local tribal leaders in the small community of Katovik, Alaska.

Nadeam Elshami, spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said: "Depending on how long their weekend is, there are 68 million acres already leased to oil companies that could be drilled today and which Republicans can visit — and to lower gas prices now instead of ten years from now — they should join the Speaker in calling on the President to release some oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."

The Republican aide said the purpose of the trip is to highlight the GOP’s comprehensive approach to help lower gas prices, calling it “the all of the above energy strategy."

“This is not just about drilling in ANWR. This is a roadmap to our energy future," the aide said. “We'll be looking at our immediate short term goal, and then the longer term, looking at renewable sources like solar and wind, research in every area, in the next generation of energy technology."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) — In addition to meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus Thursday, Obama is also planning to meet with female members of Congress at the Democratic National Committee, according to several congressional sources.

One Democratic aide described the lunchtime meeting with the legislators as a follow-up to one Obama had last week with 28 female members of Congress — roughly half Clinton supporters and half Obama supporters — at Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s home. The aide said the Obama campaign is organizing Thursday's meeting and it’s open to “any female Member of Congress who wants to attend.”

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Two congressional sources say that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is scheduled to attend a special meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

Obama is the only Senate member of the 42 member caucus. Throughout the primary season, CBC members’ support was fairly evenly split between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Obama is meeting with another key Hill group this week, attending the first in a series of meetings with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Tuesday night.

Jim Johnson and other members of Obama’s VP search team took to Capitol Hill Monday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Members of Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential search team had a "good, long discussion" with top House and Senate Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill over potential running mates Monday, one participant said.

Two members of the team, James Johnson and Eric Holder, met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for just over 30 minutes before heading over to speak with House leaders, a senior Democratic aide told CNN. They wrapped up their sessions Monday evening after a meeting with House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emmanuel, leaving without answering reporters' questions.

But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he had a "good, long discussion" with Johnson and Holder and added, "They mentioned a lot of names."

"What they're doing is talking to, I think, a lot of people about the alternatives and views that people have about the alternatives," said Hoyer, D-Maryland. Asked whether anyone raised the possibility that Obama's former rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, could be on the ticket, he responded, "I think it would be reasonable to assume that all of the alternatives were considered."

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Sen. Barack Obama shakes hands at after an event in Virginia.

WASHINGTON (CNN)–Members of Senator Barack Obama's vice presidential search team are meeting this afternoon with top House Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to discuss potential running mates, according to several Congressional sources.

The team vetting Obama's V.P. pick is scheduled to meet individually with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md, House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, D-SC, and House Democratic Caucus chairman Rahm Emanuel, D-Il. It's unclear whether the team will also meet with Speaker Nancy Pelosi later today or at another time.

One aide described the meetings as a chance for the Obama campaign "to show respect for party leaders and ask advice." This aide downplayed the significance of the meetings, noting there have been similar consultations in previous elections.

(CNN) — Several of Hillary Clinton's congressional supporters have nixed their plan to write a letter to Barack Obama advocating he ask the New York Democrat to serve as his running mate.

According to Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the supporters felt the letter would be misunderstood as them demanding the Illinois senator choose Clinton.

"We've decided to communicate our views informally," Schultz said Thursday.

Pelosi said the race is over.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that the Democratic presidential race is over, and it's time to rally around the party's nominee.

"Running for President is not for the faint of heart. This is very difficult, and people have to unwind from it in their own time, but I think the message was clear last night. The people have spoken, the elections are over for the nomination. Barack Obama is the nominee of the Democratic party," Pelosi said.

The California congresswoman, who remained neutral throughout the primary season, said Senator Hillary Clinton should be able to take some time before formally conceding — but stressed the party's need to shift its focus to the general election.

Asked about a Friday deadline she and other party leaders set for uncommitted superdelegates, Pelosi said it's time for those undeclared party officials to get behind Obama: "Now it's time to rally around that person and attribute to him all that goes with being — carrying the banner of the Democratic party and all the dignities that go with it."

Pelosi praised Senator Clinton as a female trailblazer. "The campaign of Senator Clinton is one that will down in the history books as a great one for our country, breaking what I call the marble ceiling, what they call the glass ceiling. Glass is easy compared to the ceiling that she broke, couldn't be prouder of her."

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Pelosi and Reid are pushing undeclared superdelegates to weigh in.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The top two Democrats in Congress are coordinating an effort to get uncommitted superdelegates to publicly endorse a candidate and bring the Democratic presidential nomination fight to a conclusion.

A senior Democratic aide tells CNN that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is already calling uncommitted superdelegates and pressuring them to back either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton between now and next week. Pelosi is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

In an interview with a San Francisco radio station on Thursday, Reid said he spoke to Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. “We all are going to urge our folks next week to make a decision very quickly," Reid said.

A DNC aide confirmed that Reid and Dean spoke, but said it was the latest in a series of conversations the Democratic leaders have had on this topic.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Republicans have changed their new slogan about change.

After losing a hotly-contested Mississippi congressional seat this week, their third straight special election defeat in a row, House GOP leaders planned a public relations offensive, including a rollout of a new agenda pegged to the slogan, "The Change You Deserve."

It turns out the phrase matched a tagline for the anti-depressant drug Effexor. As word of the similarity got out, Democrats had a field day ridiculing Republicans.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, told reporters Wednesday, "Democrats, not drugs, is what the American people need."

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, D-Illinois, released a list of what he called the side effects of "Republican rule,” including “nausea because what they did to the economy makes people sick to their stomach."

Asked Thursday morning if he was planning to change the slogan, House Republican Leader John Boehner said "No. I think it's working just fine."

But in an e-mail later that afternoon from GOP Conference Chairman Adam Putnam to House Republicans, the new agenda had a new name — “The Change America Deserves.”

A memo sent out hours later from Boehner's political action committee to GOP candidates also included the new slogan.

Pelosi said Wednesday the Democratic race should continue.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Wednesday the Democratic presidential race is not over yet and that it is still possible for Senator Hillary Clinton to win.

“I think the race is alive and well and will continue,” Pelosi said during a news conference to promote Democratic energy proposals.

Pelosi, who has repeatedly said she remains neutral in the Democrats’ nomination battle, was asked whether Clinton's slim margin of victory in Indiana meant her campaign was finished.

"A win is a win. A win is a win. Let's just call it what it is," Pelosi said.

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House Democratic leaders unveiled new legislation Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Defying President Bush's demand to send him a clean war funding bill, House Democratic leaders unveiled legislation Tuesday that conditions the money on withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and adds billions of dollars in domestic spending.

House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, outlined a $183.7 billion package that combines money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the remainder of 2008 with additional funding requested by the administration to continue military operations through early 2009.

Democrats insisted their bill stays roughly within the overall spending limit set by the White House, but they included two major domestic items — unemployment assistance and a new GI Bill that expands college benefits for veterans — that would cost about $12 billion. Obey argued the add-ons are emergency spending and therefore shouldn't be included in the overall price tag.

The bill would redirect over $3 billion of the president's request to pay for additional international food aid, levees in New Orleans and more resources for military childcare centers and hospitals.

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(CNN) — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is accusing the House Republicans’ campaign committee of illegally coordinating advertising with an outside group in a competitive Louisiana special election.

The DCCC, which works to elect House Democrats, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday arguing there’s evidence The National Republican Congressional Committee was involved in a TV script for an ad by the conservative group Freedom' s Watch. According to campaign finance laws, it is illegal for party committees to coordinate with outside groups within 90 days of a federal election.

The ad says that Democratic candidate Don Cazayoux will raise taxes if elected. Democrats say the document for the ad script sent to Louisiana television stations includes a stamp, referred to as "metadata," that shows “NRCC.”

Democrats argue that Freedom's Watch launched the TV ad right after the NRCC finished a week-long run of an ad with similar images of Cazayoux.

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(CNN) — As presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain battle over whether to accept public financing in the general election, a top McCain campaign official was on Capitol Hill Friday trying to reassure House Republican staff members that the campaign’s fundraising woes are not as bad as they appear.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis described how a fundraising structure would be set up if McCain decides to take public financing, according to two aides who attended the meeting.

"This was the campaign saying that everyone is predicting doom and gloom, but we have a plan in place to compete with Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton," one GOP aide said.

At a briefing for about 100 GOP staffers at the Capitol Hill Club, Davis and other senior campaign advisors explained that the campaign plans to raise money through the party’s RNC Victory Fund and multiple state party Victory Funds. This would add to the $84 million in public money it would be limited to spending by the Federal Election Commission. Campaign officials emphasized that state party chairs would be given more responsibility and a greater role in the campaign.

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McCain's senior staff is headed to the Hill Friday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senator John McCain's presidential campaign and congressional Republicans are stepping up their efforts to coordinate campaign strategy and political messaging.

McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis and senior policy advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin are scheduled to meet Friday morning on Capitol Hill with the chiefs of staff for all Republican House members, according to several GOP congressional aides.

"This is the campaign generally starting to take on the mantle of the leadership. McCain now becomes the standard bearer of the Republican message," Sean Noble, campaign spokesman for Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., one of McCain's early Hill supporters, told CNN.

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Pelosi is sticking to her superdelegate argument.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In wake of the new jobs report, Speaker Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders are calling on President Bush to work with Congress on another economic stimulus package.

"Today’s disturbing unemployment numbers, combined with Chairman Bernanke’s recession warning, and threats to our standard living because of the rising costs of gas, groceries and health care compels the President to work with Congress on a second stimulus package to get our economy back on track, create jobs, and speed assistance to families struggling to make ends meet,” Pelosi said in a written statement.

Pelosi added, “When congressional leaders meet with the President next week, I will urge him to refocus his attention on America’s economy and to again work in a bipartisan manner on a new stimulus package. We need to work together to restore consumer and market confidence, to assist millions of Americans threatened with the loss of their homes, and to help families meet the rising costs of necessities

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, D-Illinois, said, “We need an economic program that rebuilds America and offers real help to the middle class. The Democratic Congress will now begin work on a second stimulus package to help American families and get our economy back on track.”

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