WASHINGTON – Troubled by the rising jobless rate, President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress are assembling a new jobs package that would devote billions of dollars to projects meant to put people back on payrolls in 2010 and keep them working.

Discussions over the scale of the bill are fluid, but lawmakers said the intent was to move swiftly and get a jobs bill to Obama’s desk as early as January.

The renewed push to create jobs is driven by a recognition that the $787 billion stimulus program enacted in February is not a sufficient remedy for an unemployment rate that stands at 10.2 percent. Nearly 16 million people were unemployed as of October, and 3.49 million jobs have been lost since January – the first month of Obama’s presidency, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More here.

Now. How do you suppose lawmakers will suggest paying for this package?

---

---