GOP Leaders React to Obama's Speech

And I look forward to seeing that plan, the details of that plan, and a willingness of our colleagues on the Democrat side of the aisle to work with us to craft a plan that can pass in a bipartisan fashion.

SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY.): Had an opportunity yesterday, Republican senators did, to meet with several well-known economists who would generally be considered more conservative. Each of them agreed with the president, the incoming president, that we need to do a stimulus -- stimulus package.

Obviously, the issue is, how big and what form? As Leader Boehner has indicated, a $1.2 trillion deficit is an eye-popping number, and that's what we're confronting for this year with our regular annual appropriations process, not to mention all of these additional items that we're talking about.

So we are fully prepared in the Senate, the Republicans in the Senate, to work with the administration to try to determine with them how big and what the content ought to be.

It's clear to me from listening to the president, the new president, that he wants to include Republican ideas and among them, that I've laid out in the last few days, are reducing the middle-class tax rate. He -- he, the new president, today again underscored that there will be a significant tax component. It's still a little unclear as what it will look like.

I think the quickest way to get money in the hands of people who can spend it would be to reduce the middle-class tax rate, which is currently at 25 percent, for example, down to 10 percent.