Wednesday, January 28, 2009; 6:23 PM

With no Republican support, the House approved an $819 billion stimulus plan that will serve as the cornerstone of President Obama's efforts to resuscitate the economy, an early victory for the new president but still a disappointment because of the lack of Republican votes.

The measure passed 244 to 188, with 11 Democrats and 177 Republicans voting against it.

The two-year economic package includes $275 billion in tax cuts and more than $550 billion in domestic spending on roads and bridges, alternative-energy development, health-care technology, unemployment assistance, and aid to states and local governments. It would also provide up to $500 per year in tax relief for most workers and more than $300 billion in aid to states for funding to help rebuild schools, provide health-care to the poor and reconstruct highways and bridges.

Despite a last-minute lobbying campaign by Obama -- including coming to the Capitol yesterday for separate closed-door meetings with House and Senate Republicans -- Republicans opposed the measure and argued that it spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Democratic initiatives that would do little to stimulate the economy or create jobs.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) heralded the legislation as the first down payment on Obama's pledge, in his inaugural address, to provide "bold and swift" action to revive an economy that is losing more than 500,000 jobs a month, including 65,000 layoffs announced just this week.

"He said he wanted action, bold and swift, and that is exactly what we are doing," Pelosi told reporters before the vote.

A $475 billion Republican alternative, which focused heavily on reducing individual and business taxes, was rejected largely on party lines. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), a member of the GOP leadership team, ridiculed the Democratic plan as a "typical bill that is full of wasteful spending."

After Democrats initially estimated the plan would cost $825 billion, the Congressional Budget Office announced this week its total cost would come to $816 billion, with about 65 percent of those funds spent by September 2010. During today's debate, lawmakers added $3 billion for transit funding.

The Senate is expected to consider a separate bill next week, which could carry a price tag of nearly $900 billion, with a goal of sending a final version to Obama's desk by President's Day.

The stimulus debate comes on the heels of congressional action in mid-January that released $350 billion to Obama's new Treasury secretary, Timothy J. Geithner, to use in the effort to free up the credit markets, part of the massive financial rescue package approved last fall.

Hours before the House vote, President Obama told a group of about 100 business leaders that Congress must not delay in efforts to restart the economy and put people back to work.

"The businesses that are shedding jobs to stay afloat, they cannot afford inaction or delay," Obama said at a White House gathering this morning. "The workers who are returning home to tell their husbands and wives and children that they no longer have a job, and all those who live in fear that theirs will be the next job cut -- they need help now. They are looking to Washington for action, bold and swift."

In his remarks this morning, Obama called the meeting with the industry leaders "sobering."

The president directly challenged GOP critics who say the proposed legislation would not inject money into the economy for many years.

"Most of the money we're investing as part of this plan will get out the door immediately and go directly to job-creation, generating or saving 3 to 4 million new jobs," he said.

Although Republicans in the House were not persuaded, Obama was not deterred in reaching out to them. The White House announced this afternoon that he had invited Senate and House leaders from both parties for a cocktail party at the White House at 7:30 p.m.

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