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In hopes of having the new president gain immediate access to bailout money already approved by Congress when he takes office Jan. 20, his economic team and the Bush administration have discussed the possibility that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would ask lawmakers soon for access to the $350 billion remaining in the Wall Street rescue fund.

The transition team also has asked the head of the rescue program at the Treasury Department to remain in that position for a short time after the inauguration to help assure a smooth transition, according to an Obama official.

If Congress fails to enact a big economic recovery plan, Obama's advisers estimate that an additional 3 million to 4 million jobs will disappear before the recession ends. Obama's team also noted that with or without the plan, the jobless rate by 2014 would be the same.

The president-elect agreed on Friday to modest changes in his proposed tax cuts. Democratic congressional officials said his aides came under pressure in private talks to jettison or significantly alter a proposed tax credit for creating jobs, and to include relief for upper middle-class families hit by the alternative minimum tax.

The new report is likely to intensify debate as economists outside the Obama team begin delving into the analysis. The report, for example, estimates that the unemployment rate at the end of 2010 would be 1.8 percentage points lower if the plan is enacted.

Top Democrats on Capitol Hill say there is far more agreement than disagreement on the major parts of the recovery plan: aid to cash-strapped state governments, $500-$1,000 tax cuts for most workers and working couples, and a huge spending package blending old-fashioned public works projects with aid to the poor and unemployed and a variety of other initiatives.

But it needs restrictions, Republicans say, to ensure prudent spending.

University of Maryland economist Peter Morici said the analysis attempted an economic justification for a political decision. He said evidence suggests that working class families would spend the modest tax credits -- $500 per individual or $1,000 per family -- on low-cost, imported products that do little for the U.S. economy. He also said state and local governments don't need as much aid as Obama is proposing.

"They should stick to the infrastructure spending" in the plan and jettison much of the rest, Morici said in an interview, because that is the most likely proposal to provide a short-term economic boost and long-term benefits.

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