McConnell and other Republicans suggested that the bill needed an overhaul because it doesn't pump enough into the private sector through tax cuts and allows Democrats to go on a spending spree unlikely to jolt the economy.
Appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," the Republican leader also said Democrats had not been as bipartisan in writing the bill as Obama had said he wanted.
"I think it may be time . . . for the president to kind of get a hold of these Democrats in the Senate and the House, who have rather significant majorities, and shake them a little bit and say, 'Look, let's do this the right way,' " McConnell said. "I can't believe that the president isn't embarrassed about the products that have been produced so far."
Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the number two Republican in the Senate, said he was seeing an erosion of support for the bill and suggested that lawmakers should consider beginning anew.
"When I say start from scratch, what I mean is that the basic approach of this bill, we believe, is wrong," he said yesterday on "Fox News Sunday."
Obama said in an interview yesterday that he is confident Republicans will come around to support the final version of his economic recovery legislation.
"I've done extraordinary outreach, I think, to Republicans because they have some good ideas and I want to make sure those ideas are incorporated," Obama said. However, he said the important thing is that the bill passes, not the party vote.
Obama also told NBC's Matt Lauer during a live pre-Super Bowl interview that his administration would announce plans to spend the second $350 billion round of the bank bailout after Congress deals with the separate stimulus plan.
Senate Democrats defended their almost $819 billion version of Obama's stimulus plan, which is set for debate this week, and said they were open to considering changes by Republicans. But they said the unrelentingly bleak economic news demanded action.
"We cannot delay this," said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Democrats' number two leader. "We can't engage in the old political rhetoric of saying, 'Well, maybe it could be a little bit better here and a little bit better there.' We've got to pull together."
