By David Clarke, CQ Staff

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday outlined what would be a massive government investment in both the country’s technological and physical infrastructure as part of an economic stimulus or recovery bill Congress plans to consider next month.

Obama said his plan for investing in roads, bridges and other parts of the country’s physical infrastructure would be the “single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s.” He did not say specifically how much he wants to spend.

With news about the nation’s economy continuing to be bleak, Obama and Democrats are working on an economic stimulus bill that could be considered by Congress next month and possibly signed into law shortly after the new president takes office Jan. 20. Currently, Democrats are discussing a bill that would cost about $500 billion and provide funding for states facing budget shortfalls, to social service programs for the poor and for infrastructure projects. The legislation also is expected to contain a tax element, although it has yet to be decided if that will be a one-time rebate or a long-term tax cut.

During his weekly radio and Web address Saturday, Obama focused on the infrastructure part of his plan and outlined five areas he would like to see addressed in the bill:

• Making public buildings more energy efficient.

• Funding for roads, bridges and other parts of the country’s physical infrastructure.

• Repairing and modernizing schools;

• Providing broadband access to more parts of the country.

• Making sure all hospitals and doctor’s offices have access to patient’s electronic medical records.

“When Congress reconvenes in January, I look forward to working with them to pass a plan immediately,” Obama said. “We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least two and a half million jobs so that the nearly two million Americans who’ve lost them know that they have a future.”

Democrats have pushed to pass a much smaller economic stimulus or recovery bill in recent months but have not been able to overcome objections from the White House and congressional Republicans. GOP leaders have argued that the programs Democrats want to fund would not jumpstart the economy in the short-term and would balloon an already large budget deficit. House Republicans in particular have urged that any stimulus plan focus primarily on tax cuts for individuals and businesses rather than new government spending.

Democrats in recent weeks have argued that their recovery plan is intended to do more than stimulate the economy over the next year and that infrastructure funding is aimed at creating more jobs over several years while building the base for future economic expansion.

As he showed Saturday, Obama has not been shy about building expectations for the Democrats’ plan. Beyond his proposal for massive spending on roads and similar projects, he said his plan for funding school construction projects “will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen.”