By Jeremy Pelofsky and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday sought to revise their $900 billion economic stimulus plan to drum up enough Republican support so they can send it to President Barack Obama next week to sign into law.
The Democratic-led Senate entered a third day of debate on the package, which Obama wants on his desk by Feb. 16, in a bid to reverse the downward spiral of the U.S. economy, which has been in recession since December 2007.
Democrats need at least two Republican votes to clear possible procedural hurdles and Obama wants healthy bipartisan support for the package after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed its own stimulus plan last week with no Republican support.
"We hope that as the debate continues, people will only offer those amendments they think will really help the bill," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said late on Tuesday.
"With a little bit of luck we might be able to finish this bill" this week, the Nevada Democrat said.
That may not be so easy as Republicans are pushing to trim the spending portion and boost tax cuts and incentives, floating several alternatives.
The bill started in the Senate at about $885 billion but senators on Tuesday added $11 billion to it by making interest payments on new car purchases tax deductible, an attempt to spur sales amid record auto losses.
They also added an additional $6.5 billion for medical research, but cut $246 million in tax credits for the movie industry.
Republicans have complained that the legislation does not address the housing crisis sufficiently and spends money on programs that would not boost the economy. They have floated some alternatives but have yet to offer amendments on the Senate floor.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier this week said they did not want to block the legislation but strip out some of the spending and add further tax cuts and incentives they argue will kick-start the ailing economy.
"There's plenty of room to cut in this bill, it's time we started doing some of it," the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
But Republicans are not the only ones with reservations about the growing stimulus package.
Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, is working with Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, to strip out spending that has been criticized as being ineffective and shift some of the money to more construction projects.
In an early test vote on Tuesday, senators rejected an attempt by Democrats to add $25 billion for construction projects after Republicans objected to the cost. The bill already contained $27 billion for highway investments.
Collins is scheduled to meet with Obama later on Wednesday at the White House in what is a series of meetings the president is holding with individual senators on the stimulus package, according to a congressional aide. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)