SNAP ANALYSIS: Obama toughens talk, scales back ambitions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has scaled down his ambitions for gaining a big bipartisan majority for an economic stimulus plan, toughening his rhetoric against Republicans.

- His declaration that the "time for talk is over" and that Republicans are misguided by trying to add more tax cuts to the legislation appeared to signal he would be satisfied with only a narrow victory in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress. Obama did compromise to some degree by agreeing to make a modest cut in the plan's cost to win over a few Republican votes.

- Two polls this week have suggested Americans are suffering some degree of heartburn at the size of the stimulus package, which emerged from the House of Representatives with an $819 billion pricetag and could soar higher once it clears the Senate.

- Lest public support slip away, Obama and others on his team, including Vice President Joe Biden, have made remarks daily arguing the stimulus is needed quickly to give the economy a dramatic boost.

"Crisis could turn into catastrophe for families and businesses across the country, and I refuse to let that happen," Obama said at the Energy Department on Thursday. "We can't delay, and we can't go back to the same worn-out ideas that led us here in the first place."

That last jibe was aimed at congressional Republicans who want more tax cuts added to the legislation because they believe it would put more money into Americans' pockets to spend and give the economy a needed burst of energy.

- What this means is the age-old divide between Democrats and Republicans lives on, that despite talk of bipartisanship, each side has a different opinion on what best to do about the ailing economy, and that since the Democrats hold the White House and both houses of Congress, they want their way to hold sway.

- Even as Obama sweats out the first major challenge of his young presidency, distractions keep popping up.

In a week in which two of his high-profile appointments stepped down from consideration because of revelations about unpaid taxes, a similar albeit less dramatic storyline developed around his labor secretary nominee, Hilda Solis.

USA Today reported that Solis' husband paid about $6,400 to settle tax liens against his business that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years.

A Senate committee put off a session to consider her nomination in the wake of the report. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs indicated Solis' nomination would not be affected, since it involved her husband's business, not Solis herself.

(Editing by Todd Eastham; steve.holland@reuters.com)