“We’re open to ideas and we’ll take a look at what comes our way,” Dana Perino, Mr. Bush’s press secretary, said aboard Air Force One as the president was flying to a business gathering in Alexandria, La. “What we’ve seen put forward so far, by the leaders in Congress, the Democrats, were elements of a package that we did not think would actually stimulate the economy.”

Still, Mr. Bernanke’s testimony strengthened the hand of Democrats, who are pushing for a package of spending that could total $150 billion to $300 billion. The testimony could put pressure on Mr. Bush to either enter discussions or risk losing the initiative and appearing behind the curve.

Democratic leaders would like to pass a spending bill in a lame-duck session of Congress immediately after the elections on Nov. 4. But that would depend on whether Mr. Bush was willing to agree on a deal. If Democrats cannot prevent Mr. Bush from vetoing a bill, they will most likely wait until the next president takes office in January.

To draw in the White House as well as Republican lawmakers, Democrats are casting around for measures that Mr. Bush has wanted. One possible inducement could be passing a long-stalled free-trade agreement with Colombia. Republicans are also pushing for additional tax cuts, and there might be ground for agreement on that front.

An earlier stimulus package, in which the government mailed out almost $100 billion in tax rebates during the spring and summer, provided a temporary lift to incomes and consumer spending. But the lift faded by late summer. Since then, the economic downturn has, if anything, accelerated.