min0 lee

I know everyone loves free money but is this going to help?



Obama, in His New Role as President-Elect, Calls for Stimulus Package

By JEFF ZELENY
CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama approached the lectern Friday for his first news conference since winning the election. He smiled as he looked out at a large retinue assembled from around the world, and paused for a moment before saying, “Oh wow.�

With that, Mr. Obama began the first nationally televised appearance of his new role. Since Election Day, he had been seen only in faraway shots as he dashed from the gym or walked to a meeting. But when he arrived at a hotel ballroom here, flanked by a team of economic advisers, Americans caught their first glimpse of the 44th president at work.

“I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead,� Mr. Obama said, his voice slow and controlled. “Some of the choices that we make are going to be difficult. And I have said before and I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in.�

Mr. Obama called on Congress and the Bush administration to pass an economic stimulus package. If an agreement cannot be reached this month in the lame-duck Congressional session, he said, it will be his chief goal when he takes office on Jan. 20.

He said it was an “urgent priority� to extend unemployment insurance benefits for workers who could not find jobs in the bleak economy. He also said he would give aid to states, create new jobs and move forward with his tax-cut plans for middle-class families.

The session was limited to about 20 minutes, and Mr. Obama took nine questions. His answers were purposefully crisp — and, at times, laced with humor — and his presentation stood in contrast to previous news conferences, where he would often devote much more time to a question.

Mr. Obama fielded a variety of questions, including one about the kind of dog he would get for his two daughters in the White House. (“Obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me,� he said.) He said that he was studying the writings of Abraham Lincoln and that he had spoken to previous presidents.

“I’ve spoken to all of them that are living,� Mr. Obama said. “I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any séances.�

A few hours later, Mr. Obama was on the telephone with Mrs. Reagan to “apologize for the careless and offhanded remark.� A spokeswoman for Mr. Obama, Stephanie Cutter, said he and Mrs. Reagan had a warm conversation.

But the overall tone of the news conference reflected the challenges Mr. Obama faces.

Mr. Obama said he would defer to President Bush and his economic team on major decisions in the next 74 days, saying, “The United States has only one government and one president at a time.�

He pledged to find ways to help the struggling automobile industry and invited Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan to join his economic advisory board.

Mr. Obama, who stood a few feet in front of an array of economic advisers as well as Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Representative Rahm Emanuel, the new White House chief of staff, offered no new specifics about what he intended to do to curb the economic crisis. But the stagecraft of the news conference, held after a closed-door meeting of Mr. Obama’s economic advisers, was intended to show that he was hard at work in search of solutions.

Mr. Obama offered little guidance on how he wanted the Treasury Department to carry out the $700 billion government plan to stabilize the financial markets, saying only that he would review any decisions made by the Bush administration. He suggested that he intended to move ahead with his campaign pledge to take away tax cuts for upper-income Americans, but seemed to leave a narrow window of room to adjust his proposal.

“I think that the plan that we’ve put forward is the right one,� Mr. Obama said when asked if the wealthiest Americans would pay more taxes next year. “But obviously over the next several weeks and months, we’re going to be continuing to take a look at the data and see what’s taking place in the economy as a whole.�

Mr. Obama’s imprecise campaign pledges have caused some confusion about when he would repeal the Bush tax cuts on Americans making more than $250,000 a year.

The tax cuts, by law, are set to expire at the end of 2010, but Mr. Obama has said he will repeal them sooner and use the revenues to offset the costs of his health care plan. He left unclear whether a tax bill signed into law next year would make the repeal effective retroactively for all of 2009 as well as 2010.

In the days before the election, Mr. Obama’s economic advisers said he would not propose retroactive repeal, but would make it effective Jan. 1, 2010. But Mr. Obama did not say that during the campaign, even as his Republican rival, Senator John McCain, repeatedly criticized him as proposing to raise taxes immediately, in an economic downturn. Mr. Obama did not clarify his intentions Friday.

The news conference was held in a windowless ballroom of the Hilton Chicago, only steps from Grant Park, where Mr. Obama delivered his victory speech on election night. The session carried the trappings of an official event, with eight American flags lined against blue drapes, and a freshly made seal on the lectern: “The Office of the President Elect.�

Asked how he would respond to the letter of congratulations from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Mr. Obama said he would review the letter and respond in an appropriate fashion. He said any nuclear ambitions by Iran were “unacceptable.�

Mr. Obama seemed at ease, smiling more than he did during many stretches of his presidential campaign. When Lynn Sweet of The Chicago Sun-Times rose to ask a question, Mr. Obama asked why her arm was in a sling.

“I cracked my shoulder running to your speech on election night,� Ms. Sweet said.

“Oh, no,� Mr. Obama replied with a smile. “I think that was the only major incident during the entire Grant Park celebration.�

Mr. Obama is spending the weekend in Chicago, aides said, hoping to get a brief respite after a 22-month campaign. But his transition team was still working to put together a national security team in relatively short order.

Two advisers said Friday that a possible candidate for secretary of state was former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, a confidant of Mr. Obama.

Jackie Calmes contributed reporting from Chicago, and Peter Baker from Washington.

brogers

Stimulus packages are garbage. Garbage when Bush proposed them/signed them and garbage still today. Cut tax rates. Encourage production and creation of wealth by letting people keep more of what they earn.

Stimulus package is paid for by john q taxpayer anyway. Chalk up another $XXX billion in debt! Scam.

Big Smoothy

Sounds like the Laffer Curve.

With the current annual deficits projected and the total of the National Debt: I say, cut spending, and keep taxes the same.

Tax cuts for corporation may help sometimes, the above post sounds like more supply-side trickle down economics.

In actuality, it's trickle-up economics.

I agree. Taxpayers financing a "stimulus" package is a scam.

I don't believe in them.

Military men are dumb, stupid animals, to be used as pawns for foreign policy
– Henry Kissinger (January-February 2003 edition of Eagle Newsletter)

min0 lee

3 different people agreeing. oh oh...

busyLivin

4.