Obama Rolls Out Economic Team
Lawmakers Urged To Pass Recovery Program
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'Hit The Ground Running'
As he named members of his economic team, Obama said there are extraordinary stresses on the financial system that require extraordinary responses.Saying there's not a "minute to waste," Obama called on Congress to start work on an aggressive plan when it is sworn in in January so that his administration can "hit the ground running."Obama said he wants action that will stabilize the financial system and get credit flowing, as well as create jobs in areas including rebuilding infrastructure and creating clean energy."Families cannot afford to keep on waiting and hoping for a solution," Obama said.The president-elect's aides are calling on lawmakers to pass legislation by the Jan. 20 inauguration that meets Obama's two-year goal of saving or creating 2.5 million jobs.Democratic congressional leaders said they will get to work when Congress convenes Jan. 6.Though Obama aides declined to discuss a total cost of the massive two-year spending and tax-cutting recovery program, experts said it will probably far exceed the $175 billion he proposed during the campaign. Some economists and lawmakers have argued for as much as $700 billion, equal to the Wall Street bailout.Obama 'Surprised' By Automakers
Obama said he was surprised that the nation's Big Three automakers did not have "a better thought-out proposal" when they appealed for help from Congress last week.He said lawmakers did the right thing in telling the auto executives to come up with a plan before getting taxpayer money.Obama said the industry can't just be allowed to "vanish," but he said any government aid should be designed to assure a "long-term, sustainable" industry.He said the auto executives need to clarify how much money they need and he said their plan must describe an industry that is focused on retooling.Social Secretary Named
Earlier Monday, the Obama transition team said that the chief of online community development for Allstate Financial was chosen to oversee social planning at the White House after Obama takes office.The president-elect and his wife, Michelle, said Desiree Rogers, the president of social networking at Allstate Financial, will be White House social secretary.Rogers previously worked as utilities president of Chicago-based natural gas company Peoples Energy and as director of the Illinois Lottery.Melissa Winter, Mrs. Obama's traveling chief of staff during the campaign, will join the White House team as deputy chief of staff to the first lady.Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.





























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