Barack Obama Asks Congress to Act Fast on Stimulus Package

At his first post-election press conference and only hours after the government reported firms had slashed another 240,000 jobs from payrolls last month, Obama assured Americans he's determined to tackle the nation's economic problems "head-on" and asked for congressional action before his inauguration in January.

"I want to see a stimulus package sooner rather than later," said Obama, who was flanked yesterday in Chicago by Vice President-elect Joe Biden and a slew of economic advisers who briefed him yesterday on the nation's economic woes.

While calling for swift action, Obama signaled yesterday that a stimulus package might not be passed during the remaining months of lame-duck President Bush and the current Congress.

So Obama, who won Tuesday's historic election to become the nation's 44th president and its first black commander in chief, vowed to push for measures immediately after being sworn in Jan. 20.

Democrats have talked of a stimulus package ranging from $50 billion to $300 billion.

Obama, a Democrat, didn't give financial details. But he signaled funds should go toward the infrastructure and to help cash-strapped state and local governments.

He also said the nation needs a "rescue plan for the middle-class" and signaled that his campaign promise of tax cuts for the nonaffluent will be addressed after he and the new Democratic-controlled Congress take power in January.

Besides the stimulus and tax packages, the incoming administration will closely monitor the current credit crisis and how the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package is spent, Obama said, suggesting funds should also be earmarked to help stem foreclosures.

The nation's auto industry also will get some help, though Obama didn't directly mention possible multibillion-dollar loan packages that could go to Detroit.

Economists said that Obama is facing huge problems - and that he was mostly trying to reassure Americans yesterday that he's aware of the nation's economic woes.

"It's a stall - happy, fluffy stuff until he actually takes office" in January, said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Boston's Eaton Vance Corp.

The real key for the economy is for the credit markets to clear up so banks can start lending again. "It's going to take a while," MacIntosh said.

Obama's first post-election press conference came only hours after the Labor Department announced that the unemployment rate had jumped from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October.

That's the highest rate in 14 years.

With another 240,000 jobs lost last month, a total of 1.2 million positions have been eliminated so far this year, news that Obama called "sobering."

Source: Boston Herald