Obama Targets 2.5 Million Jobs With Stimulus Plan (Update1)
By Edwin Chen and Jason Gale
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama said he aims to save or create 2.5 million jobs in a two-year plan to stimulate an economy facing a “crisis of historic proportions.”
“It’s likely to get worse before it gets better,” Obama said today in his weekly radio address. He said that this week “financial markets faced more turmoil,” potentially leading to a “deflationary spiral” that may plunge the nation further into debt and cost millions more jobs.
The economic slowdown has been exacerbated by the worst credit crisis in seven decades. More firings will weigh on the economy and consumer spending, putting pressure on Obama and Congress to agree on legislation that will stimulate growth.
The incoming 44th president is expected to announce, as early as Monday, his economic team, to be headed by Timothy Geithner, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as Treasury secretary.
Others include Jacob Lew, former President Bill Clinton‘s White House budget director, who will serve as National Economic Council director; and Peter Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office, who will be the next White House budget director.
Swift, Bold Action
Obama hailed this week’s enactment of a $6 billion extension of unemployment benefits, and said more needs to be done, and quickly.
“We have now lost 1.2 million jobs this year, and if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year,” Obama said.
Obama opened his weekly address with a litany of grim economic developments. New home purchases in October were the lowest in half a century and 540,000 more jobless claims were filed last week, the highest in 18 years, he said today.
“And now we risk falling into a deflationary spiral that could increase our massive debt even further,” the president- elect said.
Obama said he and his top economic advisers will be working out the details of an “economic recovery plan” that will be “big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office” on Jan. 20.
Nationwide Effort
“It will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jumpstart job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy,” Obama said. “We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.”
The initiatives will address “this immediate crisis” and represent “long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long,” he said.
Obama also said in his radio address he would seek input from Republicans as well as Democrats. “But what is not negotiable is the need for immediate action,” he said.
The president-elect’s address was also recorded on video and was posted on the official presidential transition website - - change.gov -- at 6 a.m. New York time today.
To contact the reporters on this story: Edwin Chen in Chicago at echen32@bloomberg.netJason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 22, 2008 09:47 EST |
