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Goal: Stimulus Package on Obama's Desk by Jan. 20

November 23, 2008 8:11 PM

Democratic sources tell ABC News that President-elect Obama's transition team is working with lawmakers on Capitol Hill so that on Obama's first day in office, Jan. 20, 2009, an economic stimulus package has passed both houses of Congress and is awaiting his signature.

Spokespeople for the Obama transition team did not have any immediate comment.

Immediately after his victory on Nov. 4, Obama begged off being too specific on his immediate agenda, saying the United States only has one president at a time.

But the continued economic downturn -- further drops in the stock market, consumer spending dropping off dramatically, auto sales down and automakers pleading for a bailout, rising unemployment, collapsing oil prices, recessions declared abroad -- has clearly changed his mind.

One of his top economic advisers, Austan Goolsbee, today described the Bush administration as "dithering" when it comes to the tanking economy.

Wall Street executives have been telling the Obama team for days that the president-elect needed to send a signal that he is on the case.

On Friday afternoon, Obama's team leaked the name of his Treasury Secretary nominee, New York Federal Reserve Chairman Tim Geithner, prompting a late-day rally; the market shot up by more than 500 points.

On Monday morning in Chicago, Obama will introduce key members of his economic team -- Geithner and soon-to-be National Economic Council director Larry Summers -- and will reiterate what he said in his Saturday weekly radio address: that he will push for a massive stimulus package proposal, one much larger than the $175 billion he proposed as a candidate, perhaps as high as $500 billion.  Obama is not expected to give a specific price tag for the stimulus package on Monday.

Some Democratic officials cautioned that having such a pricey bill on President Obama's desk by Jan. 20 might be too ambitious a goal, especially in the Senate where Democrats do not have enough seats to prevent a Republican filibuster.

- jpt

November 23, 2008 in Obama, Barack | Permalink | Share | User Comments (76)

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First thing we need to do is to immediately end NAFTA and start charging the appropriate tariffis on imported goods to this nation.
The next smart idea is to inject a massive stimulus package, this one that is aimed specifically at thelping the consumers.
Rebate checks
Permanent lower fuel prices
Lower food prices
Lower housing prices
Lower vehicles prices and greener vehicles immediately

All of this would be a great start.

Posted by: JW | Nov 24, 2008 12:30:03 PM

Hey Rodney....do you run all over your town to find the most expensive gas...the most expensive milk,... the most expensive cup of coffee?

Posted by: Mike_C | Nov 24, 2008 10:55:22 AM

Kara, out of Iraq by Jan 11?

Posted by: george waring | Nov 24, 2008 10:19:40 AM

Here is the problem with Jubilee plan that he/she thought about for 30 seconds.
Ring ring,hello Jubilee speaking.
Hi Jubilee this is your landlord. I'm raising your rent.
What? How much?
I'm raising it from 500.00 a month to 10,000.00 a month. BTW, better hurry, the price of gas just went to 20.00 a gallon.

Posted by: George | Nov 24, 2008 10:17:58 AM

The first stimulus pushed by our Greatest Leader to gain his nomination tanked the Stock Market by 50%.

Hopefully, this new boneheaded approach would work out better, if not tanking just 25% more of the economy.


You've got to take to give. Where the heck is he going to take? Taxing business making more than $250K, excuse me, $101K Income Group, starting from increased Social Security Cap?

Posted by: lazy to think | Nov 24, 2008 10:00:01 AM

jubilee,

Why in the world would you still be republican leaning?

the republican brand started to go bad in 2000. why would you still want to have anything to do with what they have to sell?

every aspect of the average american citizen life-has been affected in a negative way with what george bush and crew have done.
what is it that you would be leaning to them for?

Posted by: sugar | Nov 24, 2008 9:57:37 AM

ROSS PEROT TRIED TO TELL US AND OUR GOVERNMENT YEARS AGO WITH NAFTA THIS WOULD BE THE RESULT-----BUT THE SO CALLED GENIUSES LAUGHED AT HIM------NO NEED TO ASK WHO WAS RIGHT ---AND GIVING US SOME FREE MONEY WILL NOT CHANGE THE PROBLEM.JUST PROLONG IT-----WE MUST GET TRADE DEFICIT UNDER CONTROLL.I WOULD SAY BUY AMERICAN,BUT THERE DONT SEEM TO BE MUCH LEFT.

Posted by: rodney | Nov 24, 2008 8:18:34 AM

would you believe that bush is still trying to open free trade with more countries-----we are now on our knees and he wants rto chop off our heads-----this foreign trade crap has got to get under controll ,or we will all be very poor----ALL BUT THE TOP 5% MAKING ALL THE MONEY ON IMPORTS---OUR GOVERNMENT SEEMS TO HAVE GONE TOTALLY CRAZY.

Posted by: rodney | Nov 24, 2008 8:08:23 AM

all the stimulis will not help much as superstores like walmart will suck up all the money and a great deal of it will end up in china------what is wrong with the so called educated in our country? as they dont seem to understand that too much is leaving the usa.and the public in general seems to be getting dumber.

Posted by: rodney | Nov 24, 2008 7:56:05 AM

Well, even though I am a Republican-leaning independent voter - I have to applaud Obama's plan of job creation in a vitally needed area: our long-neglected infrastructure. Jobs created for projects too long neglected.

Kudos to the president elect!

Posted by: Jubilee | Nov 24, 2008 6:00:00 AM

Hear is a Proposal , before you read it , Have an Open Mind . Think about it. This proposal will get into the economy faster.

We've appox 300 million citizens in United States . Give every citizen who's 18 yrs old and older , One Million dollars each , they've to pay there own taxes ( 1099 ).

Let them pay off there mortgages or buy a home ( this way the mortgage company will recieve money.

Colleges , pay off studen loans or 529 for future colleges ( children ) then there college is paid off in full.

Car Loans , pay off or buy a car in full , this way Automotive companies will recieve money faster.

Credit cards , do the same as above . Pay off in full . they will recieve money faster .

Citizen will shop and put the money towards the economy faster .

This is a simple way of doing it.

Everyone can save money . I know people are thinking who knows for sure everyone will do this , I bet if they've a large sum of money , they will since the economy depressing .

Ok i'll speak for myself , I know for a fact I would. This will help everyone .

This will help those who's laid off , there's approx 10 million people laid off now , thousands more each month .

I doubt this will happen at least it's a throught .


Posted by: proposal | Nov 24, 2008 5:59:50 AM

WestCoastMessenger,

I'm so glad someone else actually takes out the calculator to those stupid chain emails that go out. There was another that claimed the 700 bil bailout would give every tax payer over 400 grand if it was split equally. Snopes, people.

Posted by: FiscalConservative | Nov 24, 2008 4:31:39 AM

Tonyatq,

The cost of your plan is a mere 28 trillion dollars, pocket change for a government that can print money anytime it wants. Let's do it. :)

By the way, did you vote for George Bush previously?

Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Nov 24, 2008 1:31:47 AM

accomplish?

Lets just hope he gets lost for a few days in one of the mansions there.

and by the time they find him the meeting will be over.

Posted by: sugar | Nov 24, 2008 1:26:13 AM

rocky: do you want to list some of bush's social programs? like maybe 5? or do you consider the iraq war a social program? bush said today that he is very happy with that.

by the way - i agree with you on the meat-packing industry. i think they are foul hypocrites.

Posted by: Mara | Nov 24, 2008 1:24:47 AM

well, like it or not, at least he's busier than what's his face....you know, GWB. How much will that village idiot acomplish during his trip to Peru and the rest of his days in ofice anyway?.

Posted by: pLANETaX | Nov 24, 2008 12:44:19 AM

and i'll bet right now there is some paper shredding fools up there.
trying to work on the cover up of incompentence.

we will never see what cheney was doing, because he has made all of his papers top secret, and sealing them.

what a crock of mess.

i will be glad when bushie and co are gone. 59 days and counting.

Posted by: sugar | Nov 24, 2008 12:34:43 AM

stringer,
the last stim. check was backed by a fool-who along with his crew are trying now to sneak out of the back door.
and "paulie, you are doing a great job"
just like brownie did.

and to please!

i am glad you admit george bush has almost done us in. you are right.
but obama is not coming to finish us off.
anything obama does will be a help.

Posted by: sugar | Nov 24, 2008 12:31:12 AM

"
Bush's tax cuts were such a childish idea. Spend, spend, spend . . . cut taxes and leave the mess for somebody else.

Here's how the Republicans ran the government.

REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
$421 Billion OVER BUDGET (2002)
$555 Billion OVER BUDGET (2003)
$596 Billion OVER BUDGET (2004)
$554 Billion OVER BUDGET (2005)
$574 Billion OVER BUDGET (2006)

This included RECORD overspending.

And the Republicans had the nerve during the election to try to label the Democrats as "overspenders of your hard earned tax dollars"."


Remember some things. One congress has been so close the last 8 years not much has gotten done either way. Democrats and republicans got their way with budgetary things since there were no fillibuster proof congress sessions. It stagnated good things on both sides that should have been done. It isn't like republicans had their say on budgets.

2000 and 2001 were hard economic crashes from the dot com and tech industries where the market dropped like it is now.

Posted by: Cryos | Nov 24, 2008 12:30:29 AM

Gotta love it. He's already doing a lot of what I expected. Pay back a lot of the rich by waiting to repeal the tax rate but no mention yet of middle class tax relief. Come up with plans to pay money to unions and to "green" companies like Al Gore's carbon credit trading company, and set the stage for breaking promises to do so with "a lot of difficult decisions." I hope I'm wrong but it looks like the overtures are much as expected so far.

Posted by: CryoS | Nov 24, 2008 12:27:09 AM

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