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January 10th, 2009 at 11:26 am

President-Elect Barack Obama Weekly Address Video, Photos 1-10-09

Barack Obama press conference January 9, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama delivered his weekly address on January 10, 2009 via YouTube and radio. Watch the address, see the transcript and recent photos of Obama during his first week in Washington, DC as the Presidential transition continues.

Obama made reference to the latest statistics indicating that job losses in December 2008 totaled 540,000, pushing unemployment to 7.2 percent and that cumulatively in 2008, 2.6 million jobs were lost in the U.S. In light of the worsening economic crisis he reiterated the need for ” immediate and dramatic action.” Towards that end, he said he had already started working with his economic team and leaders of both parties on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan which will require “major investments to revive our economy, create jobs, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.”

Barack Obama speaks on the economy at George Mason University on January 8, 2009 in Fairfax, Virginia

Obama speaks on the economy at George Mason University on January 8, 2009 in Fairfax, Virginia

He revealed that Dr. Christina Romer and Dr. Jared Bernstein, two members of the economic team have analyzed the plan and project that it will likely save or create three to four million jobs. The report has been posted as a pdf file: The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan on the Change.gov Web site. Romer is his incoming chair of the Council of Economic Advisers,and Bernstein is Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s chief economic adviser.

Barack Obama with Harry Reid and Joe Biden, January 2009

Obama with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, January 2009

“The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create 3 to 4 million jobs,” Obama said. “Ninety percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector. The remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.”

Nearly half a million jobs would be created by investing in clean energy. The plan has nearly 400,000 new jobs repairing the nation’s infrastructure, including roads and businesses.

The breakdown is energy, 459,000 jobs; infrastructure, 377,000; health care, 244,000; education, 250,000; temporary programs to “protect the most vulnerable from the deep recession, including increases in food stamps and expansions of unemployment insurance,” 549,000; state relief, 821,000; the “Making Work Pay” tax credit for the middle class, 505,000; and business tax incentives, 470,000.

Source: 4 million jobs – Obama ups the ante

Barack Obama press conference January 7, 2009 announcing chief performance officer

Obama announces Nancy Killefer as Chief Performance Officer at a January 7, 2009 press conference. The newly created position will oversee government spending, eliminating wasteful spending and improve efficiency.

In addition to creating jobs, Obama also stressed the importance of helping those who have already lost jobs. “That means bi-partisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care,” he said, while noting that “recovery won’t happen overnight, and it’s likely that things will get worse before they get better.”

Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol after his meeting with congressional leaders, January 2009

Obama at the U.S. Capitol after his meeting with congressional leaders, January 2009

A New York Times article examines Obama’s stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, and interviews experts who acknowledge that with the severity of the current economic crisis, there is “no playbook.”

“We have very few good examples to guide us,” said William G. Gale, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the liberal-leaning research organization. “I don’t know of any convincing evidence that what has been proposed is going to be enough.”

Adam Posen, the deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said Mr. Obama’s plan could provide just the right boost — if it was carried out properly. [...]

Alan J. Auerbach, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, said the overall scale of the program looked “reasonable” at $800 billion over two years.

“It’s much bigger than anything that’s been tried in my lifetime, but this is scarier than anything we’ve seen in my lifetime,” Professor Auerbach said.

Source: No Instruction Manual as Stimulus Bill Take Shape

Photo credit: Getty Images North America See more photos on Obama-Biden Flickr

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