Obama Gets Busy in Washington
By: Import User
Updated: January 5, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama is back in Washington and back at work.
Job one for Obama is the economy.
The President-elect started by sitting down with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to fine tune the Democrats' stimulus plan.
Obama wants to create jobs and rebuild U.S. infrastructure by spending roughly three-quarters of a trillion dollars.
To win over Republicans, as much as $300 billion could come from tax cuts, including an immediate reduction in payroll withholdings and other cuts targeted at businesses.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was pleased.
"Tax relief. That clearly will be appealing to Republicans from Maine to Mississippi," he told reporters.
"The reasoning is anything that stimulates jobs now is going to help us recover and generate revenue in the long run, but it's a an emphasis that a lot of Republicans haven't been expecting from Barack Obama," explained CNBC's John Harwood.
Obama announced a surprise cabinet pick on Monday as well, nominating former Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta to take over as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Also on President-elect Obama's agenda is finding a new Commerce Secretary.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination over the weekend amid a grand jury probe of alleged kickbacks.
The President-elect had hoped to have a stimulus plan ready to sign on Inauguration Day, but top Democrats now say there is no way they can get it passed that fast.
