Uncertainty is not an option. With the nation racking up job losses, fears that the auto industry is nearing collapse and the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, Obama has been under pressure to move quickly to restore confidence in the government's response to the growing economic crisis.
On Saturday he announced plans to propose a huge economic stimulus package soon after taking office that he said would result in 2.5 million jobs. The package could amount to as much as $700 billion over two years.
The likely picks for top jobs are already known.
Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, is expected to become treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers, a former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, is in line for director of the National Economic Council, and Peter Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office, is expected to be director of Office of Management and Budget. In addition, Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago professor who was also a campaign aide to Obama, is expected to head the Council of Economic Advisors. -
Donna Block
