Obama officially named his economic team Monday (from left: Geithner, Romer and Summers).

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – President-elect Barack Obama named key members of his administration's economic team Monday, including New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as his Treasury Secretary nominee and former Harvard President Lawrence Summers as the director of the National Economic Council.

Obama's announcement was scheduled just hours after the federal government announced a massive rescue package for Citigroup - which President Bush said he'd spoken with Obama about before it was announced.

Mission No. 1 over the next few weeks for Obama's economic team will be hammering out the details of what the president-elect described this weekend as a two-year economic recovery plan intended to create 2.5 million jobs.

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Bush and Paulson met Monday.

(CNNMoney.com) – President Bush said Monday that the first step toward economic recovery is to stabilize the financial system - and that the government may step in to help financial institutions again the way it did with Citigroup.

"This is a tough situation for America. But we will recover. The first step is to secure our financial system," Bush said after meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "If need be, we're going to make these kind of decisions to safeguard our financial system in the future."

The president said he spoke with President-elect Obama about the decision. "Anytime we're to make a big decision during the transition, he will be informed, as will his team," Bush said.

Watch: Bush promises close cooperation with Obama

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Timothy Geithner is a member of the Obama economic dream team to be officially announced Monday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – President-elect Barack Obama will hold a press conference Monday to announce key members of his administration's economic team.

Mission No. 1 over the next few weeks for that team will be hammering out the details of what the president-elect described this weekend as a two-year economic recovery plan intended to create 2.5 million jobs.

Watch: Obama to announce his picks for economic team

Estimates for how much might be spent on a multi-year stimulus package range as high as $500 billion to $700 billion.

At the center of the plan are investments in the nation's roads, bridges, schools and alternative-energy infrastructure.

Obama's top economic team member - his Treasury Secretary - will also be charged with overseeing the dispersal of funds from the controversial $700 billion financial rescue package that Congress passed in October.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The wear-and-tear of a 22-month campaign may seem like a Caribbean vacation next to what awaits President-elect Barack Obama when he takes over as the 44th president of the United States.

In his first year in office, he will have to tackle the mountain of complex and unprecedented problems facing the country. His agenda will be driven by the need to stabilize the financial system and the pained economy.

Since mid-September, which was the last time CNNMoney.com took a crack at gauging what No. 44's economic to-do list would be, the financial world — and Washington — have been turned on their heads.

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Both candidates have promised to ease the financial burden on Americans.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Tax breaks, tax breaks, tax breaks. For months now, Barack Obama and John McCain have promised voters that they will lessen the financial burden on Americans - even as the economic crisis worsens and the country racks up record deficts.

McCain, who wants to extend President Bush's tax cuts for everyone, says repeatedly that now would be the worst time to raise taxes.

"Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse," McCain said on Tuesday."Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands and strengthens our economy."

Obama, who would repeal some of the Bush tax cuts but only for the highest-income taxpayers, says now more than ever the middle class needs help.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The federal government would provide as much as $700 billion in a far-reaching plan to rescue the nation's troubled financial system, according to a draft of the proposed bill obtained by CNN.

The legislation is still being negotiated and elements of the bill could still change.

The core of the bill is based on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's request for authority to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions so banks can resume lending and so the credit markets, now virtually frozen, can begin to operate more normally.

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Sen. Barack Obama says he wants to raise taxes on high-income taxpayers.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Most voters are aware that Barack Obama wants to raise taxes on high-income taxpayers if he's elected president in November.

But what does the Democratic candidate mean by high-income? Who'd be affected and how? While the Obama campaign must still settle on more details about their plans, outlines are starting to emerge.

To start, Obama frequently cites $250,000 as the line between those who would be subject to higher taxes and those who wouldn't.

Indeed, under Obama's tax plan, married couples with at least $250,000 in gross income are likely to see their taxes go up if Obama is elected president.

But what about single filers? The line for them would likely be about $200,000, according to an Obama adviser.

Those groups could end up paying anywhere from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars more to Uncle Sam than they do now, according to estimates from the Tax Policy Center.

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