$1 trillion rescue: Not so far-fetched
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/12/05/art.ap.obama.money.jpg caption="How much will Obama's proposed economic recovery plan cost?"]NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - President-elect Barack Obama hasn't put a dollar figure yet on his promise to create an economic recovery package that he says will generate or save 2.5 million jobs over two years.
His reluctance may be with good reason: Obama is six weeks from taking office, and the potential cost of helping the economy could rise.
On Friday, the government reported that 533,000 jobs were lost in November, far more than economists had forecast. On Thursday alone, companies across a variety of industries announced nearly 30,000 layoffs.
It's not clear yet how bad things will be by the time Obama takes office in January.
Obama appears to move up timetable on economic relief
(CNN) - For those who follow closely the words of President-elect Obama, Friday’s statement on alarming new jobless figures for the month of November sounded just a bit familiar — several lines were drawn directly from the script of his November 22 radio address. What hasn’t changed over the past two weeks: the infrastructure funding at the heart of his stimulus plan, and language calling for “immediate action” to address the nation’s economic woes. What seems to have shifted slightly in the new statement: the emphasis on exactly how immediate the president-elect believes this action should be.
“There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better,” Obama said in his November 22 radio address. “But January 20th is our chance to begin anew - with a new direction, new ideas, and new reforms that will create jobs and fuel long-term economic growth.”
But as the Dow continues to tank and jobless numbers continue to climb, the timetable seems to have been pushed up just a bit in Obama’s new statement: gone is the reference to Inauguration Day, still a month-and-a-half away — keeping the president-elect’s agenda framed strictly in the present tense. "There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better,” he said in his Friday statement. “But now is the time to respond with urgent resolve to put people back to work and get our economy moving again.”
Obama on jobs report: Urgent response needed
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/12/05/art.obamastatement.ap.jpg caption="Unemployment rose to 6.7 percent in November."](CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama released a statement Friday regarding the news employers cut more than 530,000 jobs in November:
"The 533,000 jobs lost last month, the worst job loss in 34 years, is more than a dramatic reflection of the growing economic crisis we face. Each of those lost jobs represents a personal crisis for a family somewhere in America. Our economy has already lost nearly 2 million jobs during this recession, which is why we need an Economic Recovery Plan that will save or create at least 2.5 million more jobs over two years while we act decisively to maintain the flows of credit on which so many American families and American businesses depend.
"There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better. But now is the time to respond with urgent resolve to put people back to work and get our economy moving again. At the same time, this painful crisis also provides us with an opportunity to transform our economy to improve the lives of ordinary people by rebuilding roads and modernizing schools for our children, investing in clean energy solutions to break our dependence on imported oil, and making an early down payment on the long-term reforms that will grow and strengthen our economy for all Americans for years to come," said President-elect Obama.
Obama's gamble pays off
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/12/05/art.ap.obama.jpg caption="Obama's campaign brought in nearly $750 million dollars."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - He’s the three-quarters of a billion dollar man.
Barack Obama's presidential campaign hauled in nearly $750 million dollars during this very long and historic campaign for the White House. That's more than twice what his opponent, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, raised and it's more than what George W. Bush and John Kerry combined raked in during the 2004 presidential campaign.
In a report filed with the Federal Election Commission Thursday, the Obama campaign reported spending over $100 million during the final few weeks leading up to the November 4 election, far more than McCain.
Obama opted out of taking public funds during the September to November general election period, becoming the first candidate for president to opt out of public financing since the system was created in the 1970s. Obama gambled that he could raise more money than the $84 million McCain received in public funds. That gamble apparently paid off.
Some other numbers: The Obama campaign raised $104 million in the five weeks leading up to and just after Election Day. And as of November 24, the last day included in this report, the Obama campaign had nearly $30 million left in the bank.
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