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"That's why we need an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term."
For several weeks Obama's economic team have been in talks over its recovery plan. The negotiations were almost wrapped up before Christmas, vice-president elect Joe Biden said in an interview.
To revive the world's largest economy, struggling amid global financial turmoil, Obama said "the number one goal" of his plan was to create three million jobs -- 80 percent them in the private sector.
"To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient," Obama added.
He also called for "long-term investments," such as infrastructure building, updating the American healthcare system and building "21st century" learning institutions, on top of "direct tax relief to 95 percent of American workers."
"This plan must be designed in a new way -- we can't just fall into the old Washington habit of throwing money at the problem," Obama said, calling for "strategic investments," "vigorous oversight and strict accountability" and "fiscal responsibility."
Obama will meet with key congressional leaders on Monday to finalize the multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan Democrats hope to pass shortly after he takes office on January 20, officials told AFP.
According to US media reports, the bill to be presented to lawmakers could top 850 billion dollars, while some commentators say the package could eventually top a trillion dollars.
The meeting will be Obama's first with Capitol Hill lawmakers since his historic November 4 election victory, and his first high-profile act in Washington after moving to the capital from his Chicago home on Sunday.
"Nearly two million Americans have lost their jobs this past year -- and millions more are working harder in jobs that pay less and come with fewer benefits," Obama said.
"However we got here, the problems we face today are not Democratic problems or Republican problems ... These are America's problems, and we must come together as Americans to meet them with the urgency this moment demands."
With the United States facing gloomy forecasts of up to 10-percent unemployment and a deepening recession in 2009 -- likely "the bleakest economic outlook since World War II" -- job creation is a "key pillar" of Obama's plan, according to Lawrence Summers, tapped to head the new White House National Economic Council.
"In this crisis, doing too little poses a greater threat than doing too much," Summers wrote in an editorial in The Washington Post.
"Any sound economic strategy in the current context must be directed at both creating the jobs that Americans need and doing the work that our economy requires."
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Image of Barack Obama by Nicholas Kamm.
For several weeks Obama's economic team have been in talks over its recovery plan. The negotiations were almost wrapped up before Christmas, vice-president elect Joe Biden said in an interview.
To revive the world's largest economy, struggling amid global financial turmoil, Obama said "the number one goal" of his plan was to create three million jobs -- 80 percent them in the private sector.
"To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient," Obama added.
He also called for "long-term investments," such as infrastructure building, updating the American healthcare system and building "21st century" learning institutions, on top of "direct tax relief to 95 percent of American workers."
"This plan must be designed in a new way -- we can't just fall into the old Washington habit of throwing money at the problem," Obama said, calling for "strategic investments," "vigorous oversight and strict accountability" and "fiscal responsibility."
Obama will meet with key congressional leaders on Monday to finalize the multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan Democrats hope to pass shortly after he takes office on January 20, officials told AFP.
According to US media reports, the bill to be presented to lawmakers could top 850 billion dollars, while some commentators say the package could eventually top a trillion dollars.
The meeting will be Obama's first with Capitol Hill lawmakers since his historic November 4 election victory, and his first high-profile act in Washington after moving to the capital from his Chicago home on Sunday.
"Nearly two million Americans have lost their jobs this past year -- and millions more are working harder in jobs that pay less and come with fewer benefits," Obama said.
"However we got here, the problems we face today are not Democratic problems or Republican problems ... These are America's problems, and we must come together as Americans to meet them with the urgency this moment demands."
With the United States facing gloomy forecasts of up to 10-percent unemployment and a deepening recession in 2009 -- likely "the bleakest economic outlook since World War II" -- job creation is a "key pillar" of Obama's plan, according to Lawrence Summers, tapped to head the new White House National Economic Council.
"In this crisis, doing too little poses a greater threat than doing too much," Summers wrote in an editorial in The Washington Post.
"Any sound economic strategy in the current context must be directed at both creating the jobs that Americans need and doing the work that our economy requires."
-----------------------
Image of Barack Obama by Nicholas Kamm.
