Obama unveils economic stimulus plan

US president-elect Barack Obama Saturday unveiled a broad proposal to boost job growth and the troubled American economy, a top priority for the incoming administration.

"Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don't act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double digit unemployment and the American Dream slipping further and further out of reach," Obama said in his weekly radio address

"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."

CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich created a new distraction for his state by making an appointment to the U.S. Senate even while he faces federal corruption charges for, in part, allegedly trying to sell the very seat he now is trying to fill.

Blagojevich tapped former state attorney general Roland Burris for the seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, thrusting the 71-year-old political veteran back in the spotlight and immediately in a corner.

The Illinois secretary of state said he won't certify the appointment of Burris, the lieutenant governor called the selection an insult, Senate Democrats won't seat him and even the president-elect was cold to the nomination.

"We believe in clean government, and Rod Blagojevich has unclean hands," said Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who called Blagojevich's actions an "insult to the people of Illinois."

Blagojevich repeatedly sought to distance his surprise selection from his own woes. "Please don't allow the allegations against me to taint a good and honest man," the governor said Tuesday, turning to the smiling Burris standing by his side. "This is about Roland Burris as a U.S. senator, not about the governor who made the appointment."

For his part, Burris said he was "humbled to have the opportunity" and promised citizens he would "uphold the integrity of the office and ask for their continued confidence in me."

The choice injected race into the drama surrounding the Democratic governor. Burris, the first African-American elected to major statewide office in Illinois, would replace Obama, who had been the Senate's only black member.

Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who was invited to speak at Blagojevich's news conference, urged Senate leaders not to block Burris. He told reporters that Senate Democrats should not "hang and lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer."

In an interview Wednesday, Burris didn't back away from Rush's assertion. "It is a fact, there are no African-Americans in the United States Senate," he said on NBC's "Today." "Is it racism that is taking place? That's a question that someone may raise."

Democratic state Rep. Monique Davis of Chicago, a member of an impeachment committee considering Blagojevich's fate, said Burris' appointment will have no bearing on its decision.

"Anybody that wants to put the race card in there, they're playing with the wrong group of people. We're not going to operate that way, we're not going to deliberate that way, we're not going to say, 'Oh, look what a good thing he's done.' We're not going to do it," Davis said.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 after federal prosecutors allegedly recorded conversations in which he discussed appointing someone Obama favored in exchange for a position in the new president's Cabinet or naming someone favored by a union if he got a high-level union job.

The governor has faced a flood of calls for his resignation, and the Illinois House has begun impeachment proceedings. He maintains his innocence, and has vowed to stay in office.

Illinois law gives the governor sole power to fill a Senate vacancy. Lawmakers considered stripping Blagojevich of that power after his arrest, but could not agree on legislation.

In a statement Tuesday, Senate Democrats maintained that Blagojevich should not make the appointment because doing so would be unfair to Burris and to the people of Illinois.

"It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety," the statement said.

"Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic caucus."

Obama struck the same tone.

"Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision," the president-elect said in a statement.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who must certify the appointment, said he will not do so. But it's not clear whether White's refusal would be enough to prevent a Blagojevich appointment from taking effect.

Burris served as Illinois' comptroller from 1979 to 1991 and as the state's attorney general from 1991 to 1995. He also served as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1985 to 1989.

More recently, however, Burris has had a string of political disappointments. He lost campaigns for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1994, 1998 and 2002 — the last time losing to Blagojevich. In 1995, he was badly beaten when challenging Chicago Mayor Richard Daley as an independent.

 President-elect Barack Obama is 2008's most admired man, according to a Gallup Poll released Friday, the first president-elect since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 to top the annual list.

A distant second is President George W. Bush, at 5 percent, a dramatic fall since he was named most admired by 39 percent shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Most admired woman, for the seventh year in a row, is Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton. But Clinton has some competition — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican's 2008 vice presidential nominee, was second, beating out television host Oprah Winfrey.

Poll analyst Lydia Saad called Obama's showing "extraordinarily high," She said there have been only a few times since the poll began in 1948 when an incumbent president has not topped the list — Lyndon Johnson in 1967 and 1968 (Eisenhower was on top) and Jimmy Carter in 1980 (Pope John Paul II beat him). Also, from 1973 to 1975, Presidents Nixon and then Ford were topped by National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

---

CHICAGO (AFP) – Barack Obama will Tuesday try to shrug off the distraction of an alleged bid to sell off his Senate seat by releasing a report clearing his aides of improper dealings with the accused Illinois governor.

Vice president-elect Joseph Biden said the internal transition team probe would show no wrongdoing by president-elect Obama or his staff.

"It is clear the president-elect has had no contact with (Rod) Blagojevich ... that there was no inappropriate contact by any member of the Obama staff or the transition team with Blagojevich," Biden told reporters in Washington.

"And I think the report you will see will reflect that," Biden said after meeting Obama's top economic advisers.

Obama was not expected to make any public statement on the report as he is on vacation in Hawaii, where he was snapped shirtless by a paparazzi photographer, despite a tight Secret Service cordon.

The scandal, an unwelcome distraction for Obama as he prepares to take office on January 20, meanwhile showed little sign of fading from the headlines as prospects of hastily removing Blagojevich from office dimmed.

Federal prosecutors asked legislators investigating whether there were sufficient grounds to impeach Blagojevich not to dig into the criminal charges laid against the Democratic governor, in a letter released Tuesday.

US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald warned the panel it could "significantly compromise the ongoing criminal investigation" if they investigate the allegations outlined in a 76-page FBI affidavit.

Fitzgerald declined to release evidence such as the identities of unnamed witnesses. He also asked the committee to limit their inquiry to allegations of wrongdoing not included in the criminal charges such as fraudulent hiring and firing of state workers.

A battle is also being fought over whether a special election should be called to fill the seat Obama won in 2004 and relinquished after winning the November 4 presidential election.

The president-elect said last week that the review, delayed a week at the request of Fitzgerald, would show no-one from his staff had "inappropriate" dealings with Blagojevich.

The probe will reportedly personally clear Obama's incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and other named staff members of inappropriately trying to influence the governor over his choice of Obama's Senate successor.

Blagojevich last week vowed to fight to clear his name and brushed aside calls for him to resign over a scandal that has focused attention on the bearpit politics of Illinois where Obama made his name.

"I am not going to quit a job the people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob," Blagojevich said.

Federal prosecutors accuse the Democratic governor of engaging in "a political corruption crime spree" they say was exposed by wiretaps of the governor's home phone and bugs at his campaign office.

In details of tapes released by prosecutors, Blagojevich discussed ways he could swap an appointment to Obama's former Senate seat for a cabinet post, ambassadorship or high-paying job for himself or his wife.

Blagojevich's lawyers have dismissed partial transcripts in which the governor allegedly said the appointment was "golden" and "I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing" as "jabbering" that didn't go anywhere.

With the scandal swirling, Blagojevich's lawyers have indicated that the governor does not intend to exercise his right to name Obama's successor.

The 76-page FBI affidavit accuses the governor of a staggering pattern of corruption, including refusing to free up funds for a children's hospital until he received a 50,000-dollar campaign contribution and trying to get editors who were critical of his administration fired from the Chicago Tribune.

Obama and his team have not been accused of any wrongdoing and transcripts of FBI wiretaps showed Obama's staff were offering nothing more than "appreciation" to Blagojevich -- much to the foul-mouthed frustration of the governor, who wanted a cabinet post at the very least.

In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal. 

On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked: “The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, has been highly critical of the way President- elect Obama has dealt with this. 

He's had a statement