Update Yourself
A busy weekend for Pres.-elect Barack Obama:
-- In his Saturday radio address, Obama outlined the most sweeping economic stimulus package -- an effort to create 2.5M jobs that includes proposals to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, invest in school construction and retrofit public buildings to make them more energy efficient, among other measures -- since the New Deal. So far, he hasn't attached a price tag to the plan, but economic experts -- and none other than former President Clinton -- have said Obama can't worry about driving up the deficit, that he has to spend money to keep the markets afloat and create jobs.
-- Obama nominated retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki to head of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Shinseki, 66, is a decorated Vietnam War vet who hails from Hawaii. His selection marks a direct repudiation of the Bush administration's failed Iraq war policy; Shinseki, you'll recall, testified before Congress in 2003 that successful military action in Iraq required at least 200,000 troops, a figure shot down by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Shinseki was forced to resign. He was, of course, spot on in his assessment.
The pick also marks an effort by the Obama transition reach out to the uniformed military, many of whom have been critical of the Bush admin. There has been much reported tension between the uniform and civilian heads of DOD, and by picking Shinseki, Obama is bringing the uniformed military back into the power fold.
Obama yesterday said of Shinseki that there is "no one more distinguished, more determined or more qualified" to lead Veterans Affairs. Obama also called for his nominee to modernize the department to meet the challenges of the day. And at a press conference in Chicago with Shinseki by his side, the Pres.-elect, quoted Abraham Lincoln, as he's been apt to do throughout the campaign and the transition, in noting his administration will care for all who have "borne the battle," a pull from Lincoln's second Inaugural Address.
Shinseki, for his part, said that there is "no higher responsibility" than the post.
-- Obama also appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" during which he cautioned that fixing the nation's economic woes will not happen overnight.
Obama: "Well, fortunately, as tough as times are right now--and things are going to get worse before they get better--there is a convergence between circumstances and agenda. The key for us is making sure that we jump-start that economy in a way that doesn't just deal with the short term, doesn't just create jobs immediately, but also puts us on a glide path for long-term, sustainable economic growth. And that's why I spoke in my radio address on Saturday about the importance of investing in the largest infrastructure program--in roads and bridges and, and other traditional infrastructure--since the building of the federal highway system in the 1950s; rebuilding our schools and making sure that they're energy efficient; making sure that we're investing in electronic medical records and other technologies that can drive down health care costs. All those things are not only immediate--part of an immediate stimulus package to the economy, but they're also down payments on the kind of long-term, sustainable growth that we need."
Watch here:
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
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