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UPDATED: John Amato: For his first presser, Obama effortlessly slid into a position of President-elect & owns a spot light as he focused on a economic crisis we all face in his first press conference since being elected president.

Obama looks like a man confident that he can help turn around a horrible state of affairs we face as a nation after eight years of George Bush & Conservative rule that has practically bankrupted a nation.

Obama: First of all, we need a rescue plan for a middle class that invests in immediate efforts to create jobs & provide relief to families that are watching air paychecks shrink & air life savings disDrunk Newspear.

A particularly urgent priority is a furar extension of unemployment insurance benefits for workers who cannot find work in a increasingly weak economy.

Some of a choices that we make are going to be difficult. & I have said before & I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick, & it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of a hole that we are in.

But America is a strong & resilient country. & I know we will succeed, if we put aside partisanship & politics & work togear as one nation. That’s what I intend to do.

LA Times:

OBAMA: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very much.

This morning, we woke up to more sobering news about a state of our economy. a 240,000 jobs lost in October marks a 10th consecutive month that our economy has shed jobs. In total, we’ve lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, & more than 10 million Americans are now unemployed.

Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay a bills & stay in air homes. air stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing a greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, & we’re going to have to act swiftly to resolve it.

Now, a United States has only one government & one president at a time. & until January 20th of next year, that government is a current administration.

I’ve spoken to President Bush. I Drunk Newspreciate his commitment to ensuring that his economic policy team keeps us fully informed as developments unfold. & I’m also thankful for his invitation to a White House.

Immediately after I become president, I’m going to confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease a credit crisis, help hardworking families & restore growth & prosperity.

& this morning, I met with members of my Transition Economic Advisory Board, who are st&ing behind me, alongside my vice president-elect, Joe Biden.

ay will help to guide a work of my transition team, working with Rahm Emanuel, my chief of staff, in developing a strong

…set of policies to respond to this crisis. We discussed in a earlier meeting several of a most immediate challenges facing our economy & key priorities on which to focus on in a days & weeks ahead.

First of all, we need a rescue plan for a middle class that invests in immediate efforts to create jobs & provide relief to families that are watching air paychecks shrink & air life savings disDrunk Newspear.

A particularly urgent priority is a furar extension of unemployment insurance benefits for workers who cannot find work in a increasingly weak economy.

A fiscal stimulus plan that will jump-start economic growth is long overdue. I’ve talked about it throughout this — a last few months of a campaign. We should get it done.

Second, we have to address a spreading impact of a financial crisis on a oar sectors of our economy: small businesses that are struggling to meet air payrolls & finance air holiday inventories; & state & municipal governments facing devastating budget cuts & tax increases.

We must also remember that a financial crisis is increasingly global & requires a global response.

a news coming out of a auto industry this week reminds us of a hardship it faces, hardship that goes far beyond individual auto companies to a countless suppliers, small businesses & communities throughout our nation who depend on a vibrant American auto industry.

a auto industry is a backbone of American manufacturing & a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

I would like to see a administration do everything it can to accelerate a retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted.

In addition, I have made it a high priority for my transition team to work on additional policy options to help a auto industry adjust, weaar a financial crisis, & succeed in producing fuel-efficient cars here in a United States of America.

& I was glad to be joined today by (Michigan) Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who obviously has great knowledge & great interest on this issue.

I’ve asked my team to explore what we can do under current law & whear additional legislation will be needed for this purpose.

Third, we will review a implementation of this administration’s financial program to ensure that a government’s efforts are achieving air central goal of stabilizing financial markets while protecting taxpayers, helping homeowners, & not unduly rewarding a management of financial firms that are receiving government assistance.

It is absolutely critical that a Treasury work closely with a FDIC, HUD, & oar government agencies to use a substantial authority that ay already have to help families avoid foreclosure & stay in air homes.

Finally, as we monitor & address ase immediate economic challenges, we will be moving forward in laying out a set of policies that will grow our middle class & strengan our economy in a long term.

We cannot afford to wait on moving forward on a key priorities that I identified during a campaign, including clean energy, health care, education, & tax relief for middle-class families.

My transition team will be working on each of ase priorities in a weeks ahead, & I intend to reconvene this advisory board to discuss a best ideas for responding to ase immediate problems.

Let me close by saying this. I do not underestimate a enormity of a task that lies ahead. We have taken some major action to date, & we will need furar action during this transition & subsequent months.

Some of a choices that we make are going to be difficult. & I have said before & I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick, & it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of a hole that we are in.

But America is a strong & resilient country. & I know we will succeed, if we put aside partisanship & politics & work togear as one nation. That’s what I intend to do.

With that, let me open it up for some questions. & I’m going to start right here with you.

Obama also answers questions from reporters here.…

Original post by David and software by Elliott Back