WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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Obama's transition hits snags with Cabinet picks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-15 16:11 In addition to moving quickly on his Cabinet picks, Obama's economic team has been working on a stimulus plan to revive the lagging economy. Work continued throughout the Capitol on pieces of the recovery package in hopes of unveiling the bill to lawmakers and the public as early as Thursday. The Obama plan originally was supposed to cost $725 billion to $775 billion, most of which would reach the economy over the next three years. Now, aides involved in ongoing talks said Wednesday, the measure would cost about $850 billion, with tax cuts in the range of $300 billion to $325 billion. Obama also has been seeking access to the second half of the $700 billion bailout package designed to prop up the country's wobbly financial system. Use of the first $350 billion from the huge fund, conceived in the face of a near financial collapse in September, has drawn heavy criticism from the public and Congress for a disproportionate focus on big financial institutions to the detriment of homeowners facing home mortgage foreclosure and smaller institutions and businesses. On Wednesday, a top Democrat in Congress disclosed that Obama's economic team supports spending between $40 billion and $100 billion from the remaining bailout fund specifically to reduce the number of house foreclosures. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Obama's top economic adviser, Larry Summers, assured him that Obama would devote such money to help homeowners avoid defaulting on their mortgages. Frank said Obama's economic team also agreed with other conditions and goals that Frank has written into legislation now under debate in the House. The legislation includes limits on what financial institutions can do with bailout money and restrictions on executive pay and sets aside money for foreclosure mitigation.
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