As a new feature Blacks4Barack will share with you occasional press conference/gaggle (answering of questions) transcripts and updates directly from The White House to inform of the goings-on in our political system.
Below is our 1st release.

From THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of The Press Secretary
February 17, 2009

PRESS GAGGLE

BY PRESS SECRETARY ROBERT GIBBS

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Phoenix , Arizona

3:06 P.M. PST

MR. GIBBS: Before I take a few questions let me follow up on a question that you asked me earlier on the U.S. attorneys. The Department of Justice asked those that were in place to stay and continue to serve. Some left before the previous administration ended. Fifty-one U.S. attorneys continue to serve now out of the 93. So, just as a follow-up to your previous question.

All right, anything on your minds?

Q What should the American people expect in terms of casualties and time line coming out of this Afghanistan announcement?

MR. GIBBS: Time line in terms of?

Q How long we're going to be there. And will there be an increase in casualties? I mean, is that something we should expect if we're increasing our involvement?

MR. GIBBS: Let me -- I'll leave tactics and things like that to the Department of Defense. But let me just sort of give you a broader overview. That administration, as you all know, has started a 60-day review of our policy in the region, headed by Bruce Riedel. The situation in Afghanistan has been deteriorating for quite some time. And in order to stem that, the President has ordered the additional troops. That does not prejudge the outcome of the review process, but allows us instead to -- allows us instead to meet an urgent need for more troops in a deteriorating security situation in advance of the traditional Taliban offensives in the spring, and also leading up to ensuring secure elections later in the year.

Q There was a lot of talk over the weekend about the executive pay provisions in the stimulus package and whether or not the White House would take some kind of steps, either through regulation or some other way, to fashion them more closely to what the President wanted. What will you be doing about that?

MR. GIBBS: As you all know, the bill is now the law of the land, after the President signed it today. I want to underscore the incredible amount of agreement in both Congress and in the administration in ensuring that executive compensation and bonuses, particularly in companies that are receiving TARP funding, isn't completely out of balance with any degree of common sense.

The proposal that passed Congress shares a lot in common with what the President outlines by way of shareholder say and CEO pay, in ensuring regulations on luxury expenses, and in ensuring -- just in the overall ensuring that pay is not excessive. We are going to work with Congress to ensure that what the President proposed and what is now law works to share the goal of ensuring that pay isn't excessive for CEOs and, at the same time, make sure it doesn't dissuade particularly smaller community banks from taking the lending capital that is so important to stabilize the system and ensure that credit flows to businesses and families.

Q Are you talking about additional legislation?

MR. GIBBS: Pardon?

Q Are you talking about additional legislation, or how are you going to work with Congress to ensure this?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I -- obviously, like every provision in the bill, it's -- we have to figure out -- a process has to be figured out as to exactly how to implement that. But again, what I want to underscore is, there's tremendous agreement that what we've seen happen with CEOs and major players in financial institutions that have received assistance from TARP, there's a great common agreement that executive compensation has to be and must be reined in.

Q Robert, can you address the notion that lawmakers needed this extra or more stiff language so they can get cover when you folks ask for more TARP money?

MR. GIBBS: I don't -- I don't have any basis by which to render an opinion on that. I haven't heard that from anybody. I think you've seen the President take swift action in ensuring that excessive pay comes to an end in his administration, particularly with those, as I said, that have received extraordinary help from the Treasury and the taxpayers.

Q Is it wrong to say that you're going to be altering the language in some way? You said you're going to work with Congress in getting a response --

MR. GIBBS: I don't want to get into -- I think the bill is now, what, two hours old? So let's -- I know, we're all -- we're on to the second stimulus before the ink dries on the first one. So let's -- I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

Q Have you had a chance to look at the affidavit that Senator Burris filed and the President's reaction to it? Should the --

MR. GIBBS: I have not, and I don't believe he has.

Q Where's the shovel-ready projects? Do you know of what might be the absolute first project to benefit from this?

MR. GIBBS: Well, and I'll get a longer review of this, but I know there are -- I mean, obviously there's a number of things in the legislation that -- there are -- money that will go, for instance, to state departments of transportation to fund highway and bridge and road construction projects that are ready to go. There are --

Q Ready to go or ongoing?

MR. GIBBS: I will check. Some of them -- well, for instance, the project that the President visited last week, phases three and four have yet to be completed; phases one and two have. Some of those projects may be ongoing, but phases that have not yet fully been funded can now be through states -- Virginia , again, being that example.

Some of the funding, obviously, in this bill will come through tax cuts, which can get into people's pockets quite quickly. Some will come through existing programs like unemployment insurance, which will happen also quite quickly -- extended benefits. Some of the business tax cuts in the bill are retroactive to the first of the year. So I would assume that some businesses will begin quickly operating under the notion that those -- that they have the ability to go back at least several weeks on those.

So I think there's -- different parts of the bill are funded through different mechanisms, in terms of whether they're existing programs. Obviously I think state legislatures will understand that increased Medicaid funding is coming; increased funding for education to prevent the layoff of teachers or more cops funding to ensure that police officers don't get laid off. There was an example the President made mention of today.

So there are several different mechanisms by which the programs are funded that will talk about how quickly the money gets out.

Q So it's fair to say that as we sit here, some of this money is rolling right now?

MR. GIBBS: I don't -- I will double-check on that. I know our hope is to get this out as quickly as possible; that the President argued throughout the last month that urgency should carry the day. And we believe that's true certainly in implementing the bill equally as it was in ensuring its passage.

Q Can you talk a little bit about the housing bill tomorrow?

MR. GIBBS: No. (Laughter.)

Q Is it going to be an intra-subsidy program?

MR. GIBBS: Say again?

Q Is it going to be an intra-subsidy program?

MR. GIBBS: Let me see what I can get you guys without getting myself in hot water with the boss.

Q Can you say how detailed it's going to be?

MR. GIBBS: Are you thinking about applying for a new loan?

Q No. (Laughter.)

MR. GIBBS: I think it will be quite detailed.

Q How many people do you expect to help?

MR. GIBBS: Let me -- that I can probably get you a number on a little bit later.

Q Can you also talk about the Canada trip on Thursday? Will the President be looking to reopen NAFTA negotiations?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think the President, in an interview today with CBC, talked about the notion that we value Canada as a trading partner, we value it as a partner in meeting our energy needs, and that we -- he hopes to start a relationship to continue that strong partnership.

I imagine that the President and the Prime Minister will discuss trade, and also I anticipate the President will continue to have the same position he had during the campaign, which was that it's important that we strongly enforce labor and environmental provisions.

Q Are we going to hear any more about the latest on the auto industry tonight? Are you going to give any more readout?

MR. GIBBS: I think honestly, as I understand it -- the last I checked we had not yet received the reports. And I think they wanted to wait for a statement regarding that, until we got that. I know there are also talks that are ongoing and we didn't want to prejudge those.

Q -- they were reporting agreement, UAW and Chrysler -- Chrysler, wasn't it?

Q I thought it was all three.

MR. GIBBS: Let me check when we land. I did not get that email yet.

Q Robert, was that a yes or a no on reopening NAFTA negotiations?

MR. GIBBS: I'd refer you to the transcript. I think my answer was pretty clear.

Q Can you explain the breakdown on the 17,000 troops? What portion of them are support troops and what portion are combat troops?

MR. GIBBS: Let me double-check my notes. I believe the answer is there's 12,000 troops and 5,000 support. Let me --

Q So the 5,000 are support troops, right? Or they're enlisted?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I mean, obviously they're all troops, but they're -- obviously in order to put combat troops into the field there are a number of troops that ultimately have to support that mission, but aren't necessarily or might not necessarily be on the front line doing what either a Marine expedition force or special forces might do. Let me check those notes, though --

Q -- 12,000 combat and 5,000 support?

MR. GIBBS: Let me double-check that to make sure. I'm pretty sure that's it, but before I get way out on this limb --

Q Can you talk about what the goal for those troops is? I know the review is still ongoing, but can you say why the President -- I mean, you talked a little bit about the spring offensive, but what is --

MR. GIBBS: Look, I think you all well know that General McKiernan has had -- and the President's statement makes mention of the fact that General McKiernan has had a request in for quite some time to approve additional forces to ensure security and stability in a country where, as we all painfully remember, was the launching ground for the 9/11 attacks.

Obviously the situation continues to get worse. And the President believes even before the review is complete on a policy that will make use of all of the assets we have in our national power -- including diplomatic and things like construction and reconstruction -- that in order to provide us the maximum amount of flexibility during that review, that we stabilize the situation in that country by providing additional security forces.

All right. Let me check on -- give me two minutes and I'll check on those numbers -- on the troops. And then I will see what clearance I can get on the -- yes.

END 3:20 P.M. PST

B4B

President Obama's Statement on the signing of
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

Today I have signed into law H.R. 1, the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009." The Act provides a direct fiscal boost to help lift our Nation from the greatest economic crisis in our lifetimes and lay the foundation for further growth. This recovery plan will help to save or create as many as three to four million jobs by the end of 2010, the vast majority of them in the private sector. It will make the most significant investment in America 's roads, bridges, mass transit, and other infrastructure since the construction of the interstate highway system. It will make investments to foster reform in education, double renewable energy while fostering efficiency in the use of our energy, and improve quality while bringing down costs in healthcare. Middle-class families will get tax cuts and the most vulnerable will get the largest increase in assistance in decades.

The situation we face could not be more serious. We have inherited an economic crisis as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression. Economists from across the spectrum have warned that failure to act quickly would lead to the disappearance of millions of more jobs and national unemployment rates that could be in the double digits. I want to thank the Congress for coming together around this hard-fought compromise. No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time. However, with this Act we begin the process of restoring the economy and making America a stronger and more prosperous Nation.

My Administration will initiate new, far-reaching measures to help ensure that every dollar spent in this historic legislation is spent wisely and for its intended purpose. The Federal Government will be held to new standards of transparency and accountability. The legislation includes no earmarks. An oversight board will be charged with monitoring our progress as part of an unprecedented effort to root out waste and inefficiency. This board will be advised by experts -- not just Government experts, not just politicians, but also citizens with years of expertise in management, economics, and accounting.

So much depends on what we do at this moment. This is not about the future of my Administration. This effort is about the future of our families and communities, our economy and our country. We are going to move forward carefully and transparently and as effectively as possible because so much is on the line. That is what we have already begun to do -- drafting this plan with a level of openness for which the American people have asked and that this situation demands.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

February 17, 2009.

B4B

Experts: U.S. 'War On Terror'

Eroded Rights Worldwide

GENEVA (Reuters) – Washington's "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks has eroded human rights worldwide, creating lingering cynicism that the United Nations must now combat, international law experts said on Monday.

Mary Robinson, who was the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights when al Qaeda militants flew hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001, said the United States caused harm with some of the ways it responded.

"Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and repeal abusive laws and policies," the former Irish president said, warning that harsh U.S. detentions and interrogations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba gave a dangerous signal to other countries that could easily follow suit.

While new U.S. President Barack Obama has announced he will close Guantanamo to break from the practices of his predecessor George W. Bush, Robinson said sweeping changes needed to take place to ensure Washington abandons its "war paradigm."

"There has been severe damage and it needs to be addressed," she told a news conference in Geneva. "We are not more secure. We are more divided, and people are more cynical about the operation of laws."

Arthur Chaskalson, former chief justice of South Africa, said that the United States should launch an inquiry into its counter-terrorism practices, including acts of torture by individual security and intelligence agents.

Although counter-terrorism issues have faded from the front pages since the change of government in Washington, Chaskalson said such practices have shifted around the world and could keep restricting liberties if they are not confronted head-on.

"We all have less rights today than we had five or 10 years ago, and if nothing happens, we will have even less," he told a Geneva briefing to launch an International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) report on counter-terrorism and human rights.

ABUSE MONITORING

The report found that many undemocratic states have referred to U.S. counter-terrorism practices to justify their own abuses, a trend Robinson said was particularly alarming.

She called on the U.N. Security Council and Human Rights Council to step up their abuse monitoring and to assist poorer nations with police training to better target rights violators.

Counter-terrorism policies worldwide should also be put under the microscope, according to Robinson. "It could warrant a special session of the Human Rights Council," she said.

The 47-member-state body has previously had special sessions on Israel and the Palestinians, Sudan's Darfur region, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and high food prices, and will assess the global financial crisis on Friday.

Robinson also questioned the effectiveness of the Council's universal periodic review, under which every U.N. member has its rights record assessed on a regular rotation.

"We have looked at some of the universal periodic reviews of countries that we know from our hearings have severely abused human rights in their counter-terrorism measures, and it is a soft review, there is no accountability," she said. "There is a necessity now for leadership at the United Nations."

Countries recently reviewed by the Council include China, Russia, Germany, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. Hearings for the ICJ report took place in Bogota, Nairobi, Sydney, Belfast, London, Rabat, Washington, Buenos Aires, Jakarta, Moscow, Delhi, Islamabad, Toronto, Ottawa, Jerusalem, Cairo, and Brussels.

B4B

READOUT ON THE PRESIDENT’S CALL TO

TURKISH PRESIDENT GUL

AND PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN

From White House

Earlier today, President Obama had warm and productive phone conversations with Turkish President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan. Both discussions were wide-ranging. The President emphasized the importance of the United States ’ alliance with Turkey and said he looks forward to working with both President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan on a broad agenda of mutual strategic interest. The President emphasized his desire to strengthen U.S.-Turkish relations and to work together effectively in NATO. In each call, he reiterated the need to cooperate to meet the challenges of the 21^st century together. In both calls, the leaders discussed a number of current issues, including U.S. support for the growing Turkish-Iraqi relationship, the importance of cooperation in Middle East peace efforts, and the U.S. review on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy.

# # #

FROM TURKISH WEEKLY

Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with US President Barack Obama on Monday, the Presidency and Prime Ministry officials said.

US President Barack Obama first called his counterpart Abdullah Gul. They talked on the phone for 30 minutes, which has been the longest conversation between the US President and Turkish President for a long time. Although Turkey and Israel have problems, Obama didn't mention on this issue. They mainly talked on the Afghanistan issue, Caucasia issue, Middle East issue and European Union.

US President Obama then called Premier Erdogan and they discussed regional and global issues during the phone conversation. Obama mentioned that the strategic cooperation between the two countries is very important. Erdogan says, as allies, they really do significant work in many areas with US.

B4B

Blast Time Warriors !

An Open Letter To President Obama About The Republicans (from a Republican)

By: Frank Schaeffer

Dear President Obama: I know that from time to time you read Huffington Post because you've written for it. As a Huffington Post reader you'll know that no one on this web site has more faithfully supported your candidacy and now your presidency than me. As a former lifelong Republican, son of a co-founder of the Religious Right; my late evangelical leader father, Francis Schaeffer, I'm in a unique position to tell you a few things about the Republicans from inside perspective. (As you know I left that movement in the mid 1980s.)

The lack of cooperation you're getting from the Republican Party will continue. You were right to indulge in a little bit of tokenism when you had to Pastor Rick Warren pray at your inauguration. But if you think that the Republicans in Congress and the Senate are going to do more than their utmost to obstruct everything you are and what you stand for you're dreaming.

As someone who appeared numerous times on the 700 Club with Pat Robertson, as someone for whom Jerry Falwell used to send his private jet to bring me to speak at his college, as an author who had James Dobson giveaway 150,000 copies of my one of my fundamentalist "books" allow me to explain something: the Republican Party is controlled by two ideological groups. First, is the Religious Right. Second, are the neoconservatives. Both groups share one thing in common: they are driven by fear and paranoia. Between them there is no Republican "center" for you to appeal to, just two versions of hate-filled extremes.

The Religious Right supply the kind of people who at McCain and Palin rallies were yelling things such as "kill him" about you. That's the constituency to which your hand was extended when looking for compromise on your financial bailout bill.

There's only one thing that makes sense for you now. Mr. President, you need to forget a bipartisan approach and get on with the business of governing by winning each battle. You will never be able to work with the Republicans because they hate you. Believe me, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are the norm not the exception. James Dobson and the rest are praying for you to fail. The neoconservatives are gnashing their teeth and waiting for you to "sell out Israel" or "show weakness" in Afghanistan, whatever, so they can declare you a traitor.

The problem is that when you deal with the Republican Party you're talking to the polished characters in Washington. I wish you could see the hate e-mail's that I have received over the last two years because I supported you, letters calling for God to kill me, telling me that I hate God because I supported you and that I am "an abortionist" and worse a "fag lover" because I've written that I believe that you will be a great president.

What those senators and congressmen are telling you is not what their rabid core constituents are telling them. Their loyalty is to a fundamentalist Christian ideology on the one hand and American exceptionalism of perpetual warfare and hatred and fear of the "other" on the other hand. Between the neoconservatives and evangelical Religious Right Republicans you have no friends.

The good news is that most Americans support you. And if you will just get in the face of the Republican Party and call their bluff you'll be surprised how many individual ordinary Republicans will support you, not to mention the rest of us. America is sick of the Republicans.

The Democratic Party won for a reason: the Republicans failed and have taken us all down with them! You're doing your presidency and America no favor by extending an open hand to the perpetually knotted fist of what has become the embittered lunatic fringe of our country. They would rather go down in flames than "compromise" their ideology.

As you showed us again at your press conference of Feb 9, you are a brilliant, articulate and decent man. Your Republican opponents are not decent people but ideologues bent on destroying you. To quote the biblical adage sir, don't cast your pearls before swine.

B4B Note: Send This Everywhere. Sums things up quite well.

B4B

Historians Rank George W. Bush 36th Worse

President In History !

WASHINGTON — Just days after the nation honored the 200th anniversary of his birth, 65 historians ranked Abraham Lincoln as the nation's best president.

Former President George W. Bush, who left office last month, was ranked 36th out of the 42 men who had been chief executive by the end of 2008, according to a survey conducted by the cable channel C-SPAN.

Bush scored lowest in international relations, where he was ranked 41st, and in economic management, where he was ranked 40th. His highest ranking, 24th, was in the category of pursuing equal justice for all. He was ranked 25th in crisis leadership and vision and agenda setting.

In contrast, Lincoln was ranked in the top three in each of the 10 categories evaluated by participants.

In C-SPAN's only other ranking of presidents, in 2000, former President Bill Clinton jumped six spots from No. 21 to 15. Other recent presidents moved positions as well: Ronald Reagan advanced from No. 11 to 10, George H.W. Bush rose from No. 20 to 18 and Jimmy Carter fell from No. 22 to 25.

This movement illustrates that presidential reputations are influenced by present-day concerns, said survey adviser and participant Edna Medford.

"Today's concerns shape our views of the past, be it in the area of foreign policy, managing the economy or human rights," Medford said in a statement.

After Lincoln, the academics rated George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman as the best leaders overall. The same five received top spots in the 2000 survey, although Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt swapped spots this year.

Rated worst overall were James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, William Henry Harrison and Warren G. Harding.

The survey was conducted in December and January. Participants ranked each president on a scale of one, "not effective" to 10, "very effective," on a list of 10 leadership qualities including relations with Congress, public persuasion and moral authority.

Related Article: C-SPAN Survey of Presidents

B4B

President Obama Plans To Sign

Stimulus Measure Tuesday

WASHINGTON – Savoring his first big victory in Congress, President Barack Obama on Saturday celebrated the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus bill as a "major milestone on our road to recovery. "

Officials said he would sign the measure on Tuesday in Denver.

Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said, "I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we'll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done."

At the same time, he cautioned, "This historic step won't be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning. The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal to the task."

The bill passed Congress on Friday on votes split mostly along party lines, allowing Democratic leaders to deliver on their promise of clearing the legislation by mid-February. The decision to sign it Tuesday in Denver, where Democrats held their national convention last summer, was disclosed by officials on condition of anonymity. They said they were not authorized to discuss the plans.

"It will take time, and it will take effort, but working together, we will turn this crisis into opportunity and emerge from our painful present into a brighter future," the president said.

Obama "now has a bill to sign that will create millions of good-paying jobs and help families and businesses stay afloat financially," said Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who was a leading architect of the measure.

"It will shore up our schools and roads and bridges, and infuse cash into new sectors like green energy and technology that will sustain our economy for the long term," he added in a statement.

Hours earlier, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell offered a different prediction for a bill he said was loaded with wasteful spending.

"A stimulus bill that was supposed to be timely, targeted and temporary is none of the above," he said in remarks on the Senate floor. "And this means Congress is about to approve a stimulus that's unlikely to have much stimulative effect."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in the GOP radio address Saturday, contended Democrats settled "on a random dollar amount in the neighborhood of $1 trillion and then set out to fill the bucket."

Obama, who was spending the weekend in Chicago, planned to fly back to Washington on Monday. His schedule for the week ahead includes trips to Denver on Tuesday to talk about his economic agenda and a visit to Phoenix on Wednesday to present a plan to fight foreclosures.

In a struggle lasting several weeks, lawmakers in the two political parties both emphasized they wanted to pass legislation to revitalize the economy and ease frozen credit markets. But the plan that the administration and its allies eventually came up drew the support of only three Republicans in Congress — moderate Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Their support was critical, though, in helping the bill squeak through the Senate on a vote of 60-38, precisely the number needed for passage. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown cast the 60th vote in favor in a nearly deserted Senate, hours after the roll call began. He arrived after a flight aboard a government plane from Ohio, where he was mourning the death of his mother earlier in the week.

The House vote was 246-183.

The legislation, among the costliest ever considered in Congress, provides billions of dollars to aid victims of the recession through unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care, job retraining and more. Tens of billions are ticketed for the states to offset cuts they might otherwise have to make in aid to schools and local governments, and there is more than $48 billion for transportation projects such as road and bridge construction, mass transit and high-speed rail.

Democrats said the bill's tax cuts would help 95 percent of all Americans, much of the relief in the form of a break of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples. At the insistence of the White House, people who do not earn enough money to owe income taxes are eligible, an attempt to offset the payroll taxes they pay.

In a bow to political reality, lawmakers included $70 billion to shelter upper middle-class and wealthier taxpayers from an income tax increase that would otherwise hit them, a provision that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said would do relatively little to create jobs.

Also included were funds for two of Obama's initiatives, the expansion of computerized information technology in the health care industry and billions to create green jobs the administration says will begin reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil.

Friday's events capped an early period of accomplishment for the Democrats, who won control of the White House and expanded their majorities in Congress in last fall's elections.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, the president has signed legislation extending government-financed health care to millions of lower-income children who lack it, a bill that President George W. Bush twice vetoed. Obama also has placed his signature on a measure making it easier for workers to sue their employers for alleged job discrimination, effectively overturning a ruling by the Supreme Court's conservative majority. (David Espo AP Special Correspondent)

B4B

Congress, White House agree on

$790 Billion stimulus bill

WASHINGTON – Moving with lightning speed, the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House agreed Wednesday on a compromise $790 billion economic stimulus bill designed to create millions of jobs in a nation reeling from recession. President Barack Obama could sign the measure within days.

"More than one-third of this bill is dedicated to providing tax relief for middle-class families, cutting taxes for 95 percent of American workers," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at a Capitol news conference where he was joined by moderates from both parties whose support is essential for the legislation's final passage.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Reid's partner in negotiations over more than 24 intense hours, initially withheld her approval in a lingering disagreement over federal funding for school construction. "We had to make sure the investment in education" was in the bill, she said.

Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement in a written statement that said it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track."

The emerging legislation is at the core of Obama's economic recovery program.

The president's signature tax cut was preserved — a break for millions of lower- and middle-income taxpayers of $400 per individual and $800 per couple. That's less than the $500 and $1,000 the White House originally sought, although officials said it would mean an estimated $13 per week extra per paycheck.

Wage-earners who don't earn enough to pay income taxes would get a reduction in the Social Security and Medicare taxes they pay.

The bill also includes help for victims of the recession in the form of expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps, health coverage and more, as well as billions for states that face the prospect of making deep cuts in school aid and other programs.

Another provision will mean a one-time payment of $250 for millions of beneficiaries who receive Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and veterans pensions and disability, according to officials. They added that the measure will include $46 billion for transportation projects such as highway, bridge and mass transit construction.

The president also won money for two other administration priorities — information technology in health care, and "green jobs" to make buildings more energy-efficient and reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.

The bill "will be the beginning of the turnaround for the American economy," predicted Sen. Joe Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut.

Republicans couldn't have disagreed more.

"It appears that Democrats have made a bad bill worse by reducing the tax relief for working families in order to pay for more wasteful government spending," said Rep. John Boehner of Ohio.

But some prominent Republicans straddled the issue.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, last year's Republican running mate and a potential White House contender in 2012, said her state was ready to accept a projected $1 billion in federal funds if they make sense for the state. But she criticized increased spending on social programs, which she said could wind up costing her state in the long run and "don't necessarily stimulate the economy."

The events capped a frenzied 24-plus hours that began at midday Tuesday when the Senate approved its original version of the bill on a party-line vote of 61-37. Reid, Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel plunged into a series of meetings designed to produce agreement in time for Obama to sign the bill by mid-month.

Pelosi was conspicuously absent from Wednesday's news conference in which members of the Senate announced the agreement. Moments later, Reid arrived in her office, and the two talked by phone with Emanuel, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials had said previously that one of the final issues to be settled was money for school modernization, a priority for Pelosi as well as Obama and one on which they differed with Collins and other moderates whose votes will be essential for final Senate approval.

Originally, Pelosi and House Democrats wanted a new program dedicated to school construction, but Collins held firm against that. In the end, officials said the agreement added flexibility to a $54 billion State Stabilization Fund, to permit local governments to use some of the money for modernizing school buildings but not building new ones.

There also was an unspecified last-minute change in a House proposal that would allow state legislatures to order the use of funds over the opposition of governors. Officials said that issue related in part to South Carolina, where GOP Gov. Mark Sanford has been a vehement critic of the legislation.

The officials who described the developments and elements of the bill did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to speak.

Stocks moved higher in the moments after Reid stepped to the microphone just outside the Senate chamber. The Dow Jones industrials, which plunged 382 points on Tuesday, rose 51 points for the day.

Obama has been contending daily that the plan is essential to avoid turning what is already the worst economic crisis in a generation into a catastrophe.

As if to underscore the urgency, he said a few hours before the agreement was announced that machinery giant Caterpillar Inc. plans to rescind some of the 22,000 layoffs the firm recently announced — once the stimulus is signed into law.

Scaling back the bill to levels lower than either the $838 billion Senate measure or the original $820 billion House-passed measure caused grumbles among liberal Democrats, who described the cutbacks as a concession to the moderates, particularly Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who are under pressure from conservative Republicans to hold down spending.

Working to accommodate the new, lower overall limit of the bill, negotiators effectively wiped out a Senate-passed provision for a new $15,000 tax credit to defray the cost of buying a home, these officials said. The agreement would allow taxpayers to deduct the sales tax paid on new car purchases, but not the interest on loans for the same vehicles.

With numerous demands for the funds in the bill, lawmakers worked to satisfy competing demands.

A Senate-passed provision to give $10 billion to the National Institutes of Health for research — a favorite of both Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Specter — appeared to have survived.

Not every decision was driven by concern about job creation, though.

The bill includes $70 billion to shelter wealthier taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax, originally passed a generation ago to make sure the super-rich didn't avoid taxes. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that provision will have relatively little impact on the economy.

_____

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Ben Feller contributed to this story.

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President Obama's Statement on Recovery and Reinvestment Act

White House Office of Press Secretary

“I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who came together around a hard-fought compromise that will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track. Just today, the CEO of Caterpillar said that if this American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is passed, his company would be able to rehire some of the employees they’ve been forced to lay off. It’s also a plan that will provide immediate tax relief to families and businesses, while investing in priorities like health care, education, energy, and infrastructure that will grow our economy once more. I’m grateful to the House Democrats for starting this process, and for members in the House and Senate for moving it along with the urgency that this moment demands,” said President Obama.

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VIDEO:
Maxine Waters Scolds Wallstreet
'Bankster Gangsters'
Told To 'Calm Down'

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VIDEO: Henrietta Hughes Gets Home After Telling

President Obama She Was Homeless

If you were paying attention to Obama's stimulus push yesterday it was hard to miss Henrietta Hughes, a woman on the verge of tears who asked the President to help her with an "urgent need": homelessness. After the Florida town hall where Hughes talked to Obama, a local Fort Myers paper says she was offered a home by State Representative Nick Thompson's wife. Watch the exchange between Hughes and President Obama below the excerpt.

Henrietta Hughes was offered a home by Chene Thompson, wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, who heard the homeless woman's pleas for help to President Obama before a local and national crowd.

The house is in LaBelle, the first home Scere Thompson bought after law school. She told Hughes, "Just give me the opportunity to help you."

P.S. Also watch the 'I Love You' Lady

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The Stimulus Bills: House vs. Senate

The Senate passed the Stimulus Package today 61-37. Now the plan will return to the House for final revision.

So how do the two versions stack up? We’ve put together this chart so you can easily spot the differences.

Some highlights: The House version would spend $60 billion more on education. The Senate version adds more than $100 billion for tax cuts to individuals and families. The House would spend more to upgrade the country’s electricity grid. The Senate would spend more on medical research. And there are plenty more.

Program	House	Senate	Change
Aid to Low-Income Families Total	$124,186,000,000	$97,230,900,000	▼$26,955,100,000
Health insurance aid		$2,272,000,000	▲$2,272,000,000
Unemployment benefits	$36,000,000,000	$39,490,000,000	▲$3,490,000,000
COBRA healthcare for unemployed	$30,300,000,000	$20,000,000,000	▼$10,300,000,000
Hunger programs	$21,176,000,000	$17,100,000,000	▼$4,076,000,000
Housing	$13,510,000,000	$8,600,000,000	▼$4,910,000,000
Medicaid for unemployed	$8,600,000,000		▼$8,600,000,000
Job training and placement	$5,120,000,000	$4,300,000,000	▼$820,000,000
Disabled and elderly programs	$4,200,000,000		▼$4,200,000,000
Other	$5,280,000,000	$5,468,900,000	▲$188,900,000
Aid to States Total	$172,500,000,000	$134,840,000,000	▼$37,660,000,000
Medicaid	$87,000,000,000	$86,700,000,000	▼$300,000,000
State fiscal relief	$79,000,000,000	$39,000,000,000	▼$40,000,000,000
State and local law enforcement	$4,000,000,000	$3,500,000,000	▼$500,000,000
Other	$2,500,000,000	$5,640,000,000	▲$3,140,000,000
Business Total	$880,000,000	$730,000,000	▼$150,000,000
Small businesses	$880,000,000	$730,000,000	▼$150,000,000
Education Total	$68,456,000,000	$42,850,000,000	▼$25,606,000,000
K-12 education	$26,616,000,000	$25,400,000,000	▼$1,216,000,000
School construction and technology	$21,000,000,000		▼$21,000,000,000
Higher education	$16,140,000,000	$13,900,000,000	▼$2,240,000,000
Early childhood programs	$4,700,000,000	$3,550,000,000	▼$1,150,000,000
Energy Total	$53,650,000,000	$38,963,000,000	▼$14,687,000,000
Fossil energy research		$4,600,000,000	▲$4,600,000,000
Energy efficiency projects	$11,400,000,000	$5,800,000,000	▼$5,600,000,000
Electricity grid	$11,000,000,000	$4,500,000,000	▼$6,500,000,000
Federal building/Defense facility efficiency	$8,500,000,000	$6,313,000,000	▼$2,187,000,000
Renewable energy loans	$8,000,000,000	$8,500,000,000	▲$500,000,000
Weatherization	$6,200,000,000	$2,900,000,000	▼$3,300,000,000
Renewable energy research	$2,350,000,000	$2,600,000,000	▲$250,000,000
Advanced batteries	$2,000,000,000	$2,000,000,000
Other	$4,200,000,000	$1,750,000,000	▼$2,450,000,000
Health Care Total	$26,750,000,000	$19,191,000,000	▼$7,559,000,000
Health information technology	$20,000,000,000	$19,191,000,000	▼$809,000,000
Other	$6,750,000,000		▼$6,750,000,000
Other Total	$1,898,000,000	$1,760,000,000	▼$138,000,000
Accountability	$248,000,000	$110,000,000	▼$138,000,000
Census	$1,000,000,000	$1,000,000,000
DTV conversion coupons	$650,000,000	$650,000,000
Science and Technology Total	$17,771,000,000	$22,405,000,000	▲$4,634,000,000
Broadband	$6,000,000,000	$7,000,000,000	▲$1,000,000,000
National Science Foundation	$3,000,000,000	$1,200,000,000	▼$1,800,000,000
National Institutes of Health	$2,000,000,000		▼$2,000,000,000
Department of Energy	$2,000,000,000		▼$2,000,000,000
University research facilities	$1,500,000,000		▼$1,500,000,000
Biomedical research	$900,000,000	$10,000,000,000	▲$9,100,000,000
NASA	$600,000,000	$1,300,000,000	▲$700,000,000
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	$600,000,000	$1,000,000,000	▲$400,000,000
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	$462,000,000		▼$462,000,000
Other including National Institutes of Health		$1,100,000,000	▲$1,100,000,000
Other	$709,000,000	$805,000,000	▲$96,000,000
Tax Cuts Total	$282,284,000,000	$358,162,000,000	▲$75,878,000,000
Manufacturing		$1,603,000,000	▲$1,603,000,000
Individuals	$184,637,000,000	$302,198,000,000	▲$117,561,000,000
State and local governments	$42,957,000,000	$14,272,000,000	▼$28,685,000,000
Businesses	$29,483,000,000	$17,546,000,000	▼$11,937,000,000
Energy projects	$19,961,000,000	$17,682,000,000	▼$2,279,000,000
Other	$5,246,000,000	$4,861,000,000	▼$385,000,000
Transportation and Infrastructure Total	$80,604,000,000	$85,090,000,000	▲$4,486,000,000
Competitive grants		$5,500,000,000	▲$5,500,000,000
Homeland security		$4,700,000,000	▲$4,700,000,000
Federal buildings		$1,400,000,000	▲$1,400,000,000
Bureau of Reclamation		$1,400,000,000	▲$1,400,000,000
Water and waste disposal		$1,400,000,000	▲$1,400,000,000
Nuclear weapons program maintenance		$1,000,000,000	▲$1,000,000,000
Highways and bridges	$30,000,000,000	$27,000,000,000	▼$3,000,000,000
Transit	$12,000,000,000	$8,400,000,000	▼$3,600,000,000
Clean water	$9,500,000,000	$6,000,000,000	▼$3,500,000,000
Defense Department facilities	$8,265,000,000	$2,400,000,000	▼$5,865,000,000
Corps of Engineers	$4,500,000,000	$4,600,000,000	▲$100,000,000
Water resources	$1,124,000,000		▼$1,124,000,000
Public land and parks	$3,100,000,000	$3,400,000,000	▲$300,000,000
Aviation	$3,000,000,000	$1,300,000,000	▼$1,700,000,000
Environmental cleanup	$2,300,000,000	$7,600,000,000	▲$5,300,000,000
Border stations	$1,250,000,000	$1,200,000,000	▼$50,000,000
Railroads	$1,100,000,000	$3,100,000,000	▲$2,000,000,000
Veterans hospitals and cemeteries	$1,000,000,000	$3,700,000,000	▲$2,700,000,000
Federal government technology	$965,000,000		▼$965,000,000
Wildfire mitigation	$850,000,000		▼$850,000,000
Other	$1,650,000,000	$990,000,000	▼$660,000,000

*Some provisions that aren’t listed in one bill may be part of another category.

Source: House Appropriations and Ways and Means committees, Senate Appropriations and Finance committees

Michael Grabell and Krista Kjellman/ProPublica

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Video:
President Obama At Town-hall in Indiana:
"I intend to keep that Promise"

President Obama traveled today to Elkhart, Indiana for a town-hall on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. Before opening the event up for questions, the President spoke directly to Elkhart residents about the impact the plan will have on their lives, and explained the reason for his trip here today:

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