President Barack Obama

At a Chicago news conference announcing his economic team, President-elect Barack Obama urged rapid passage of an economic stimulus bill by Congress, which would provide assistance to the three domestic automakers, among other financial measures.

With 57 days before he is inaugurated as the nation’s 44th president, Barack Obama warned about the ailing economy, saying that, “the economy is likely to get worse before it gets better.” He added that, “most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.” Obama also expressed surprise at the big three auto makers, saying that he was surprised they did not have at present any well-conceived plans for recovery prior to asking Congress to approve their urgent request for $25 billion in emergency loans.

When Barack Obama announced his presidential victory over John McCain in Chicago on November before a live audience of hundreds of thousands, and a worldwide television audience of perhaps hundreds of millions, he made a unique promise. He told his daughters Sasha and Malia that they had earned a new puppy, which would join them in the White House.

It seems that the whole world is fascinated with the incoming First Family’s search for a new puppy. The topic even arose during president-elect Obama’s first news conference post-election. It appears that this human-interest aspect of the new First Family will continue to attract considerable media and public attention.