Obama urges quick passage of stimulus plan

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress on Monday evening to quickly pass his economic stimulus planof more than $800 billion US, saying "the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life."

Onlygovernment "can break the vicious cycle where lost jobs lead to people spending less money, which leads to even more layoffs," Obama saidduring hisfirst televised news conference in the White Housesince he took officeJan. 20.

"And breaking that cycle is exactly what the plan that's moving through Congress is designed to do."

Obama, who discussed the state of the U.S. economy and why he believes the country needs to implement this recovery plan as soon as possible, spoke to reporters just hours after theSenatecleared a procedural hurdle late Monday afternoon, voting 61-36 toend debate on the $838-billion version of theplan.

That paves the way for a vote onfinal passage of the bill Tuesday.

TheHouse of Representatives has already passed its version of the bill. The two chambers will have to negotiate on a single piece of legislation that will eventually be sent to Obama, who hopes to signit into lawnext Monday.

Obama defendsstimulus plan

As he did in Indiana earlier Monday, the president warned again Monday evening that a failure to act quickly"could turn a crisis into a catastrophe."

Duringthe news conference, Obama defended his program against Republican criticism thatthe stimulus packageis loaded with pork-barrel spending and will not create jobs.

Ninetyper cent of the jobs created by the plan would be in the private sector, rebuilding crumbling roads, bridges and other aging infrastructure, Obama said.

"The plan is not perfect," he said. "No plan is.

"I can't tell you for sure that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis, as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans."

Again and again,Obama stressed the U.S.economy is in dire straits.

"This is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill recession," he said, adding that the U.S. aims to avoid the kind of economic pain that Japan endured in the 1990s the "lost decade" when that countryshowed no economic growth.

"My bottom line is to make sure that we are saving or creatingfour million jobs," he said,and that homeowners facing foreclosure receive some relief.

While Obama's focuswas theeconomy, he also faced questions from reporters on foreign policy,including Iran and Pakistan.

When asked how he'd deal with Iran a country the U.S. accuses of supportingterrorism Obama said his administration was reviewing its policyand hopes to engage that country in thenear future.

"My expectation is in the coming months we will be looking for openings that can be created where we can be sitting across the table, face to face," Obama said.

He also said"there's no doubt" there areregions along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan where terrorists are operating.

"We cannot allow al-Qaeda to operate," he said. "We cannot have those safe havens in that region, and we're going to have to work both smartly and effectively, but with consistency, in order to make sure those safe havens don't exist."

Obama takes pitch to Indiana

EarlierMonday, Obama spoke at a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind., a region that has seen its unemployment rate climb to 15 per cent, due in part to falling demand for recreational vehiclesproduced in the area.

He said that similar situations were playing out across the country.

"We can't afford to wait. We can't wait to see and hope for the best," Obama said. "We can't posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us in into this mess in the first place."

Obama's plea camejust days after the U.S. government reported that employers shed 598,000 jobs from their payrolls in January. Roughly 3.6 million U.S. jobs have disappeared in the economic downturn, half of them disappearing in the last three months, Obama said.

Obama will also take his message to Fort Myers, Fla., on Tuesdayand to Peoria, Ill., on Thursday.

Republican-friendly Fort Myers, like Elkhart, has seen itsunemployment rateclimb to 10 per cent, from six per cent last year. Its housing marketis among the worst in the United States.