Just a few days before he's sworn in as the nation's next president, Barack Obama headed to Ohio to meet with factory workers making his case for his now $825-billion dollar economic stimulus package.
"The first job of my administration is to put people back to work and get our economy working again," said President-elect Barack Obama.
Obama was handed an early inauguration gift from Congress: the Senate agreed to release the last half of the funds from the $700-billion- dollar financial rescue bill or tarp.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised uncomfortable colleagues that this batch of funds would have oversight. "Every penny will require Barack Obama's personal sign-off."
But some Republicans are still not convinced the cash influx will actually help. "Tarp has proven to be helpful for rescuing Wall Street bond holders. But it's done little for the U.S. economy, small business, and the average American."
Even with the extra cash troubles continuing to mount for some major financial firms. Citigroup posted a more than $8-billion dollar fourth quarter loss. And after reporting nearly $2-billion dollars worth of losses in the fourth quarter, Bank of America officials convinced the Bush Administration to loan the company another $20-billion dollars of tarp funds in exchange for preferred stock.
Citigroup and Bank of America are now the two biggest recipients of tarp money- taking $45-billion dollars each from taxpayers.
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