• President Barack Obama dispatched his top economic adviser and vice president yesterday to relentlessly press their sales pitch for an $825 billion stimulus package to halt the U.S. economic slide, as the plan came under more fire from GOP leaders. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) opposes the plan because he says the plan doesn’t create enough jobs.
• Economists expect an already deep recession to get even worse in 2009, according to the National Association for Business Economics survey released this morning. Companies will lay off more workers and hoard more cash during the next 12 months.
• Obama is enjoying about a two-thirds approval rating for his first days as president, a poll released Saturday found. The Gallup survey found 68% of Americans approve of Obama’s performance as president. That’s a number near the high end for new presidents, but short of President John F. Kennedy’s 72% in 1961.
• New York Senator-designate Kirsten Gillibrand said yesterday that she plans to “hit the ground running.” She spoke to reporters after finishing a congratulatory lunch in New York City with newly minted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), and NY Gov. David Paterson.
• President Obama struck down a rule Friday that prohibits U.S. money from funding international family-planning clinics that promote abortion or provide counseling or referrals about abortion service. Obama says that he plans to “initiate a fresh conversation on family planning.”
