Solve crisis or else... Malaysiakini

Mr Obama stepped onto a stage in the East Room of the White House at a key moment in his three-week-old presidency, before more than 100 reporters and millions of television viewers of network television. -- AP

WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama said on Monday the crisis gripping the United States is the 'winter of our hardship' as he pounded home the need for Congress to set aside petty differences and pass a US$800-plus billion (S$1.2 trillion) stimulus fund to fight an economic collapse not seen in 80 years.

In opening remarks at his first news conference as president, Mr Obama again spoke of the dire state of the American economy and financial system and pushed Congress yet again to pass quickly the massive spending and tax cut measure.

He said the plan must be big enough and bold enough to meet the size of the crisis. But he also said the plan isn't perfect. And he isn't guaranteeing that everything in the plan will work as the administration hopes.

But he warned that inaction will turn crisis into a catastrophe. 'The federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life,' he said, vowing to do 'whatever it takes' to put America back to work.

'I want to thank the members of Congress who've worked so hard to move this plan forward,' Mr Obama said in his first prime-time White House news conference.

'But I also want to urge all members of Congress to act without delay in the coming week to resolve their differences and pass this plan,' Mr Obama said.

He also vowed to work tirelessly to battle the scourge of unemployment surging across the United States.

Mr Obama returned to the capital for the news conference from Elkhart, Indiana, where made a campaign-style pitch for the stimulus plan, having travelled Monday to the hard-hit industrial city in hopes of winning support for the package that has become his first big test since taking office.

Mr Obama participated in a town hall-style meeting in Elkhart and plans to hold another one Tuesday in Fort Myers, Florida, and one Thursday in Peoria, Illinois. All are cities that are suffering particularly hard times. -- AP, AFP