Obama: Creating Green Energy Jobs a Priority in 2009
While Barack Obama's top priority will be appointing a Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff. The leading candidates: two Clinton administration stalwarts, Lawrence Summers and Representative Rahm Emanuel.
Given the financial crisis and two wars, Obama, 47, is bound to move more quickly than either of his two predecessors in making key personnel decisions.
Summers, 53, is favored to return to the Treasury post that he held under President Bill Clinton because Obama values his experience and familiarity with markets and global leaders, a crucial asset during the markets crisis.
Still, people close to the president-elect stress no final decision has been reached and that Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, is also a strong contender. Geithner would also be welcome by many in the financial community; at age 47, he would be a fresh face in an administration that ran on a mantra of change.
Obama's first decision may be who heads his White House operation. "A president should pick a White House chief of staff first," says Vernon Jordan, the lawyer and investment banker who ran the transition for Bill Clinton in 1992. "The chief of staff needs to be involved in the selection of other people in the government; that's the quarterback."
Obama has spoken with Emanuel, the No. 4 ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives and former Clinton White House aide, in recent weeks about the post; if asked, Emanuel is expected to accept.
President-elect Barack Obama interviewed CNN's Wolf Blitzer. has indicated that turning around the economy and energy independence are his priorities for 2009 if he is elected president.
Obama was asked to name his top priority from a list of issues, including taxes, health care, education, energy policy and immigration.
Obama: Creating Green Energy Jobs a Priority in 2009
#1 - Stabilize the Financial System:
"The top priority may not be any of those five. It may be continuing to stabilize the financial system. We don't know yet what's going to happen in January," he said. "None of this can be accomplished if we continue to see a potential meltdown in the banking system and financial system. So that's priority No. 1: making sure the plumbing works."
#2 - Energy Independence:
"We have to seize this moment, because it's not just an energy independence issue; it's also a national security issue, and it's a jobs issue. We can create 5 million new green energy jobs."
#3 - Health Care Reform
#4 - Tax Cuts for the Middle Class:
"The tax cut that I talked about may be part of my priority No. 1, because I think that's going to be part of stabilizing the economy as a whole," he said.
"I think we're going to need a second stimulus. Part of my commitment is to make sure that the stimulus includes a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans. It may be the first bill I introduce."
#5 - Reforming the Education System:
Separately, Obama was asked about his pledge to have a bipartisan administration, and whether it included room for his opponent.
"Well, I will tell you what," Obama said. "I would certainly consider any position for John McCain where I thought he was going to be the best person for our country."