The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Washington

President-elect Barack Obama, who is set to announce his economic team, promoted an economic plan Saturday he said would create or save 2.5 million jobs by spending billions of dollars to rebuild roads and bridges and modernize schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

On Monday, Obama will name Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers to direct the National Economic Council, transition officials said. The announcement of the economic team and his promotion of the jobs plan comes as the economy continues its downward spiral, and multi-billion dollar efforts to stabilize the economy have not stemmed the tide.

"These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address.

The goal is to get the ambitious plan quickly through Congress, with help from both parties, after Obama takes office Jan. 20. The plan, which envisions those new jobs by January 2011, is "big enough to meet the challenges we face," he said. The president-elect said he has asked his economic advisers to flesh out the recovery plan - one "big enough to meet the challenges we face. t

We'll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jump-start job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy."

The plan comes at a time that the economy is continuing a downward spiral after hundreds of billions have already been spent trying to stabilize markets and restore confidence - with little success so far.

Obama's radio address talked about the goal of job creation and said his economic plan "will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011." The Obama Web site on Saturday said his plan will "save or create" 2.5 million jobs. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs confirmed later Saturday that the plan "will save and create" the 2.5 million jobs.

In his address, Obama noted the growing evidence the country is "facing an economic crisis of historic proportions" and said he was pleased Congress passed an extension of unemployment benefits this past week. But, he added, 'We must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again."