[IMG]http://simplefeed.consumerreports.org/rsrc/i/1/_/obama_adviser_on_stimulus_bill_there_will_be_sig_7 70537822/4.gif?f=3dcb3160-01dc-11dc-32a2-0019bbc55f7f&s=AewyNia7NTvDvhaDemju5DEsbnVsbCwwLDA *[/IMG] Obama adviser on stimulus bill: "There will be signs of activity very quickly"
Officials from the Obama administration who took to the airwaves on Sunday said the American economy will quickly begin to see benefits from the recently-passed $787 billion economic stimulus bill. But, those officials also warned that the road to economic recovery would be long.

"There will be signs of activity very quickly," David Axelrod said on Fox News Sunday. "But it?s going to take time to show up in the statistics. The president has said it?s likely to get worse before it gets better."

Still, the president's senior adviser said all of the stimulus funds will not be released right away.

"We believe that 75 percent of this money will be, will be spent out in the first 18 months," Axelrod added on Meet The Press.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that stemming the rising tide of unemployment was a primary concern.

"We certainly hope that this money gets moved out to the states and localities *to prevent them from having to cut police officers or teachers, that the money that comes down through unemployment insurance, and certainly the tax cuts to middle-class families," Gibbs said on Face The Nation. "We think *that money can get out of the system and to people very quickly."

Gibbs announced that President Obama will sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill, as the stimulus package is formally known, Tuesday in Denver.

Axelrod also discussed the future of two large segments of the economy where failures have been highly visible: the housing market and the auto industry.

"Obviously, our goal is, first of all, to deal with this rash of foreclosures that is being accelerated by the economy," Axelrod said on Fox News Sunday. "It's to help people who are right on the edge now making their payments but are on the edge of moving into that area, and ultimately reducing--raising home values that have--that have been plummeting as a result of this rash of foreclosures."

On Wednesday in Phoenix, the president is scheduled to unveil the details of his plans to stabilize the nation's financial system, and $50 billion is expected to be devoted to lessening the impact of the mortgage meltdown.

Without going into details of the president's plans, Axelrod suggested the amount may be even greater.

"There?ll be a lot of aspects to this--to this program, so--but the $50 billion obviously--50 to 100 billion that?s been discussed to date is obviously a necessary part of it," he said.

Axelrod said the White House is committed to the survival of the American auto industry, but that the companies must be "looking forward and not back in producing the kind of cars that people are going to buy in the future."


This week General Motors and Chrysler, which have received billions of dollars in emergency aid already, will be required to present plans to Congress in order to receive more bailout funds from the government.

"We need, we need an auto industry in this country," Axelrod said on Meet The Press. "But it's going to require a major restructuring of the auto industry."

"That?s going to involve concessions on the part of everyone, not just the auto workers, but shareholders, creditors and, of course, the executives who run the company," he added on Fox News Sunday.

In Detroit, GM and Chrysler have been discussing concessions with the United Auto Workers. Talks with GM broke off Friday night over the issue of health care for retirees.
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