Obama makes pitch for stimulus plan

From NBC's Athena Jones FAIRFAX, Va. -- With 12 days to go before he becomes president, Obama took to the stage here today to make a pitch for quick passage of his plan to jumpstart the economy through tax cuts, infrastructure investments, and other measures, He argued that an already bad situation could get “dramatically worse” if the government does not take bold action now. Obama's roughly 18-minute, teleprompter-aided speech against a backdrop of six flags at George Mason University, was his first major speech since his Election Night victory. He offered the broad outlines of a plan estimated at some $775 billion -- and touched on his campaign's themes of change and unity in an effort to make the case to the American people for a package that was large enough to be effective, despite the short-term increase in the budget deficit that would result. “It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth. But at this particular moment, only government ... (link)