President-elect Barack Obama Monday tried to paint a picture of widespread agreement that a big economic stimulus is needed, and fast.

Not everyone is enthusiastic, though. Here's the view of Republican National Committee spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson:

“In his first major economic announcement since the election, President-elect Obama proposed billions of dollars in new government spending that will come at a burdensome cost to American families and small businesses.

"The ‘cuts and sacrifices’ that President-elect Obama advocates will not be made by his friends in Washington, but rather by job creators facing devastating tax increases across America.”

Call it bipartisanship. Call it healing the divide. But no matter what President-elect Barack Obama calls it, one reporter thinks it’s just too much.

Press seats at Obama’s Monday news conference in a Chicago hotel have been divided into a White Sox section — to the South — and a Cubs section — to the North of the ballroom. Fair enough.

But in a crime against nature, your correspondent — a genuine White Sox fan, a man who attended his first twi-night double header at the Old Comiskey in 1963, who sat behind third base for the 50th anniversary All Star Game there in '83, who knew Bill Veeck and the wonders of Disco Demolition night, who saw the great Ozzie play before he managed — has been assigned a seat in the Cubs section.

Change? Hah.

Noon, Eastern time, Barack Obama will make the official announcement of his economics team. Whether those simple announcements will make a difference to the financial markets we'll see in the next few days, but it's clear people are hungering for a change — even before Jan. 20.

Jim Baker said as much Sunday on Meet the Press. Gail Collins on Saturday had a more amusing take. But it won't happen.

The decline of Citigroup seems to have caught people somewhat surprised. it shouldn't have. Christina Rexrode at the Charlotte Observer wrote this story on Oct. 2, when Citigroup was about to buy Wachovia — a deal that Wells Fargo stepped in and mucked up. If the feds end up bailing Citigroup out, it'll be interesting to know what the actual cost to taxpayers ends up being versus what it would have been.

Coleman's maintaining his slim lead over Franken as vote counting begins again this a.m. Here's the latest.

Congress has given America's Big Three automakers until next week to come up with a business plan, a plan that will convince skeptical lawmakers to authorize a $25 billion loan.

Sunday, those members of Congress showed just how skeptical they are.

"I'm not sure that they will have a plan by early December, a real plan," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. And, he said, constituents are "not interested in investing money that (is) going to be really thrown away." Boehner spoke on ABC's "This Week."

The auto measure's biggest stumbling block is likely to be the Senate, which until January will have 49 Republicans _ more than enough to launch a filibuster.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, made it clear Sunday that even $25 billion would not be enough to rescue the ailing automakers.

"I don't believe $50 billion will be," he said on "This Week." " I believe it will take several hundred billion, and still, they might not make it."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was more hopeful. "My expectation is that we are going to see something, that the auto companies are going to respond in a way that I think will give confidence to the Congress and to the American public that we need to assist these companies," he said.

Congressional leaders last week gave up on trying to vote on a rescue plan, because they did not have the votes to succeed. Instead, they have the automakers until December 2 to come up with a plan. The Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees are expected to hold hearings next week, and Congress could return to Washington the week of December 8 for further action.

A top Democrat Sunday urged President-elect Barack Obama to get more personally involved now in efforts to help the economy, and not to wait until taking office on Jan. 20.

A senior Obama adviser, meanwhile, accused the Bush administration of doing little to help, vowing that things will change once Obama is sworn in. "The era of dithering is going to end," said Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee.

The question of Obama's role as president-elect during an economic crisis loomed large Sunday, as he prepares to unveil his economic team at a news conference Monday in Chicago, moving up a loose timetable that originally would have held all the cabinet announcements until after Thanksgiving.

"I want him to offer his assistance. He is a person who can really bring people together," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., during an appearance on CNN's Late Edition program.

"I would like him at least offer to become more involved, and I think that offer would be welcomed, not just by the Democrats, the House and the Senate, but also by the White House itself that has a different view on it."

Obama has steadfastly resisted getting more involved in current policy, refusing to attend a summit meeting of 20 nations on the economy, and resigning his seat in the Senate. He says repeatedly that the country has, and should have, only one president at a time.

Yet he did send representatives to the G-20 summit to meet with foreign leaders, and helped boost stock markets last Friday when news leaked that he would nominate New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as his Secretary of the Treasury.

Obama also used his weekly radio address Saturday to promise a stimulus plan that would save or create 2.5 million jobs over two years by rebuilding roads and bridges, modernizing schools and helping build energy efficient cars. He did not offer any details.

As Levin pressed for more involvement, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said Obama was doing the right thing by staying out of any public role in the current policy debate.

"I think he's playing it just right," Hutchison said, also on CNN. "I think certainly we all want to know what his views are because we know by January 20th that whatever his views are probably are going to have great weight.

"But I think he is playing it right to not jump in and be critical of what the president is doing. And I think on this particular point, the president is right and I think there is a very bipartisan view about using money that could possibly be used effectively right now, let it be recycled through and try keep an eye on the taxpayers."

Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist expected to also be named to the Clinton White House economic team, on Sunday refused to put a price tag on Obama's stimulus but suggested it would be big enough for some shock value above and beyond the value of each component.

Some, such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D, N.Y., guessed it could top $500 billion.

"I don't know what the exact number is, but it's going to be a big number. It has to be," Goolsbee said on CBS's Face the Nation program. "The point is to, kind of, get people back on track and startle the thing into submission."

Goolsbee vowed a dramatic change from Bush administration, accusing the incumbent of a laissez-faire approach as the economy turned bad.

"We've had a period, under this administration, where they resisted the idea of economic recovery. The approach has been, let's, sort of, look the other way and things will get better," Goolsbee said.

"We've tried not having a stimulus. We've tried not having a housing plan. We've tried not giving tax cuts to ordinary Americans. And it hasn't worked. I mean, look out the window. That's where it is. And so ... that era of dithering is going to end. Starting January 20, Obama's coming in. We're out with the dithering. We're in with a bang. That's what it's got to be."

A top Democrat Sunday urged President-elect Barack Obama to get more personally involved now in efforts to help the ailing U.S. auto industry and bolster the economy, and not to wait until taking office on Jan. 20.

"I want him to offer his assistance. He is a person who can really bring people together," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., during an appearance on CNN's Late Edition program.

"I would like him at least offer to become more involved, and I think that offer would be welcomed, not just by the Democrats, the House and the Senate, but also by the White House itself that has a different view on it."

Levin made the comments as Obama prepares to unveil his economic team at a news conference Monday in Chicago, moving up a loose timetable that originally would have held all the cabinet announcements until after Thanksgiving.

Obama has steadfastly resisted getting more involved publicly in current policy, refusing to attend a summit meeting of 20 nations on the economy, and resigning his seat in the Senate. He says repeatedly that the country has, and should have, only one president at a time.

Yet he did send representatives to the G-20 summit to meet with foreign leaders, and helped boost stock markets last Friday when news leaked that he would nominate New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as his Secretary of the Treasury.

Obama also used his weekly radio address Saturday to promise a stimulus plan that would save or create 2.5 million jobs over two years by rebuilding roads and bridges, modernizing schools and helping build energy efficient cars.

He did not offer any details.

As Levin pressed for more involvement, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said Obama was doing the right thing by staying out of any public role in the current policy debate.

"I think he's playing it just right," Hutchison said, also on CNN. "I think certainly we all want to know what his views are because we know by January 20th that whatever his views are probably are going to have great weight.

"But I think he is playing it right to not jump in and be critical of what the president is doing. And I think on this particular point, the president is right and I think there is a very bipartisan view about using money that could possibly be used effectively right now, let it be recycled through and try keep an eye on the taxpayers."

President-elect Barack Obama just announced he will unveil his economic team and hold a news conference at 12 EST Monday in Chicago.

Obama is expected to name New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as his Treasury Secretary. He's also likely to talk more about his announcement Saturday that he will push an economic plan designed to save or create 2.5 million jobs in the next two years.

President-elect Barack Obama just announced he will unveil his economic team and hold a news conference at 12 EST Monday in Chicago.

Obama is expected to name New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as his Treasury Secretary. He's also likely to talk more about his announcement Saturday that he will push an economic plan designed to save or create 2.5 million jobs in the next two years.

They've changed the background on his video address this week. Watch it here.

If you look at the Obama video released today touting Chicago's Olympics bid (see previous item) and the video posted last Saturday on YouTube of his "radio" address you'll see he's wearing the same red tie, with the same flag pin, the same microphone and the same background. Not that there's anything wrong with taping everything at once. Just something to point out.