Posted 07.12.2008 14:10:55 UTC Updated 08.12.2008 15:40:51 UTC In a weekly Democratic radio address on Saturday, Obama pledged for taking immediate action by Congress when he takes office in January.
Obama said "We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won't just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work." He also stated it was unacceptable that the United States ranked 15th in the world in broadband adoption.
Obama continued that in addition to connecting libraries and schools to the Internet, US hospitals would also be able to connect to each other through the Internet.
"We need to act with the urgency, this moment demands to save or create at least two and a half million jobs so that the nearly two million Americans who've lost them know that they have a future," Obama said in his weekly address which broadcasted on the radio and the Internet.
Even though few details were revealed by Obama; experts say that the program will include tax cuts for middle-class US citizens and direct aid to state governments.
Meanwhile, the US government released a report on Friday disclosing 533.000 job cuts in November which is the largest one-month drop since December 1974.
Unnemployment rate in the US has increased to 6.7 percent in November.
Obama’s public works program has been considered as the largest since the federal interstate system developed by President Eisenhower in the 1950s.
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