Obama readies for the Oval Office

(NBC) - Obama's been up on the hill Monday talking tax cuts in his signature way always looking for ways to get both parties to agree.

"The economy is bad and the situation is getting worse," said President-elect Barack Obama.

It is two more weeks until Barack Obama is sworn in as president, but he is already in the lead on fixing our economy.

"It's clear that we have to act and have to act now to deal with the recession, break this recession," said Obama.

He met with House Speaker Pelosi on the Democrats' plan to pump roughly $750 billion into the economy quickly. Obama wants to put unemployed Americans back to work, rebuilding rundown U.S. infrastructure like bridges. His new plan is for $300 billion in tax breaks, including instant stimulus, by cutting payroll withholding by $20 a week.

"The reasoning is anything that stimulates jobs now is gonna help us recover and generate revenue in the long run, but it's a an emphasis that a lot of republicans havent been expecting from Barack Obama," said John Harwood, CNBC political analyst.

This was the first day of school for Obama daughters, Sasha and Malia. A motorcade took them to a private school. At midafternoon, the president made a surprise pick for Clinton chief of staff, Leon Panetta, to run the CIA. Obama has to pick a new commerce secretary as Bill Richardson dropped out amid a corruption investigation in New Mexico. The main Obama focus is the economy and his new tax cut plan.