SCOTT SIMON, host:
This is Weekend Edition from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. This week, President-elect Obama urged Congress to act quickly on his proposed economy recovery package and warned the nation's economy could deteriorate even further if the government doesn't act soon. The Illinois House voted to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich, and confirmation hearings began for those who have been nominated to be in President Obama's Cabinet. We're joined now by NPR senior news analyst Dan Schorr. Hello, Dan.
DANIEL SCHORR: Hi, Scott.
SIMON: And let's please begin, Dan, with the plan that President Obama is now trying to urge on Congress. He calls it the American recovery and reinvestment plan. Now, we know it could cost up to $800 billion, and the math involved, not to mention the money, is imposing. How would you summarize the plan?
SCHORR: Briefly, it's very difficult because it's a very long, complicated plan, but let me say this. It's $800 billion, as you said, and mounting. It could reach as high as a trillion. About 40 percent of it would be for investment and infrastructure - the roads, the bridges, all the things that come under infrastructure. Another 40 percent would be tax cuts of various kinds. One, for example, would be $3,000 tax credit for employers who hire new employees, a whole bunch of things like that. And then 20 percent goes to the states. That comes from Senator Barbara Boxer of California.
SIMON: How do you read the reaction in Congress?
SCHORR: I'd say rather cautious. I mean, nobody in Congress has yet said in the face of the president saying this is an urgent thing and there will be hell and damnation if we don't do this right away. So nobody wants to take a position against it. On the whole, saying we will cooperate, we will work it out. They're meeting over the weekend, trying to work things out. There are some questions about which tax cuts, how much tax cuts, how much spending. There are things that need to be worked out, but as of now, nothing stands very much in the way.
SIMON: Mr. Obama has been scrupulous about saying over the past few weeks - and certainly, we're talking about foreign crisis and we're obviously going to get to Gaza in a moment - we have only one president at a time.
SCHORR: Yep.
SIMON: But who are we talking about as being the real engine of economic recovery at this point?
SCHORR: I'll tell you, when it comes to foreign policy, he's backing off and saying one president at a time, but not on this economic thing. He had really hoped to get something he could sign the day after he has been inaugurated. He won't get that, but he's stepping right out, and if you ask, one president at a time, when it comes to the economic things, that one president seems to be Mr. Obama.
SIMON: And let's get to the Blagojevich case where the Illinois House voted to impeach Governor Blagojevich on Friday.
SCHORR: Yes.
SIMON: It was expected the vote was all but unanimous. The situation, as we speak, as to who, when, how President Obama's seat might be occupied in the Senate - and of course, Governor Blagojevich rather notably appointed Roland Burris to that seat - is still confused. What are some the national political implications of this that you see as we go forward?
SCHORR: Well, there were constitutional questions involved, the constitutional question of who has the right to the state - can a secretary of state, can any one person stop something which the governor wants to do? Then it is, is he the governor? He's a governor in a lot of trouble but he still is the governor, and that has to be worked out.
SIMON: Here we should point out, he hasn't even been indicted.
SCHORR: He has not been indicted. There's been criminal information against him and not yet indicted and the indictment will yet come. But whether he's indicted or not, he appears to be still the governor acting as governor unless he is challenged. And there is a certain challenge coming on the leadership of the Democrats in the Senate, who really would like to slow up this thing at least.
SIMON: The Senate held its first confirmation hearings for what will be the Obama administration. Former Senator Tom Daschel had been nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services appeared before two panels on Thursday. Things seemed to go smoothly.
SCHORR: Yes.
SIMON: Do you see any notable problems for any of the other nominees?
SCHORR: There will be, probably, a grilling of Leon Panetta to be CIA chief. There are some who think that the CIA chief should be somebody from the CIA. But the fact of the matter is the CIA is in such trouble at the moment that they probably need somebody come in fresh to look at it. And so I think after they have asked a lot of questions of Panetta, who is really a first-class official, he probably will be confirmed.
SIMON: You've covered intelligence matters for decades at this point.
SCHORR: Yes.
SIMON: There are people in the intelligence community who say unless you come from the world of intelligence, if you come into that world from the outside, they'll eat you alive.
SCHORR: Well, George Bush Sr. became CIA director coming from the outside with no previous experience. John McCone was a businessman who walked in and ran the CIA very well. I really don't think you have to come from inside in order to look at the thing whole.
SIMON: And of course, air strikes, rocket fire continued in Gaza throughout this week. The UN Security Council voted 14 to nothing to call for an immediate ceasefire. The United States abstained from that vote. Would you see U.S. policy being different a month from now?
SCHORR: Well, yes. I think the president-elect has made clear that if there's any really big problem when he's the president, he has to address it. And I think if he were there right now, he would address it. And I think if this is still going on, very soon after January 20th he will get involved in this one way or another. There have been European Union has tried to have some effect there. The Egyptians have. The United States have been standing on the sidelines.
SIMON: It must be said, the principal Democrats have not urged Israel to accept a ceasefire. They've all just talked about - be it Senator Durbin or President-elect Obama.
SIMON: That's right. But the pressure is mounting as more and more civilians are killed, and it's going to be more and more difficult to maintain the line that this is after all in response to rockets being fired at Israel. It's going to be tough.
SIMON: Thanks very much, Dan Schorr.
SCHORR: Sure, Scott.