He has his opponents in Congress, but President Barack Obama is stressing the need to settle the stimulus issue—and fast. On Monday, in his first major news conference since assuming office, Obama warned of economic troubles ahead and presented the stimulus package as a possible way out.

Boston.com:

“This is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill recession,” Obama said. “We are going through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”

The president said he is “absolutely confident” the nation can overcome this crisis, but he warned that the government, business, and consumers must change their ways. He also declared Republicans who oppose his massive spending plan on ideological grounds should not engage in “revisionist history,” noting their party presided over a doubling of the US debt and helped create the ailing economy he inherited.

The first and most critical step, he said, was for Congress to approve his economic stimulus package, which he said would put more money into the hands of consumers, encouraging them to spend money, and which would create jobs in both the public and private sectors.