HK wrote:
Stimulus would let Caterpillar rehire workers: Obama
Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:43pm EST


SPRINGFIELD, Va., Feb 11 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on
Wednesday that Caterpillar Inc's (CAT.N) chief executive has said he
would be able to rehire some of the company's 20,000 laid-off workers if
Congress passes an $800 billion economic stimulus plan.

Speaking at the site of a highway construction project in Virginia,
Obama noted that the heavy equipment machinery giant had announced some
20,000 layoffs in the past few weeks as a result of the global economic
crisis.

How about telling everyone why that "highway construction project" in
Virginia hasn't been finished yet. It's part of the Fairfax County
Parkway and it hasn't been completed because it is a federal superfund
cleanup site that the federal government hasn't cleaned up for over 15
years. It is part of Fort Belvior's old proving ground.

"Today, the chairman and CEO of Caterpillar said that if the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Plan passes, his company would be able to
rehire some of those employees," said Obama. The president is scheduled
to visit a Caterpillar plant in East Peoria, Illinois, on Thursday.

The Peoria Journal Star newspaper reported on Wednesday that Caterpillar
Chairman Jim Owens would promise Obama on Thursday that his company
would begin recalling laid-off employees if Congress passes an