US:BARACK OBAMA was joined yesterday by the world's wealthiest individual, Warren Buffett, and a host of entrepreneurs, economists and union leaders for a summit in Washington to find ways out of the US economic crisis.
Mr Obama, who returned to the US from a 10-day visit overseas on Saturday, sought to switch from foreign affairs to the economy, the issue that Americans tell pollsters will determine their choice of the next president.
"People are worried about gas prices, they're worried about job security, they're worried about their retirement fund as the stock market goes down," Mr Obama told reporters before the summit. "People are understandably concerned about the immediate effects of the economy, and that's what we will be talking about for the duration."
An Obama spokesman, Bill Burton, said the summit, which will be attended by interested Republicans, will discuss job losses, financial markets and the rising costs of commodities.
Mr Buffett, who built his fortune through stock investments and is a leading philanthropist, was joined at the summit by Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve; Robert Rubin, the former treasury secretary; Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google; and John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest confederation of unions in the country. Republicans present included Paul O'Neill, a former treasury secretary in President Bush's administration. His attendance is not being seen as an Obama endorsement.
The stellar cast again threatened to eclipse Mr Obama's Republican rival, John McCain, who complained repeatedly last week about the US media's saturation coverage of the Democrat's visit to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Europe.
The summit coincided with an expected announcement from the Bush administration that the US budget deficit is set to rise to a record $490bn next year, compared with the $407bn predicted in February. - (Guardian service)