"Now is the time to jump-start job creation, restart lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down," he said. "That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that's what I'd like to talk to you about tonight."

Obama struck a more optimistic tone than he has in recent days by laying out a "game plan" to beat the financial crisis.

Wall Street plunged Monday with the Dow Jones average and the S&P 500 index dropping to a 12-year-low on concerns about dim economic outlook.

But the market rallied Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that nationalization of major banks was not at hand.

Unlike the more formal State of Union speeches delivered later in a presidency, Obama did not go into great details on questions such as whether major banks will be nationalized.

He assured the Americans the country could work through the current crisis, the most severe since the Great Depression in 1930s.

"While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times," he said.

"The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth," said the president.

"What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face and take responsibility for our future once more," he noted.

Though deep partisan fault lines are quickly reemerging, Obama is receiving strong reviews for this first full month in office.

A new Washington Post-ABC News survey found 68 percent of the public approves of Obama's job performance, while a Gallup poll also out Tuesday showed his approval rating falling to 59 percent.

In the rare speech, Obama said his administration is moving swiftly and aggressively to break this destructive cycle of the credit market, restore confidence, and re-start lending.

"We are creating a new lending fund that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running," said Obama.

"Second, we have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and re-finance their mortgages," he said.

Third, the Obama administration will act with the full force of the federal government to ensure that the major banks that Americans depend on have enough confidence and enough money to lend even in more difficult times, said the new president.

"I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer," he warned. 

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2009)