Obama's Monday was spent in a series of high profile meetings with Congressional leaders of both parties and his top economic advisers, with a message that it is time for action to boost US economic fortunes.

"The economy is very sick," Obama said during a meeting at the Capitol.

"We have to act and act now to break the momentum of this recession," he added.

While Obama was talking about the economy, he avoided saying much at all about the continuing battle in Gaza between Israeli and Hamas forces, leaving that to President Bush.

"I know people are saying let's have that cease-fire, and those are noble ambitions. But any cease-fire must have the conditions in it so that Hamas does not use Gaza as a place from which to launch rockets," Mr. Bush said in the Oval Office.

The current President though did not offer any remarks about the economy, and White House Press Secretary did her best to tap dance around questions from reporters about emerging economic plans from the Obama Administration In Waiting.

"I think the best thing that I can do is decline to comment on what they're going to do going forward," said Perino.

Obama tried to keep the heat on Congress to act quickly on an economic stimulus bill, saying he wants something on his desk by the end of January or early February.

"We've got an extraordinary economic challenge ahead of us," said Obama.

The new Congress convenes today, with larger Democratic majorities. We'll see if they can move through what the next President wants, especially several hundred billion dollars in tax relief that wouldn't exactly be on the wish list for many Democratic lawmakers.

Regardless, Obama is acting like he's in charge already. Two weeks from today, he starts drawing his paycheck for real.