i want to thank, by the way, your home state senator, mark warner, for his great work on homestar in the senate. think about the way that the rebates we're talking about could help spur private sector job growth. it could not only help businesses like opower to help consumers make their homes more energy efficient, it's also going to create business for the local contractors and the companies hired to upgrade homes. these companies then, in turn, have to purchase supplies and that creates business for retailers. these retailers would need to restock their shelves, and that creates business for manufacturers. and almost all the goods that are required to make homes more energy efficient are actually produced right here in the united states of america. it's very hard to ship an energy-efficient window across an ocean. so, yes, people who are out of work right now need some immediate relief. yes, we need to extend unemployment insurance and cobra to help americans weather these tough times. and, yes, we've got to do everything we can to help the private sector create jobs right now. but

. >>> right now president obama is on his way to georgia to outline the new homestar energy program. the program would offer consumers on-the-spot rebates of $100,000 or more if they buy insulation, water heaters or other appliances that are more energy efficient. obama has said that shifting towards cleaner sources of energy will help reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, create jobs and save people money. the white house hopes this plan will be as popular as last year's cash for clunkers program. >> i just bought a hot water heater yesterday. one day too soon! i needed it. >> let's go to tom, he's in storm center4. cold water headed our way? >> it looks like mostly a rain event we've been talking about the last couple days. as we take a look at the sky over the last several hours, we can squeeze about 2.5 hours down to just about 30 seconds. looking off to the west, we've seen the clouds darken up a bit this morning, and we're beginning to see some low clouds move in to the north and east as the winds are coming in at low levels from the north and east bringing moisture

i want to thank, by the way, your home state senator, mark warner, for his great work on homestar in the senate. think about the way that the rebates we're talking about could help spur private sector job growth. it could not only help businesses like opower to help consumers make their homes more energy efficient, it's also going to create business for the local contractors and the companies hired to upgrade homes. these companies then, in turn, have to purchase supplies and that creates business for retailers. these retailers would need to restock their shelves, and that creates business for manufacturers. and almost all the goods that are required to make homes more energy efficient are actually produced right here in the united states of america. it's very hard to ship an energy-efficient window across an ocean. so, yes, people who are out of work right now need some immediate relief. yes, we need to extend unemployment insurance and cobra to help americans weather these tough times. and, yes, we've got to do everything we can to help the private sector create jobs right now. but