Obama: Economy Worse Before It Gets Better

Pledges A Recovery Plan "That Is Equal To The Task Ahead"

(AP)  President-elect Barack Obama said the U.S. economy seems destined to get worse before it gets better and he pledged a recovery plan "that is equal to the task ahead."

Obama also said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the survival of the domestic car-making capacity is important, yet any bailout must be "conditioned on an auto industry emerging at the end of the process that actually works."

Less than six weeks before he takes office, Obama said that help for homeowners facing foreclosure is an option as part of his plan. He sidestepped a question about when he plans to raise taxes on wealthy Americans.

Obama's interview on NBC television's "Meet the Press" was his most extensive since winning the White House more than a month ago.

In the intervening weeks, the economy has showed clear signs of worsening. Employers said they eliminated more than 500,000 jobs in November alone and retailers reported disappointing holiday-season sales.

"The economy is going to get worse before it gets better," he said twice in the early moments of the interview, taped Saturday in Chicago.

The president-elect announced on Saturday he would call for the most massive spending on public works since the creation of the interstate highway system a half-century ago. In a word of caution to powerful lawmakers, he said the first priority would be "shovel-ready" projects - those that could create jobs rights away.

"The days of just pork coming out of Congress as a strategy, those days are over," he added.

Obama said repeatedly that his economic advisers are at work on an economic aid package, but he has largely stayed out of the public debate over bailout aid to the Detroit automakers. Congress and the Bush administration are at work on a plan for roughly $15 billion for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. Congressional leader hope to pass the measure this week.

Obama suggested he would support such a plan, so long as it was accompanied by conditions to "keep the automakers' feet to the fire in making the changes that are necessary" for longer-term survival. He also indicated he did not believe bankruptcy is an acceptable course of action for any of the companies.

The president-elect sidestepped a question about the pace of a troop withdrawal from Iraq, saying he would direct U.S. generals to come up with a plan "for a responsible drawdown." He said in the campaign he wanted most U.S. troops withdrawn within 16 months, but did not say then, nor has he now, how large a deployment should be left behind.

Obama also spoke about his latest Cabinet selection, retired Gen. Eric Shinseki to head the Veterans Affairs Department. Shinseki was forced into retirement by the Bush administration after he said the original invasion plan for Iraq did not include enough troops.

"He was right," Obama said.

The president-elect declined to comment on the possible appointment of Caroline Kennedy to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's seat in the Senate. Obama tapped Clinton recently as his secretary of state.

[a_nother2002]

The important thing is to make sure you don''t just give them cash without pre condition. A point Obama makes. There needs to be provision for the money to be returned in the end. No more free cash for fat cats.

[a_nother2002]

The important thing is to make sure you don''t just give them cash without pre condition. A point Obama makes. There needs to be provision for the money to be returned in the end. No more free cash for fat cats.

[reaganitegop]

Obama hasn''t the slightest clue how an entrepeneurial market economy functions... and he doesn'' want to, because he detests it.

He isn''t even looking for the best possible proven solution, he''s using the economic crisis as an excuse to ram-through his socialist agenda.

And this is not a spend-money program, because we don''t have it.... it''s a PRINT-money program, with all the associated evils. What happened to the lessons of the last 20 yrs regarding keeping a lid on inflation as a priority?

Any Democrats have the courage to stand up and tell Obama that this sort of big-government spending will put the budget deficit over $1 Trillion?

To quote that accomplished job-creator Ronald Reagan:

"Entrepeneurs and small businesses are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States"

What a shame then that Obama''s economic plans go completely against the grain of the proven methods of the Reagan Recovery (+16M jobs)... with huge government-managed programs, higher taxes, higher spending, and more regulation. And Reagan brought us back from catastrophic 11% unemployment... not today''s 6-point-something.

Instead of tested and true proposals, we get to be guinea pigs in Obama''s misguided, Neo-Bolshevik experiments... great. I''m sure his "Marxist professor" mentors would be very proud.


http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/

[moxford0]

Republican-Just another name for the n-word.

[papabc]

At least George Walker Bush waited till he was President before he started lying to us!!!

Posted by DaVicar1
-------------

Did you really thing Obama was for Change?
He just has different puppet masters pulling his strings. His change is towards socialist along with the left.

[papabc]

You might want to go read some real FACTS instead of promoting myths from the democrapic pig trough of lies and propaganda.

Posted by RowdynTex
------------------

You want to use facts? We need no stinking Facts. We can make up our own....

Haaa Haaa.

In the mid to late 1990s the industry here shipped jobs to Singapore, Mexica, China, Hungry. Rember the new layoff phrase "Down Size". There were lots of them and the company I work at down sized over 50% of the workforce by 1998-1999. Now look, most of our jobs are in China, India, Thialand and so no. No end in site yet.

9/11 just seemed to make it worse yets.

[papabc]

The thing with congress (Both party problem) is theye is not accountability for the money spent.

Where has that $700B gone? Heard this morning that a few solvent banks were give $5-10B at 5% interest. No conditions on how it will be used and there was not time limit for its return to the people.

Congress has either thrown or allowed use of that $700+B with little accountability. What is wrong with them. It is not helping this financial problem. Is will make it deeper.

If you or I were to run our personal finances like the government does we would be broke and on the street.

When congress does this they say " Oh! Well! .... We need more money from the tax payers."

[freedomobama]

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA FOR THE ECONOMY!

[petro49l]

The economy was greatly mismanaged on the state level. Fiscal incompetents like Ed Rendell in Pennsylvania practically bankrupted the State. Barack Obama needs a clean sweep. The political parasites from the Clinton Administration must be terminated from their positions. Barack should use his own people.

[stloubill]

People like Tex don''t want to talk about Bush borrowing HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS from Mideast and Chinese banks. Or how we are over 10 TRILLION in debt. All these morons hear is "tax cuts" and they waddle away smiling.

[stloubill]

The current congress has had a tough time getting anything passed thanks to old Dubya. Twelve vetoes from Bush and FOUR were overridden by 2/3 majority of congress.

[stloubill]

"it was the democraps that blocked every attempt the republicans made to reign in Freddie/Fannie and make them accountable...and it was the democraps who ignored the whole thing..."

Absolutely FALSE! The Bush admin had been warned about this problem years ago, while they still had a majority in congress... and did NOTHING. Two years ago the Dems took a slight majority and now it''s their fault???

You''re lying to yourself if you try to pull that ***!

[dinkydog1]

....everybody else is so dumb lacking intellectual capacity ...............

Posted by RowdynTex at 09:19 AM : Dec 08, 2008

..................

Alas, in a moment of clarity Rowdy has found her place in the world.

[dinkydog1]

Especially since they''''ve run up more debt in those two years than Bush has for both wars.


Posted by RowdynTex at 09:02 AM : Dec 08, 2008

........................

The record increase for discresionary federal spending was during the first two years of the Bush admin. not the last two years. Don''t you get tired of making this suff up?

[trillion1]

The poor rightwing. Still saying that the Dems controled goverment with just a two vote majority for the past two years. When they have to rely on lies and think they make their point they shouldn''t wonder why they lost the last two elections.

[perceptions5]

Typical "doom and gloom" speach. Typical of Democrats trying to save their butts........

Well that''s now what we were told before the election.

And how about those Democrats that took over our Do Nothing Democrat Congress two years ago?

How do you like the way they improve the economy over the past two Republican Congresses?

.............The Dems want the power but none of the responsiblity.

I''m sure their close pals in our liberal fascist press will "continue" to help them out...........SAD

[whatchange-2009]

Your liberal president is favoring the sit-in in Chicago. Your liberal is in favor of an unlawful act. Your liberal president is sponsoring his liberal socialistic labor union''s bail-out in Detroit. Who said that "W" had the wrong idea as to economy? he''s your sign, Liberals. Get used to it. You''ll be wearing it for at least 4 years.

[rafterman1]

===Here it is folks.

The republicans "base".===
Posted by IamHungry68

You have to forgive them. After eight years of Bush, the neocons aren''t used to hearing the truth from the president.

[earache4]

Is this the same recession that Shrub never admitted was happening?

[faletinme]

From the above article: "Obama said repeatedly that his economic advisers are at work on an economic aid package"

Can anyone tell me why Obama isn''t working on it? This is precisely why people asked him for his PRECISE economic plans during the campaign. He smiled smugly and assured us he had. So......um...why are his advisors "working on them now"? he told us he already had detailed plans.....

Sounds like he didn''t tell the truth.