Obama: Economy to get worse before it improves. Us: Thanks?!

President-elect Barack Obama said the 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 (Meet the Press) 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.” – from Seattle

MR. BROKAW: The circumstances now are, as you say, very unpopular in terms of the decisions that have to be made. Which are the most unpopular ones that the country is going to have to deal with?

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: Well, fortunately, as tough as times are right now, and things are going to get worse before they get better—there is a convergence between circumstances and agenda. The key for us is making sure that we jump-start that economy in a way that doesn’t just deal with the short term, doesn’t just create jobs immediately, but also puts us on a glide path for long-term sustainable economic growth, and that’s why I spoke in my radio address on Saturday about the importance of investing in the largest infrastructure program, in roads and bridges and other traditional infrastructure since the building of the Federal Highway System in the 1950s. Rebuilding our schools, and making sure that they’re energy efficient, making sure that we’re investing in electronic medical records and other technologies that can drive down healthcare costs—all those things are not only immediate—part of an immediate stimulus package to the economy, but they’re also down payments on the kind of long-term sustainable growth that we need. – from Politico