Economy will worsen, Obama warns

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday the economy will get worse before it gets better, pledged a recovery plan "equal to the task" and warned lawmakers that the days of pork barrel spending are over during a wide-ranging interview and later at a news conference.

Less than six weeks before his inauguration, Obama also introduced his pick for Veterans Affairs but sidestepped a question on Iraq troop withdrawal.

The economy

Twice in the opening moments of an NBC "Meet the Press" interview, the president-elect said the economic situation "is going to get worse before it gets better," an unspoken plea with voters to have patience as the incoming administration tries to grapple with the issue.

He announced plans Saturday for the largest public works spending program since the creation of the interstate highway system a half-century ago, although he said aides are still debating among themselves how much it should cost.

"What we need to do is examine, what are the projects where we're going to get the most bang for the buck? How are we going to make sure taxpayers are protected? You know, the days of just pork coming out of Congress as a strategy, those days are over," he said.

Obama declined to say how large an economic stimulus plan he envisions. He said his blueprint for recovery will include help for homeowners facing foreclosure on their mortgages if President George W. Bush has not acted by Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

"We've got to provide a blood infusion to the patient right now to make sure that the patient is stabilized. And that means that we can't worry short term about the deficit. We've got to make sure that the economic stimulus plan is large enough to get the economy moving," he said.

The president-elect said it is important that domestic carmakers survive the current crisis, although he accused the industry's executives of taking a "head in the sand approach" that has prevented their companies from becoming more competitive.

"Congress is doing the exact right thing by asking for a conditions-based assistance package that holds the industry's feet to the fire and gives the industry some short-term assistance," he said.

Veterans Affairs choice

Obama announced that he would nominate retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki to head the Veterans Affairs Department, bringing into his administration one of the military's most visible critics of the Bush administration's Iraq war strategy.

Shinseki, who was a four-star general, was Army chief of staff from 1999 to 2003. In February 2003, he told Congress that it could take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the U.S. invasion. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld disputed Shinseki's prediction, and the general was removed.

But many believe that Bush's "surge" strategy has vindicated Shinseki, and Sunday Obama said the general "was right."

Shinseki on Sunday pledged to build a "smooth, error-free, no-fail benefits-assured transition" back to civilian life for veterans.

Foreign policy

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.

"We are going to maintain a large enough force in the region to assure that our civilian troops or our civilian personnel and our embassies are protected, to make sure that we can ferret out any remaining terrorist activity in the region" and providing training support for Iraqi personnel.

He did not respond directly when asked whether he believes India should have the right to pursue terrorist targets inside Pakistan in the wake of the deadly attacks in Mumbai. He also said he wants to "reset U.S.-Russian relations" following the Bush era.

"They are increasingly assertive and when it comes to Georgia and their threats against their neighboring countries I think they've been acting in a way that's contrary to international norms," he said of Kremlin leaders.