Obama: Economy will worsen before it gets better

David Edwards and Andrew McLemore
Published: Sunday December 7, 2008

The candidate of hope was a dash less optimistic during a Sunday interview, telling NBC's Tom Brokaw that the economy would get significantly worse before it gets better.

"If you look at the unemployment numbers ... the fragility of the financial system and the fact that it's an international system," the recession "is a big problem, and it's going to get worse," Obama said.

With six weeks left until his inauguration, Obama has said mending the economy with a recovery plan is his first priority.

In his weekly radio address, Obama laid the groudwork for a massive public works project on a scale similar to former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal."

Obama also expressed support for a government loan to distressed automakers that Congress will vote on this week.

"It is a huge employer across many states," he said. "I don’t think it's an option to allow it simply to collapse."

But he stressed that if taxpayers' money is at stake, a viable, sustainable industry must be guaranteed to emerge along with stricter financial regulations.

"If they want to survive, then they better start building a fuel-efficient car," Obama said, and accept that the future will never again be as "rosy as they project."