US President-elect Barack Obama has said that his country, in the middle of an economic recession, is in a very difficult spot and the situation is getting worse.
Emerging from a meeting with his top economic advisors, Obama told reporters yesterday, "The message of our meeting today is one that comes as no surprise to most Americans, and that is we are in a very difficult spot. The economy is bad. The situation is getting worse."
"It's clear that we have to act and we have to act now to address this crisis and break the momentum of the recession or the next few years could be dramatically worse," Obama said.
This is the message he delivered to the top Congressional leaders whom he met yesterday to discuss with them the issue and how to resolve it. Prominent among them were Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"The most important message today is that the situation is getting worse, we've got to act boldly, and we've got to act swiftly. We cannot delay," he argued.
Referring to his radio address over the weekend, Obama said, "This is not a Republican problem or a Democratic problem at this stage. This is an American problem, and we're all going to have to chip in and do the hard work that's required and what the American people expect of us."
With two million Americans having lost their job in the last one year and another 2.8 million who have moved from full time to part time and manufacturing at a 28-year low, Obama said the economic crisis has only grown deeper.