(CNN) -- President Obama presented a sober assessment of the state of the economy in his prime time news conference Tuesday, but he insisted his administration has a strategy in place to "attack this crisis on all fronts."
"It took many years and many failures to lead us here. And it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, and there are no silver bullets," he said.
The president defended his budget, which has come under criticism for its hefty price, saying the plan he proposed is "inseparable" from the overall strategy for economic recovery.
"We've got to make some tough budgetary choices," the president said in his second prime time news conference. "What we can't do, though, is sacrifice long-term growth, investments that are critical to the future, and that's why my budget focuses on health care, energy, education, the kinds of things that can build a foundation for long-term economic growth, as opposed to the fleeting prosperity that we've seen over the last several years." Watch Obama's opening remarks »
The president brushed off criticism of the scope of his investments, saying, "We haven't seen an alternative budget out of them." He also reiterated his pledge to cut the deficit in half over the next five years. Watch Obama promise to halve the deficit »
Asked whether he would sign a budget that doesn't include a middle-class tax cut, Obama said he has "emphasized repeatedly" what his expectations are.
"I haven't seen yet what provisions are in there," Obama said. "The bottom line is that I want to see health care, energy, education and serious efforts to reduce our budget deficit. And there are going to be details that still need to be worked out."
Obama's appearance comes on the heels of the unveiling of the Treasury Department's new bank rescue plan.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday announced a plan to remove troubled assets from banks' books by partnering with private investors.
The goal is to buy up at least $500 billion of existing assets and loans, such as subprime mortgages that are now in danger of default.
Following the announcement of the plan, the stock market rallied, posting the biggest gains in months.
Obama said he supports Geithner's push to seize financial institutions whose failure would pose serious risks to the U.S. financial system.
"Keep in mind that it is precisely because of the lack of this authority that the AIG situation has gotten worse," Obama said, referring to the troubled insurance giant.
It was revealed last week that AIG doled out massive bonuses to executives after receiving more than $170 billion in bailout funds.
Pressed about why he waited three days to publicly speak out against AIG paying out the bonuses, Obama told reporters, "It took us a couple of days because I like to think about what I'm talking about before I speak."
Obama's news conference comes after he made the rounds on television this past week, with an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes."
On the morning of the news conference, Obama reached out to citizens of the world in an op-ed piece that ran in 31 newspapers around the world.
In the op-ed, Obama said there is an urgent need for worldwide economic cooperation and spoke about the upcoming G-20 meeting.
The G-20 meeting, in which leaders of the world's richest nations will discuss the global economic downturn, takes place next week in London, England.
In his first prime time news conference, the president used the national platform to make the case for his economic stimulus plan, which has since been passed by Congress and signed into law.
Obama took questions from 13 different reporters at the February news conference. Eight questions were about the economy, three were about foreign policy and one was about creating a truth and reconciliation committee to investigate the Bush administration.(CNN) -- President Obama presented a sober assessment of the state of the economy in his prime time news conference Tuesday, but he insisted his administration has a strategy in place to "attack this crisis on all fronts."
"It took many years and many failures to lead us here. And it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, and there are no silver bullets," he said.
The president defended his budget, which has come under criticism for its hefty price, saying the plan he proposed is "inseparable" from the overall strategy for economic recovery.
"We've got to make some tough budgetary choices," the president said in his second prime time news conference. "What we can't do, though, is sacrifice long-term growth, investments that are critical to the future, and that's why my budget focuses on health care, energy, education, the kinds of things that can build a foundation for long-term economic growth, as opposed to the fleeting prosperity that we've seen over the last several years." Watch Obama's opening remarks »
The president brushed off criticism of the scope of his investments, saying, "We haven't seen an alternative budget out of them." He also reiterated his pledge to cut the deficit in half over the next five years. Watch Obama promise to halve the deficit »
Asked whether he would sign a budget that doesn't include a middle-class tax cut, Obama said he has "emphasized repeatedly" what his expectations are.
"I haven't seen yet what provisions are in there," Obama said. "The bottom line is that I want to see health care, energy, education and serious efforts to reduce our budget deficit. And there are going to be details that still need to be worked out."
Obama's appearance comes on the heels of the unveiling of the Treasury Department's new bank rescue plan.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday announced a plan to remove troubled assets from banks' books by partnering with private investors.
The goal is to buy up at least $500 billion of existing assets and loans, such as subprime mortgages that are now in danger of default.
Following the announcement of the plan, the stock market rallied, posting the biggest gains in months.
Obama said he supports Geithner's push to seize financial institutions whose failure would pose serious risks to the U.S. financial system.
"Keep in mind that it is precisely because of the lack of this authority that the AIG situation has gotten worse," Obama said, referring to the troubled insurance giant.
It was revealed last week that AIG doled out massive bonuses to executives after receiving more than $170 billion in bailout funds.
Pressed about why he waited three days to publicly speak out against AIG paying out the bonuses, Obama told reporters, "It took us a couple of days because I like to think about what I'm talking about before I speak."
Obama's news conference comes after he made the rounds on television this past week, with an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes."
On the morning of the news conference, Obama reached out to citizens of the world in an op-ed piece that ran in 31 newspapers around the world.
In the op-ed, Obama said there is an urgent need for worldwide economic cooperation and spoke about the upcoming G-20 meeting.
The G-20 meeting, in which leaders of the world's richest nations will discuss the global economic downturn, takes place next week in London, England.
In his first prime time news conference, the president used the national platform to make the case for his economic stimulus plan, which has since been passed by Congress and signed into law.
Obama took questions from 13 different reporters at the February news conference. Eight questions were about the economy, three were about foreign policy and one was about creating a truth and reconciliation committee to investigate the Bush administration.
President Obama presented a sober assessment of the state of the economy in his prime time news conference Tuesday, but he insisted his administration has a strategy in place to "attack this crisis on all fronts.""It took many years and many failures to lead us here. And it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, and there are no silver bullets," he said.The president defended his budget, which has come under criticism for its hefty price, saying the plan he proposed is "inseparable" from the overall strategy for economic recovery."We've got to make some tough budgetary choices," the president said in his second prime time news conference. "What we can't do, though, is sacrifice long-term growth, investments that are critical to the future, and that's why my budget focuses on health care, energy, education, the kinds of things that can build a foundation for long-term economic growth, as opposed to the fleeting prosperity that we've seen over the last several years."The president brushed off criticism of the scope of his investments, saying, "We haven't seen an alternative budget out of them." He also reiterated his pledge to cut the deficit in half over the next five years.Asked whether he would sign a budget that doesn't include a middle-class tax cut, Obama said he has "emphasized repeatedly" what his expectations are."I haven't seen yet what provisions are in there," Obama said. "The bottom line is that I want to see health care, energy, education and serious efforts to reduce our budget deficit. And there are going to be details that still need to be worked out."Obama's appearance comes on the heels of the unveiling of the Treasury Department's new bank rescue plan.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday announced a plan to remove troubled assets from banks' books by partnering with private investors.The goal is to buy up at least $500 billion of existing assets and loans, such as subprime mortgages that are now in danger of default.Following the announcement of the plan, the stock market rallied, posting the biggest gains in months.Obama said he supports Geithner's push to seize financial institutions whose failure would pose serious risks to the U.S. financial system."Keep in mind that it is precisely because of the lack of this authority that the AIG situation has gotten worse," Obama said, referring to the troubled insurance giant.It was revealed last week that AIG doled out massive bonuses to executives after receiving more than $170 billion in bailout funds.Pressed about why he waited three days to publicly speak out against AIG paying out the bonuses, Obama told reporters, "It took us a couple of days because I like to think about what I'm talking about before I speak."Obama's news conference comes after he made the rounds on television this past week, with an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes."On the morning of the news conference, Obama reached out to citizens of the world in an op-ed piece that ran in 31 newspapers around the world.In the op-ed, Obama said there is an urgent need for worldwide economic cooperation and spoke about the upcoming G-20 meeting.The G-20 meeting, in which leaders of the world's richest nations will discuss the global economic downturn, takes place next week in London, England.In his first prime time news conference, the president used the national platform to make the case for his economic stimulus plan, which has since been passed by Congress and signed into law.
Obama took questions from 13 different reporters at the February news conference. Eight questions were about the economy, three were about foreign policy and one was about creating a truth and reconciliation committee to investigate the Bush administration.
