Continuing to sound alarmist on the current economic situation in the country, US president Barack Obama said on Tuesday that the United States is in a "perfect storm" of financial problems.
"We are in a perfect storm of financial problems. So, this is a big, difficult situation," Obama told the ABC news channel in an interview.
When told that he has been sounding dire warnings about the economy in recent days, Obama said: "I'm constantly trying to thread the needle between sounding alarmist but also letting the American people know the circumstances that we're in."
Earlier in the day, addressing a town hall meeting at Fort Myers in Florida, Obama said: "The situation we face could not be more serious; I don't have to tell you that. We've inherited an economic crisis as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression."
Fort Myers had the highest foreclosure rate in the country last year. Entire neighbourhoods were dotted with foreclosure signs.
Families across the city feel as if they're losing their foothold on the American dream, because when one person loses home to foreclosure, that doesn't just affect that family. Property values across the board start declining, Obama observed, as he promised residents of Fort Myers that he will do everything to restore normalcy and save homes.
"No place is seeing tougher times because of the mortgage crisis than the people here in Florida and the people here in Fort Myers. Unless we address this in a serious way, we are not going to be able to get the economy back to where it needs to be," he said.
Obama said economists across the spectrum have warned if no action is taken immediately, then millions of more jobs will disappear, the national unemployment rates will approach double digits, more people will lose their homes and health care, and the country will sink into a crisis that at some point is going to be that much tougher to reverse.
"So we cannot afford to wait. We can't wait and see and hope for the best. I believe in hope, but I also believe in action," he said.
In an apparent reference to the long debates going on in Congress on this issue, thus delaying the process, Obama said the US can't afford to posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got the country into this mess.
"That's what the election was about. You rejected many of those ideas because you know they didn't work. You didn't send us to Washington because you were hoping for more of the same; you sent us there to change things. That's exactly what I intend to do as president of the United States," he said amidst applause.
The problems that led the US into this crisis are deep and widespread, he acknowledged.
"So we're going to have to do a lot of different things to get the economy moving again. We need to stabilise and repair our financial system. We need to get credit flowing again to families and businesses. We need to stem the spread of foreclosures that are sweeping this country," he said.
