President Barack Obama, saying the U.S. faces a "profound economic emergency," prosecuted the case for his economic stimulus plan and left the door open for the government to spend billions more on a controversial bank-bailout plan during a prime-time news conference Monday.

The president's tones alternated between bipartisan outreach and tough words for Republicans who, he said, backed failed policies that helped drive the country into economic distress. Mr. Obama set benchmarks for his economic recovery plan, saying its success should be judged by whether it creates or saves four million jobs, stabilizes the housing market and gets credit markets operating again.

The East Room session also touched on several world hot spots. He said his administration is looking for opportunities to engage in direct talks with Iran, adding: "Now it's time for Iran to send signals that it wants to act differently as well." Mr. Obama said it is in the mutual interest of Pakistani and U.S. governments to pursue terrorists hiding in safe havens in the tribal regions of Pakistan. He also declined to give a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

The news conference -- an hour taken up by 13 questions that followed with often lengthy answers from Mr. Obama -- came a few hours after the latest version of the stimulus plan survived a key Senate vote, setting a final vote Tuesday that will be followed by tough negotiations between the House and Senate to resolve competing versions of the more than $800 billion program.

Mr. Obama's prime purpose was to sell the plan to an uncertain public, part of a weeklong series of events aimed at regaining control of a debate that has helped shell-shocked Republicans regain their footing.


Responding to the president's news conference, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio was careful to direct his criticism at congressional Democrats, not Mr. Obama.

President Obama speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House. Getty Images

"It is not too late to craft a bipartisan plan that creates more jobs and helps get our economy back on track, and Republicans stand ready to work with the president to do this," he said.

Time and again, Mr. Obama sought to explain the thinking behind the economic recovery plan in terms that Americans could understand. "The federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life," he said.

The president warned that failure to act boldly could lead to the same stagnation that befell Japan in the 1990s. "As a consequence they suffered what was called the 'lost decade,' where essentially for the entire '90s, they did not see any significant economic growth," he said. "So what I'm trying to underscore is...that this is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill recession."

For a president who declared at his inauguration that the nation had moved beyond debates over the function of government, Mr. Obama repeatedly defended his policies against what he called the "ideological blockage" of Republicans arguing for less intervention. And while he has pushed for bipartisan support, he didn't hesitate to take some direct swipes at the opposing party.

"I'm not sure they have a lot of credibility when it comes to fiscal responsibility," he said after noting that the national debt doubled under GOP control of Washington.

The president declined to give details about his administration's plan to rescue the financial industry, set to be unveiled Tuesday, saying he didn't want to preempt his Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner.

The Bush administration has already spent half of the $700 billion allotted to this Wall Street rescue, and the Obama administration plans to take a new approach with the second half. On Monday evening, he pledged more transparency, clearer oversight of the spending and far stricter limits on executive compensation.

But even allies in Congress have predicted he will need far more than the $350 billion that remains. Asked about this, Mr. Obama left the door open to an additional request from Congress. "We don't know yet whether we're going to need additional money or how much additional money we'll need until we've seen how successful we are at restoring a sense of confidence," he said.

Mr. Obama said he expects his programs to produce a turnaround, but not necessarily this year. "This year is going to be a difficult year," he said, adding: "If we get things right then, starting next year, we can start seeing some significant improvement."

In other matters, he declined to endorse a proposal from Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) to investigate whether the Bush Administration violated international or U.S. laws.

He also said that the Pentagon is reviewing a Bush administration policy barring media coverage of coffins returning from battle. And he spoke of the weight of his new job. "People have asked me, 'When did it hit you that you are now president?' And what I told them was the most sobering moment is signing letters to the families of our fallen heroes."

Mr. Obama's press on the stimulus plan comes as anxiety is rising on both sides of the aisle in Congress about the burgeoning cost of pulling the economy out of the ditch. The Senate bill is now expected to cost $838 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The Senate vote Monday, 61-38, cut off debate on the package and ended delaying tactics by conservative Republicans who had pushed debate into a seventh day. Three centrist Republicans -- Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, along with Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins -- joined with all 58 Democrats on the procedural motion.

The action sets the stage for a final vote Tuesday, which will then propel the package into a House-Senate conference to resolve significant differences between the chambers' respective bills. The Senate bill includes more tax cuts and less spending.

Meantime, Mr. Obama is taking his campaign for the plan on the road. He flew to Elkhart, Ind., on Monday, where unemployment has skyrocketed in a Republican state that voted for Mr. Obama. Tuesday he is scheduled to touch down in Fort Myers, Fla., ground zero of the foreclosure crisis in a critical political state. Wednesday, he has planned a visit to Northern Virginia, the key area in Mr. Obama's victory in the Old Dominion. Thursday, it's Peoria, Ill., a city reeling from heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc.'s latest layoffs.

Earlier Monday, Mr. Obama stumped for his plan in Elkhart, a center of recreational-vehicle manufacturing that has been slammed by high gasoline prices and then the economic slump. In one year, Elkhart has shed 8,000 jobs, and its unemployment rate has soared to 15.3% from 4.7% in December 2007.

—Greg Hitt contributed to this article.

Write to Laura Meckler at and Jonathan Weisman at