Obama to tweak US financial rescue plan

US president-elect Barack Obama wants changes in how some of the nation’s biggest economic problems are handled, from helping the troubled car industry to aiding homeowners fighting repossession, he will say today.

While he has said there is only one administration in power right now, Mr Obama said in a pre-recorded interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes that there were some changes he would like to see.

“For the auto industry to completely collapse would be a disaster in this kind of environment,” Mr Obama said. “So it’s my belief that we need to provide assistance to the auto industry. But I think that it can’t be a blank cheque.”

Mr Obama said he hoped the White House and Congress would develop an assistance plan with input from all players in the industry – from management to unions and lenders – to develop “a sustainable US auto industry”.

He also wants to see more of a focus on the needs of homeowners in the bail-out plan.

“We have not focused on foreclosures and what’s happening to homeowners as much as I would like,” Mr Obama said. “We’ve got to set up a negotiation between banks and borrowers so that people can stay in their homes. That is going to have an impact on the economy as a whole.”

Mr Obama praised the work of treasury secretary Henry Paulson, but said he was making some suggestions on how the bail-out plan could be adjusted.

“Hank Paulson has worked tirelessly under some very difficult circumstances. I think Hank would be the first one to acknowledge that probably not everything that’s been done has worked the way he had hoped it would work,” Mr Obama said.

“You know what we’ve done is we’ve assigned somebody on my transition team who interacts with him on a daily basis. And, you know, we are getting the information that’s required and we’re making suggestions in some circumstances about how we think they might approach some of these problems.”

When asked “Is the Bush administration listening?”, he replied: “We’ll find out.”

The enormity of the problems also has Mr Obama trying to determine the top priorities.

“There are times during the course of a given a day where you think, ’Where do I start in terms of moving – moving things forward?’,” he said.

“And I think that part of this next two months is to really get a clear set of priorities, understanding we’re not going be able to do everything at once, making sure the team is in place, and moving forward in a very deliberate way and sending a clear signal to the American people that we’re going to be thinking about them and what they’re going through.”

:: Russian president Dmitry Medvedev is calling for talks with Mr Obama as soon as possible after he takes the oath of office.

Mr Medvedev is reaching out to the incoming US administration during his first visit to the US since becoming Russia’s president.

In Washington for the G20 global financial summit, Mr Medvedev said there was a lack of trust between Russia and the US, but he hoped this would change when Mr Obama became president.

He said it was not particularly important what he and Mr Obama discussed at their first meeting, but “the main thing is that the meeting takes place and that it takes place quickly”.