In '60 Minutes' interview, Obama weighs in on economy, Afghan war

From wire reports
  WASHINGTON – In a lengthy interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, President Barack Obama talked about the ongoing financial crisis, the situation in Afghanistan and his frustrations. • The president said the most difficult decision he's had to make in his 2-month-old presidency was to send more troops to Afghanistan, which he decided before completion of a strategic review on the region.
• The financial system could still implode if a large bank fails, and "big problems" could result if the government does not try to lessen the risk, he said.
• He had not expected to see such a sharp economic decline, particularly in job losses, when he took office.
• Legislation that slaps a punitive 90 percent tax on bonuses to big earners at financial institutions already deeply in hock to taxpayers would be unconstitutional, and he will not "govern out of anger," he said.
• A comprehensive strategy in Afghanistan – including an exit plan – is key to America's "No. 1 mission" of preventing an attack on the U.S., its interests or its allies, he said.
• When asked about the most frustrating part of his job, Obama took a jab at President George W. Bush. "You are often confronted with bad choices that flow from less than optimal decisions made a year ago, two years ago, five years ago, when you weren't here," Obama said. "A lot of times, when things land at my desk, it's a choice between bad and worse."
• He again took issue with Vice President Dick Cheney, who criticized the administration for shutting down the Guantánamo Bay detention center. Cheney said such steps are making America weaker and more vulnerable to attack.
"The facts don't bear him out," Obama said. "Let's assume we didn't change these practices. Are we going to just keep on going until ... the entire Muslim world and Arab world despises us? Do we think that's really going to make us safer? I don't know a lot of thoughtful thinkers, liberal or conservative, who think that that was the right approach."

From wire reports