McCain: Obama 'not leveling'

WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., says President Barack Obama is "either not leveling now or he wasn't leveling" when the economic stimulus plan was passed.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, McCain -- the Republican nominee for president in 2008 -- criticized the stimulus package passed by Congress, saying only about 10 percent of the funds have been spent and "a lot of it has been on ridiculous projects."

Obama said Saturday in his weekly address the economic recovery program has "worked as intended" and called on the public to be patient and give the stimulus more time.

"Well, he's either not leveling now or he wasn't leveling at the time of the passage of the stimulus package, because they said the maximum unemployment would be at 8 percent," McCain said. "That was what they told us. It's 9.5, going to 10."

Appearing on the same program, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Obama's policies have provided "strong medicine" to deal with the financial crisis.

"Second, he has a long-term time horizon," Schumer said.

"This is not a four-month plan; this is a two-year plan," he said.