Economic troubles 'far from over,' president says in Ohio By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama said Tuesday that a full economic recovery will take time to materialize, even as he pointed to signs of improvement in the economy like rising home sales and stabilizing business investment. "Our economic troubles are far from over," Obama told workers at a General Motors plant in Warren, Ohio. "It's going to take some time to achieve a complete recovery." The president is focusing on the economy for the second consecutive day. On Monday, he traveled to New York to mark the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and to warn Wall Street about ignoring the lessons of the financial crisis. Later on Tuesday, Obama is scheduled to speak to the AFL-CIO. Addressing workers in the hard-hit Ohio community, Obama also said that decisions made by his administration had helped stem an economic freefall. He defended the administration's decision to bail out U.S. automakers and said that they are "getting back into the game." More than 1,000 workers are scheduled to return to the plant Obama spoke at in less than three weeks, he added. Shortly before Obama spoke, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the recession has ended, at least based on the numbers. "From a technical point [of view], the recession is very likely over at this point," the Fed chief told a conference at the Brookings Institution. See full story. Homing in on health care Obama is scheduled to speak to the powerful labor federation as lawmakers home in on a health-care bill, a top priority of organized labor's and the president's. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Monday that he will propose a health-care overhaul that addresses many concerns held by Republicans, including blocking access to subsidized insurance by illegal immigrants. But it's unclear if Obama will endorse a government-run health insurance program, a key labor priority. The president said last week in an address to a joint session of Congress that he backs such a plan, but that it's only one option for lowering spiraling health-care costs and covering the uninsured. Obama briefly touched on health care in his remarks to the auto workers: "We're going to reform the system to provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance; offer quality, affordable choices to those who currently don't; and bring health-care costs for our families, our businesses and our government under control." Baucus and a small bipartisan group of senators have been hashing out details of a bill for weeks. The Montana Democrat is reportedly preparing to unveil a bill on Wednesday. Obama speaks to the AFL-CIO shortly after imposing duties on tires from China. The decision, announced Friday, was a victory for the United Steelworkers union, which filed the complaint. The president is set to speak to the AFL-CIO at 1:40 p.m. Eastern.

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