Obama Tells Economic Critics to 'Get Out of the Way'

A fired up President Obama said Thursday that he wants his critics to just "get out of the way" so his administration can clean up the economic "mess" that Republicans left for him.

Obama spoke Thursday night at a rally in Virginia for state Sen. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor.

He used the bulk of his pep talk to dress down critics who say his economic stimulus is not working and who complain about his administration's spending. Obama noted that he was handed a deficit topping $1 trillion when he walked into office, and urged the "naysayers" to step aside.

"We've got some work to do. I don't mind, by the way, being responsible. I expect to be held responsible for these issues because I'm the president," Obama said. "But I don't want the folks that created the mess -- I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them just to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess.

"I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking," Obama said.

Though the Bush administration handed Obama a big deficit, critics say he's only making the problem worse -- with his stimulus, health care reform plan and other proposals.

Opponents to his health care plan have started to flood town hall meetings across the country, publicly challenging Democrats on the bill as Republicans hammer its potential cost consequences.

Asked about Obama's economic comments from the Virginia rally, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president "gets fired up at things like that."

"I think the president gets fired up," Gibbs said Friday. "We get free advice every day from people that took the bus and rode it into the ditch and now want to give free advice on how you get it out."

Click here to see the video of Obama at the Virginia rally.