Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street bank executives who are busy planning thousands of job cuts this holiday season should forgo their own Christmas bonuses, President-elect Barack Obama said.

“If you are already worth tens of millions of dollars, and you are having to lay off workers, the least you can do is say, ‘I’m willing to make some sacrifice as well,’” Obama told Barbara Walters in an interview airing on ABC today. “That’s an example of taking responsibility,” the incoming commander-in- chief said.

Obama said chief executive officers at General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC -- who last week flew to Washington in private planes to ask lawmakers to back an aid package for the industry -- are “tone-deaf” to the struggles of ordinary Americans, according to excerpts of the interview released by ABC.

Obama called for CEOs to pay attention to the well-being of their workers, communities and shareholders.

“There’s got to be a point where you say: ‘I have enough, and now I’m in this position of responsibility. Let me make sure that I’m doing right by people and acting in a way that is responsible,’” Obama said.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, and two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, spent part of the day before the Thanksgiving holiday handing out uncooked chickens and other food to about 400 needy residents on Chicago’s South Side. The president-elect wished people “happy Thanksgiving” and urged them to call him “Barack.”

Nervous Consumers

Earlier today at a news conference, when asked whether he had any advice for nervous consumers before the holiday shopping season, Obama said the concern is understandable. He also sought to reassure Americans that his presidency would be successful in reviving the economy.

“There is no doubt that during tough economic times family budgets are going to be pinched,” he said. “It is important for the American people, though, to have confidence that we’ve gone through recessions before, we’ve gone through difficult times before, that my administration intends to get this economy back on track.”

Obama announced today the formation of a new White House economic board that will propose ways to revive growth as the U.S. grapples with an “economic crisis of historic proportions.” Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker will head the panel.

‘Biggest Fear’

Asked by Walters to identify his “biggest fear” as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20, Obama said, “The economy is so weakened that the next 60 days are going to be difficult because we’ve got a president, who even though he may be well meaning, is in sort of lame-duck status, Congress isn’t in and I don’t have the reins of power.”

He said he wants to “instill in the American people a sense of confidence that help is on the way.”

The president-elect also expressed concern about becoming too cut off from everyday life once in the White House.

“One of the things that I’m going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation -- the bubble that exists around the president,” he said.

Obama said he’s trying to figure out a way to keep his BlackBerry after being sworn in. He may have to give it up for national-security purposes.

The president-elect said he is negotiating with the Secret Service, lawyers and White House staff about how he can “get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Chicago at kchipman@Bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 26, 2008 19:02 EST