Warren Buffett on CNBC - U.S. Economy Slow, Getting Slower .. But Will Turn Eventually

Warren Buffett tells CNBC's Becky Quick this morning the U.S. economy is "very slow" and "getting slower."

But in a live Squawk Box interview in the driveway of his Omaha home, Buffett repeats his long-held optimism that the economy will get better -- he just doesn't know when.

Becky asked him about headlines in the morning's newspapers.
Here are the highlights:

Buffett still "100% enormously optimistic" about U.S. economy over long-term, but doesn't see short-term signs of a pick-up

"American economy is slow, and still getting slower, but that will turn" .. just don't know when .. hopes it's soon

Time to buy stocks is when "business is bad" .. not when things are going well. Buffett says he's had some of his best investing years ever during recessions

Buffett sees some signs of a turnaround in residential real estate

Buffett repeats confidence in Wells Fargo and US Bancorp; doesn't know enough about SunTrust's business model to comment (Berkshire has stakes in all three banks)

"Very important" for Chrysler to get out of bankruptcy very soon

Sympathetic to both sides in the Chrysler bankruptcy
Repeats long-held belief that U.S. will need more tax revenue eventually, just a matter of who pays. Country can take a higher tax rate. (He thinks the very rich should be taxed more than they are now)

"We don't need to build new houses" now .. we need to sell down the existing housing inventory

Buffett on 'cramdowns': I would be more careful about lending money if courts are able to change the contracts

Buffett on last fall's New York Times op-ed: I just said what I was doing at the time, not trying to "talk-up" the market.

"The cheaper things go, the better I like it" .. especially when compared to buying Treasuries .. stocks will beat out Treasuries over the long-run. Asked if he or Berkshire has been buying stocks recently, he repeated his statement that he likes things when they're cheaper

Buffett: "I love newspapers," but they don't have a future .. print editions getting too expensive compared to the Internet. But in Washington Post stock "for keeps."

What's happened to AIG over past few years is a "tragedy." "They had a black box" that delivered great numbers but the black box turned into a "black hole." They were making bets they didn't understand.

Don't look at Bank of America's specifics more than looks at Wells Fargo

Asked about main takeaway from Berkshire meeting over the weekend: We had fun and we sold a lot of (Berkshire) products.