President Obama's Prime Time Press Conference & Online Town Hall

by Pythiian1 | March 24, 2009 at 01:15 pm

795 views | 74 Recommendations | 29 comments

Updated Post Press Conference:

Video replay here.

The President fielded 13 questions and a handful of follow-ups during a session that lasted just under an hour.

The President discussed a variety of subjects while focusing heavily on the economy. He also answered questions on race, stem cell research, China, Israel, Mexico and the military budget. Like the economic crisis, President Obama suggested, none of these problems have simple solutions.

"This is a big ocean liner, it's not a speedboat," he said, and so not easy to turn around quickly. Of the budget, President Obama said, "If this were easy, then we would have already had it done."

_________________

8 PM EST

President Obama has invited the American public to use a new feature on the White House website, called Open for Questions to ask questions about the economy, and rate other questions up or down.

On Thursday morning, Mar.26, the President will conduct a special online town hall on the economy and answer some of the most popular questions and the event will be streamed from the White House.

Tonight, President Obama is holding his second prime time press conference to rally public support for his economic agenda, including the $3.6 trillion budget. Once again, he wants to talk directly to the American public in addition to his recent series of interviews and travel to California.

The prime time press conference will be held in the East Room of the White House at 8 PM, EST. Live streaming from the White House here.

According to his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during an earlier briefing, "He believes that a continued dialogue with the American people about where we are, and where we are going is necessary certainly in times like this to give people believes people a sense of what we're doing and a sense of where we're going; that they may or may not like all the decisions that he makes, but I think he believes it's important that they understand why he's making the decisions that he is."

The President's opening statement is expected to be a progress report on the economy. He will point to the $9 billion in loan applications for the administration's new Consumer Business Lending Initiative, or to put it simply, the President's plan for home foreclosure prevention and the refinancing of mortgages as early signs of recovery.

This is a partial list of issues that the President might discuss with the American public dependent on the questions posed by the White House press corp. It is by no means, a complete list as these are the topics that dominated the airwave in the past several weeks.

Toxic debt plan; AIG bonuses; Secretary Timothy Geithner; Financial Regulatory Reform; Auto Industry; Afghanistan; Iran; Veterans; G20; Health Care, to name a few

Updates are provided as information are released from the White House to the press.

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Amy Judd

at 14:25 on March 24th, 2009

Thanks for this preview - I'm interested to see what he says about the progress of the economy.

Pythiian1

at 15:22 on March 24th, 2009

Thank you, Amy, for stopping by, your read and recommendation.

I look forward to see how many questions he will be able to answer because his answers are long.

Jarrett Martineau

at 16:41 on March 24th, 2009

Thanks for this. Great post.

Pythiian1

at 16:50 on March 24th, 2009

Thank you so much, Jarrett, for your read and recommendation. I appreciate your interest.

Amy Judd

at 16:50 on March 24th, 2009

Obama said that he waited to comment on the AIG bonuses so that he knew what he was talking about.

Pythiian1

at 17:30 on March 24th, 2009

That's what he said in response to the question as to why it took him longer to react than the NY AG Andrew Cuomo who turned out to be more effective in pursuing AIG to get the money back?

I think the President is aware of the limitations of the White House regarding the bonuses as they were assigned from the TARP funds provided by the previous administration - even though the disbursement of the remaining funds occurs under his watch.

I had mentioned this same issue in my previous piece that state attorneys general have been far more aggressive and successful than federal regulators in pursuing legal actions against companies accused of cheating shareholders and taxpayers.

Roy C

at 17:49 on March 24th, 2009

There was no legal basis for the actions by the AGs, as I pointed out in your previous piece. Congress could tax the money, but that would be ex post facto and certainly set a bad precedent.

Geithner and Obama made the bonuses legal when Obama signed the bill after Geither had Dodd take out the anti-bonus language in the bill that Dodd had originally had in the bill.

The bonuses have nothing to do with Bush. This is all in Obama's watch.

Amy Judd

at 16:51 on March 24th, 2009

I find it interesting that Obama said he doesn't believe in a global currency.

Pythiian1

at 17:00 on March 24th, 2009

That was more in response to China's suggestion today that the US should try another currency rather than printing our dollars. China is holding our debts and is concerned solely because the dollar is losing the value it once held.

Roy C

at 17:45 on March 24th, 2009

Do you have a reference to this suggestion from China about the US trying another currency? I cannot find any.

Pythiian1

at 17:58 on March 24th, 2009

The Wall Street Journal - Foxnews -
Time

Roy C

at 18:00 on March 24th, 2009

Pythiian. China said China would use another currency. You said that China told us to use another currency instead of printing dollars.. That was confusing. Not what China said.

Karen Hatter

at 18:21 on March 24th, 2009

An article in the New York Times, titled China Urges New Money Reserve to Replace Dollar, it is suggested, by the governor of the People's Bank of China, a new currency reserve, controlled by the International Monetary Fund," .... could prove more stable and economically viable."

Pythiian1

at 18:25 on March 24th, 2009

Thank you, Karen, I was just going to post the URL to the New York Times article this morning.

Karen Hatter

at 18:33 on March 24th, 2009

You're welcome, Pythiian1.

Paschen

at 17:49 on March 24th, 2009

Interesting reads and additional information to this issue would be

http://my.nowpublic.com/world/china-proposes-replacing-dollar-new-reserve-currency

And

http://my.nowpublic.com/world/global-common-currency-avoid-another-financial-crisis

Roy C

at 17:51 on March 24th, 2009

China proposes that China will replace the dollar, not the US. Different take on the story. That one, I had found.

nukegingrich

at 19:09 on March 24th, 2009

China has her own internal problems to deal with.

It's expected that China and Russia will push for a new fiat currency in place of the USD at G20. Their proposal will go nowhere, but it is interesting theater.

Roy C

at 19:24 on March 24th, 2009

Yes, and replacing the US dollar would weaken their own reserves, an immediate loss and the resulting loss of American purchasing power would mean we bought less from them, and would slow China's development and reduce the profits of its companies.

If China doesn't grow at a breath-taking 6% (?) or something similar, then millions of college grads in China have no work, and another Tienanmen Square is around the corner.

What could they possible base this new currency on? What value? Gold? Other currencies would do nothing.

China can use the Euro whenever it wants, but it simply doesn't.

China has bit off more than it can chew in its greed and in its attempt to overcome its poverty at breakneck speed and without real political reform.

China is stuck with the US for better or for worse.

Pythiian1

at 17:51 on March 24th, 2009

Thank you, Paschen, for reading, adding the URLs regarding China's suggestions as was reported in the news, and your recommendation.

Paschen

at 19:22 on March 24th, 2009

Thank you for the update and additional information here Pythiian1.

Pythiian1

at 19:45 on March 24th, 2009

You're welcome, Paschen, and thank you for reading the updates.

Amy Judd

at 19:31 on March 24th, 2009

I thought the press conference didn't really add too much new information to the table, but I think it's great that he holds these conferences and is so open with them in order to promote communication. And solving the issue of the budget is for sure not easy.

Pythiian1

at 19:46 on March 24th, 2009

I think it's helpful to the American public, Amy, that the President has continued to communicate with the public, unlike previous presidents. This is his second prime time press conference, and the White House is holding an online town hall besides launching the Open for Questions.

I think the President wants to reach as many Americans as possible in order to explain the progress and to discuss various aspects of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) by using different venues. There will be some segments of the population that might watch tonight's press conference instead of the 60 Minutes program, or read the news.