Luck was with me this week. A long night of waiting patiently in line and pretty much being guaranteed tickets to the town-hall, ended horribly when a mob of line cutters moved me to the blasted “Grey Zone of Death”. Luckily for me, I got to join the White House Press Pool, and report to you, our wonderful LiberalOC readers from there.
And now to the to the President’s Town-hall Talking points! You can also watch it yourself here.
Interestingly enough President Obama kicked off the event by stating that he will accept responsibility for the now notorious AIG exec bonuses, even though as he claims he is not responsible. Perhaps he knew CNN would run an interview of Chris Dodd in which he states that the Administration pushed the language in the bill that he sponsored that would guarantee contractual bonuses? Hmmm… I don’t know who to believe in this one, Chris Dodd is polling extremely poorly in his bid for re-election, but I don’t put it past Obama to be clever enough to take credit for something before Republicans start blaming him for it. What do you guys think?
The President went on to list the different areas he wants to target with future economic stimulus funds which he stated “Would help ensure shared prosperity*”, the topics included healthcare reform, and renewable and clean energy. He then spoke about the restructuring of our financial system, in such a way as to prevent these problems from ever happening again. Next the President Promised that he will “Cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term, and reduce it by Two Trillion over the next decade” , He also reiterated his promise for no tax increases for Americans that make less than $250,000.
The President also unexpectedly tackled illegal immigration, stating that only comprehensive immigration reform is the way for us to move forward. That includes securing both our borders, deporting all criminals and felons that slipped in, and punishing employers that hire them. Barrack stated that we must provide a pathway for citizenship by allowing illegal immigrants to earn citizenship by meeting the following qualifications; learn English, pay a fine, pay any back taxes, and get in the back of the line. Thankfully returning to their native country is not a requirement.
Last but not least was his calling for a substantial decrease in discretionary defense spending as well as an end to don’t ask don’t tell, and an end to the defense policy of troop stop-loss.
He took many NON-SCRIPTED questions and held nothing back. I typed this up from my notes, so if you feel there are any major discrepancies bring them to my attention and I’ll be happy to review C-SPAN’s posted vid. For those of you that know my history here, I cannot leave Barrack uncriticized in any blog I type up about him. So here it is, the seating arrangement absolutely, 100%, undeniably sucked. It was the worst seating arrangement I have ever seen at a political event. Apart from that, security and volunteers did little or nothing to stop guests from getting up and blocking people’s view by taking pictures whilst standing. The advance team did a very poor job.
*Coincidentally Shared Prosperity was the name of my committee for my Anaheim City Council campaign. Score!
I don’t understand this part. Could someone explain it.
President Obama said, “Here is what the budget does not do. It does not raise the taxes of any FAMILY making less than 250,000 a year by a single dime.” Does that include single people and gays who are not allowed to marry? Or will that 250,000 be cut in half to 125,000 for them. He also said “95 percent of working FAMILIES will receive a tax cut as a result of our recovery plan.” Does that mean an unmarried single will have their taxes raised?