You do realize that the five folks identified in the article you linked have nothing whatsoever to do with the town hall meetings that my OP was discussing, right?
Indeed i did...i wanted your take on the irony of what he has now done in the most recent meeting, which completely negates the as you said
"refreshing" spectacle of
"the POTUS speaking directly to American citizens and fielding their questions on the spot? How reassuring to know the nation is in the hands of a man intelligent enough to do this so confidently, particularly at a time when so many are gunning for him?"
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I am curious, how speaking directly to 1,000 intensely loyal supporters, who were practically bathing him in adulation and cheering "OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!" is really taking such a chance "fielding their questions" when every question i read was not at all contradictory, unsupportive, critical or in the slightest interpretation gunning for him...
in fact, when you look at the questions asked, they seem rather peculiarly complex, not to mention asked by his devoted supporters, each of whom was asking a question related to a very specific OBama-centric Pro/Obama group
you do not find it strange that not one question was critical or skeptical of his administration and actions?
how can we consider this to have been such an honest "fielding on the spot" when there were no tough pitches thrown?
frankly, i was not particularly impressed by either the degree of difficulty of the questions or their angle...
while he was his usual charming, intelligent and humorous self, that is far different then actually being asked the tough questions, no?
below is the entire transcript of the original event you described in Costa Mesa
Full text of President Obama's Costa Mesa Town Hall meeting | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times
more than half was a speech, punctuated by stuff like this:
Got an outstanding member of Congress, Representative Loretta Sanchez. (Applause.) Now, this is not Loretta's district, this is actually Dana Rohrabacher's district. AUDIENCE: Booo -- THE PRESIDENT: No, no, no, we actually -- our office screwed up and I think didn't get the invitation to him on time, so he's not here. That was a screw-up on our part. So I want to let him know we're sorry about that, and I want everybody to give him a big round of applause, it's his district. (Applause.)
(so booing the republican whose ditrict it is, you can already sense the crowd is clearly against Obama
:wink: )
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: Love you, Obama!
THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.)
--
Now, there are those who say these plans are too ambitious; we should be trying to do less, not more. Obama is trying to do too much, they say; just focus on Wall Street, focus on the banks.
AUDIENCE: Nooo --
--
To kick these problems down the road for another four years or eight years, that would be to continue the same irresponsibility that got us to this point. I didn't run for President to pass on our problems to the next generation, or the next President. I ran for President to solve these problems so that you've got a better shot in life. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Obama! Obama! Obama!
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There are no rules to this -- except a couple. (Laughter.) First of all -- first of all, nobody has been preselected here, so, you know, I don't mind if you want to take me to task. If you think I'm a bum and doing a bad job, you go ahead and ask your question.
[didn't hear anyone ask one of those]
:wink:
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Okay. All right. We're going to call on this young lady right here. And wait till you get a microphone so everybody can hear you. Introduce yourself if you can.
Question 1.
Q Good afternoon, President Obama. I have a very simple question. Do you have intentions of, when the reelection comes, of running for President again?
OUCH...now that is really a toughie
!!! :biggrin1::wink:
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Question 2All right, the gentleman in the black shirt right here.
Q Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.
Q My question concerns those states who have refused to take certain portions of the stimulus money. Is there any way to reallocate that money to those states who are willing recipients -- (laughter and applause) -- such as California? (Applause.)
HMMMMMM yes...he was really in the firing line on that one :wink:
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Question 3
All right, this young lady right here. Hold on a second, we've got a mic right here, right in front.
Q Hello, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Hello.
Q I'm a community bank SBA lender and have proudly been one for 20 years. We're very, very excited about the stimulus package and we are going to do everything we can to get the money out there, including financing the construction projects that you're talking about. However, as a lender and as a bank, we have a problem that I feel needs to be addressed.
When we make loans that are less than the normal quality, even with the SBA guarantee, the regulators tend to criticize us. And when they criticize us, they make us set aside reserves as if the loan is going to be bad, and that eats into our capital. That's part of the problem that banks are having right now and why they needed the TARP money.
Not all banks are bad banks, as you know, and as a community bank that's been around for 85 years, we haven't even taken TARP money. We want to make SBA loans, but we don't want to get our hands slapped by the regulators when we try to help these people. And last year is going to be a less than stellar tax return for everybody that's had a problem, that is going to come to the SBA for help.
Will you be able to speak with the regulators and set some kind of new bar so that we won't be criticized and we can actually go out and loan this money that we want to?
We're very very excited about the stimulus package...you can tell this one is going to be tough
:wink:
--
Question 4
All right, this young man right here, this young man right here. He's been -- okay. (Laughter.) See, I'll admit that part of the reason -- (laughter) -- I should -- I'm getting old and it's hard to see back there. (Laughter.) Go ahead.
Q I'd like to ask you what are you planning to do on immigration, the broken system that we have? And when do you plan on doing this? (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I just met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus today, which Congresswoman Sanchez is a member of -- (applause) -- to talk about this issue directly. As many of you know, during the campaign I was asked repeatedly about this, and I reiterated my belief that we have to have comprehensive immigration reform.
HMMM...here i am, with a huge number of latinos in the audience in a district with a huge latino population, in the largets latino concentration city in the land... being asked about one of the LAtino ccommunity's most important issues, lo and behond, i have just met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus today...whaddyaknow? Can you believe that?Wow, this question could not have been any more critical and random!!! :wink:
--
QUESTION 5
One young woman from the back, just go ahead -- somebody with a mic go find somebody. There you go. Q Thank you. Hi. I'm a teacher in Santa Ana. (Applause.) Thank you. And I got my RIF notice on Saturday and --
THE PRESIDENT: I'm sorry, you got what notice?
Q My RIF notice, which is I'm going to be -- the intention to be laid off.
THE PRESIDENT: A pink slip?
Q Yes, a pink slip. That's why it went pink. My question is -- oh, I'm so nervous, okay. Thank you for coming.
THE PRESIDENT: You're doing great.
Q I just love you. Okay. Our class sizes are between 36 and 44. This is normal. I've been in the district for over 25 years. I have seen what our kids can do when someone cares. The Teacher of the Year also received a pink slip. We're talking about quality teachers being laid off because of something -- I don't know what. Tomorrow we have a meeting.
My real question is, you have put money towards retention. How are we going to make sure that money comes to our districts that need it the most, the urban districts? (Applause.)
"I JUST LOVE YOU"(come on lady, ask me a super tough one!)
:wink:
--
QUESTION 6
All right, we need a gentleman. Gentleman in the tie right here. Since he wore a tie today, I appreciate that. (Laughter.)
Q It's awful hot.
THE PRESIDENT: It's hot. I want to take mine off, too, but I --
Q I'm President of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, the umbrella organization for construction unions. I would like to thank you for your leadership on the stimulus package, and particularly for trying to get construction workers back to work.
But during the last eight years, the administration chose not to enforce the Davis-Bacon requirements, chose not to enforce wage and hour conditions, and many thousands of workers were denied the wages that they were legally entitled to. What can your administration do to make sure that people get the wages that they're entitled to in this terrible economic downturn?
Hmmmmm...president of construction unions statewide...that should be tough...and look, he even managed to discuss the "previous administration"
--
QUESTION 7
All right, it's a lady's turn. And we have so many nice ladies here. I feel -- eeny, meeny, miney -- I'm going to call on this young lady in the green right here. Go ahead, yes.
Q Good afternoon, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q Thank you for taking my question. It's amazing.
THE PRESIDENT: Of course.
Q Since American taxpayers have had to bail out a lot of large banks -- Citibank, et cetera -- and they don't feel they've gotten any benefit for themselves, do you support caps on interest rates that the same companies we have bailed out with our money can charge regular consumers on credit cards? Because it's up to 30 and 40 percent. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: It's a great question. It's a great question. It's a great question. This was a really good question.
*CLEARLY* This was a great question...a really good queston, and a great grat great question...and lo and behold, i have an answer for you about my belief in a credit card "bill of rights" :wink:
--
QUESTION 8
All right, I've got -- it's a guy's turn. It's a man's -- it's a man's turn, and he's got the last -- this gentleman, because he's big and I don't want him to be mad at me.
Q Good afternoon, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon.
Q Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. Last October I lost my job after 13 years. I was laid off. Now when I look for a job, people tell me that I have a felony from 20 years ago -- I can't get no work. I have a family to support. What do I do?
LO and Behold, it was later learned he was laid off from Toyota...and guess what? The Prez had a comprehensive plan to put him right back to work in the auto industry
:biggrin1:
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so Come on, Hazel my friend...now you don't honestly consider that standing up to his critics fair and square do you? I am Not saying he should do that, but come one, you were laying it on a bit thick in the OP in comparison to what has really gone on at these things...
There were about 1,000 people there, he answered 8 questions...or exactly .8% of the attendees...
a couple of them you have to believe were if not "plants" at least somewhat pre-arranged...
What were the chances he was going to pick a republican or independent critic who was going to grill him? :wink: