See the president's line about knowing "what I'm talking about before I speak'' in the video above, and see the entire news conference below.
by Mark Silva
President Barack Obama, calling his disputed spending plans for education, energy and health care crucial for the nation's long-term health, asserted tonight that his initiatives are essential to recovery from recession.
Obama, maintaining that recovery from the worst economic downturn in decades will require time and patience, insisted in a prime-time news conference that the $3.55-trillion federal budget which he proposes is part of the solution.
"We've put in place a comprehensive strategy designed to attack this crisis on all fronts,'' the president said. "And we are beginning to see signs of progress.''
Obama, "angry as anybody'' over bonuses paid to AIG executives whose firm benefitted from billions of dollars in federal bailout funds, was asked why it took him some time to voice that anger. "It took us a couple of days,'' he replied tersely, "because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.''
The president used this East Room appearance - his second prime-time televised news conference in two months - to promote a budget which supporters praise as ambitious and critics slam as big-spending. It anticipates a deficit of more than $1 trillion in 2010, with a promise to halve that by 2013.
Asked about new spending that he proposes in troubled times, the president said: "Folks are sacrificing left and right.... What I've said here in Washington is that we've got to make some tough choices... What we can't do, though, is sacrifice long-term growth.''
Asked what he expects from Congress, where opponents complain that the nation cannot afford his spending and deficits, Obama said:
"I expect... serious efforts at health care reform... a serious energy policy that frees ourselves from foreign oil... We've got to invest in education, K-12 and beyond... We've got to start driving our deficit numbers down.''
Republicans aren't accepting it. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said: "The president has offered a budget that will, in my opinion, hurt our economy and destroy the very jobs that we're trying to save and to try to create.''
With much of the nearly hour-long conference occupied by budget talk, Obama was asked if the issue of race has come up in policy deliberations at the White House of the first African-American president.
"The last 64 days has been dominated by me trying to figure out how we're going to fix the economy, and that... affects black, brown and white,'' Obama replied. "Right now, the American people are judging me exactly the way I should be judged'' - on fixing the economy, creating jobs and keeping the nation safe.
"Look back four years from now, I think, hopefully, people will judge that body of work and say, 'This is a big oceanliner, it's not a speedboat. It doesn't turn around immediately, but we're in a better place'... because of the decisions that we made.''
Comments
Tonight was a very good sell that continues to pin down Republicans as marginalized members of the "party of no."
http://www.political-buzz.com/
Posted by: matt | March 24, 2009 10:10 PM
That is talk that America can understand. Bill bO, and Vannity will attack.....but the only ones listening are the same tired old pundits. You can whip yourselves up into a frenzy, but it ain't hitting mainstreet. Without a leader in the party, you just sound like a vapid mass void of ideas. But hey....that's just the 800lb gorilla in the room.
Posted by: bill r. | March 24, 2009 10:24 PM
The Titanic was an ocean liner too, mon captitan.
Posted by: Rob | March 24, 2009 11:11 PM
Poor wittle villager DC journalists....
They're used to eight years of sounding like Walter Lippmann compared to George Bush. Now they sound like they're the reporters from a middle school newspaper trying to pin Obama down.
The press will take a lot of time to learn that what they're hearing from President Obama is mostly substance, rather than the kabuki mime act of the Bush years. They might even have to learn about issues again, for a change.
Posted by: spin, spin, spin me round, Repubs | March 24, 2009 11:35 PM
Yes the questions were dumb and the filibuster style of answer precluded the more interesting ones.
Maxine has already figured out, like Laurence Olivier in MARATHON, that there is a very bad cavity JUST THERE.
Meaning the questions she asked Tim today about his and his acolytes' ties to Goldman Sachs and their pals.
Sure, the stock market went up yesterday, but that was not a reaction to Tim, but a proaction for him. That's why Tim so assiduously leaked over the weekend, so his trader friends could "vote with their feet" (with their OPM) and jerk the market up. Doubt it will stay there long.
Anyway, the President seems wedded to Tim and his very incestuous ties to Wall St., Goldman et al.
Very dangerous for him, I should have thought. For example, when it fails.
Or when Maxine's rather on point questions about Paulson's panic in Sept. and his put down of Lehman Bros. just a few days before he "found religion" and decided AIG must be bailed out---there's so much material there, Maxine and Peter Fazio should have a good beachhead.
They are right of course. Paulson did in a competitor, then 2 or 3 days later bailed out AIG so it could be a conduit of bailout money to Goldman Sachs.
O, and how easy was it to panic the Congress?
Well, just look how fast they panicked last week when the public found out about the bonuses.
Yessiree, that 90% tax bill was rushed right through, wasn't it?
Don't think Paulson didn't know how to panic them and get what he wanted, primarily for Goldman Sachs.
So I say: Maxine, Peter--drill down on that tooth.
Posted by: ornery | March 25, 2009 12:35 AM
Today "Big Brother Obama" shares the stage with others answering their questions, tomorrow there will be only "Big Brother Obama" 24/7 he will ask and answer the questions and we will be saying
"Big Brother Obama, Big Brother Obama, Big Brother Obama"
watching over us will be the "Thought Police"
VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
NO MORE SCHUMER
NO MORE PELOSI
NO MORE RANGEL
NO MORE ENGEL AND HIS MILLION DOLLAR HOME IN MARYLAND
Posted by: VJ Machiavelli | March 25, 2009 12:53 AM
"Obama, "angry as anybody'' over bonuses paid to AIG executives whose firm benefitted from billions of dollars in federal bailout funds..."
But he wasn't angry before anybody else. BIG difference. And he goes 'terse' when called on that.
At least we are getting second chances to rethink things. The AIG bonuses were $218 million, initially reported as $165 million. That torqued all of us royally -- and then Congress, and THEN Obama. But the revelation that didn't irk very many -- and then Congress and THEN Obama -- was that the All-In-Guys gave $20 BILLION of taxpayer bailout money to pay off derivative traders from financial firms including Goldman Sachs, and a host of European banks.
Recap: Taxpayers provided $218 million for AIG bonuses. Extensive outrage. Taxpayers provided AIG with a backstop to pay off derivative traders to the tune of $20 billion -- 92 TIMES THE BONUS AMOUNT! Little outrage -- over using taxpayer money to cover a bookie who couldn't cover the spread on a big ball game.
Another second chance to rethink things occurred with Terse Obama's 2010 budget that went supernova to $3.55 trillion. That number alone, along with the deficits Obama predicted his budget would cause in the years to come, should have made that budget proposal laughable and DOA. But it didn't.
Then CBO gave us a second chance to rethink things by reporting Obama's 2010 budget would make for deficits GREATER than what Obama predicted. So what's Obama's cover-excuse response to the bad news from CBO? His chief sales agent and commissioned broker for his 2010 budget, Incredibly Confident Christina, tries to pull the misdirect by saying, "I think there are a couple of things to say. One is, there is a question whether CBO is right."
Well okay Christina Romer. Maybe CBO is wrong. Maybe even CBO UNDERESTIMATED how big deficits would be under Obama's 2010 budget proposal.
There are no 'tough choices' to make here with Terse Obama's budget madness. The only question that remains is how successful Obama will continue to be in providing 'tough-choices' and misdirect-type cover excuses to his supporters so they don't have to rethink things, like: "Yeah, I voted for the guy. Thought he would be great for needed change. But 3.55 TRILLION, whoa, whoa, whoa -- wait a minute, wait a minute, I make WAY less than $250K and didn't vote for -- HEY, get your hand out of my pocket!!! And what's this 3.55 TRILLION DOLLAR charge on my credit card???"
Posted by: dom youngross | March 25, 2009 2:12 AM
4 years of college? $60K+
Salary from CNN? over $100K+
Getting smacked down on national television by the President of the United States? Priceless
Ed Henry sat on the wall.
Ed Henry had a great fall.
All the CNN’s horses and all CNN’s pundit heads
couldn’t put Ed Henry together again.
Posted by: DrainYou | March 25, 2009 2:54 AM
What we just witnessed tonight was a president who took a bunch of childish GOP talking points "questions" from the DC media villagers, and chewed them up and spit them out.
Posted by: Hey Joe | March 25, 2009 3:26 AM
Mar 25, 2009
The school boy president wanted to tie up the mess of war in a convenient package. The man wanted to comprehend the economy. He set out to get advisors well versed in all areas of economics. Things looked bad. With pain and self sacrifice out of the question the previous bunch kept deflections in the war far off.
The economy relies on buyers and sellers. Economists rely on assumptions. Presidents rely on assumptions of economists. Buyers and sellers rely on bills of goods. Did you enjoy the press conference on the economy?
At this point the President needs to focus on why he went to Washington in spite of things. If his goal is to help African-Americans and poor hispanics he should set about programs to do this.
Ideas about a Jail Military ID with open bases for Reclamation State, Reclamation Tech and Reclamation Ag. could begin. The states would get a data base and inmates would finally get a ship to call home. If the president takes on the crime problem the economic issues will take care of themselves. Please tell the computer guys to generate an overall crime score from 1-100 on a guy for quick reference. Expediting Reclamation State alumni makes sense.
Posted by: William Mostovoy | March 25, 2009 3:55 AM
I'm glad I didn't call the President an ape.
Posted by: PG | March 25, 2009 12:28 PM
I think it is worthwhile to remember that what the President said last year in an interview is very true:
He is a better speechwriter than his speechwriters.
He is a better campaign manager than his campaign managers.
Etc.
He's up to the job, but are some of the appointees?
It may not make much difference if the "wealth effect" strategy works:
Create enough credit & money at govt. expense and eventually the economy may revive, even if the means were questionable.
The problem is: you just can't trust those folk on Wall St.
If there's a way to siphon off funds, they'll find it.
Posted by: ornery | March 25, 2009 1:37 PM
Mark Silva is the David Copperfield of journalists.
Magician Copperfield makes elephants seem to disappear. Silva makes huge teleprompter screens disappear. Specifically, the huge telepromter screen that President Obama read his speech from isn't pictured in any of the linked photos or videos to his press conference.
The photos of the giant teleprompter are all over the net. But not The Swamp. It appears The Swamp is still covering for our Teleprompter-in-Chief.
Posted by: Hope N. Change | March 25, 2009 4:20 PM