**** Heads Up: President Obama's News Conference, Live 11am EDT! ****

[Clio the Leo]

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream1

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/president-obama-speaks-press-24

http://cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN.aspx

[Clio the Leo]

1. Time to play, "What will the first question be?"

I'm going with Rev. Nutcase.

[Clio the Leo]

2. Bet'cha they hold off a bit for the San Bruno news conference. nt

[jefferson_dem]

3. On it.

Here are some twitterati to follow for live updates:

http://twitter.com/cbellantoni

http://twitter.com/WestWingReport

http://twitter.com/DavidCornDC

[tilsammans]

4. watching now on ABC n/t

[Clio the Leo]

5. whoops! he started w.out me! lol

.... I was in the kitchen,

[Clio the Leo]

6. talking about the economy....

... and the proposals he's offering, R & D tax credit, etc.

[Clio the Leo]

7. slams "a partisan minority" for holding up the jobs bill....

.... and details what's in the bill

[Clio the Leo]

8. "the bill has been praised by the Chamber of Commerce!" nt

[Clio the Leo]

9. Thanks Sen. Voinovich (R) for coming out in support of the bill. nt

[Clio the Leo]

10. Announcing Goolsbee as Romer's replacement. nt

[elleng]

11. Intro: Recession/economy, 'As I said in Cleveland . . .'

Small bill, should approve immediately, praised by Chamber, Voino said he won't support repug blockade any longer.

[cal04]

12. thanks for the heads up and the links

:hi:

[jenmito]

13. They showed the words on the teleprompter TWICE so far on CNN while

he's speaking. :eyes:

[elleng]

14. Hey Clio, I leave it to you!

[Clio the Leo]

16. no! help if you want! I might miss stuff. nt

[Clio the Leo]

15. talking about 9/11 anniversary .... reminds tomorrow is a natl day of service. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. Austan Dean Goolsbee: member of Skull and Bones at Yale.

Jon Stewart describes him as "Eliot Ness meets Milton Friedman".<14>

In 2009, he was voted The Funniest Celebrity in Washington.

check out his Wiki bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austan_Goolsbee

[Clio the Leo]

18. Q: How is this election not a referendum on the economy?

A: If the election is JUST on where we are, then we're (in trouble) ..... if it's on what we CAN do, American people will agree. .... for 19 months we've worked to avoid a second depression. .... 8 consecutive months of private sector job growth ... but we're not there yet! ..... huge hole to dig ourselves out of .... i ran because i didn't think middle class families were getting a fair shake .... the policies in place weren't working. .... it's understandable people are asking us "what have you done" .... but I'm gonna keep reminding the American people that our policies our moving us in the right direction .... and that the Republicans have no policies at all.... or want to go back what they did before. .... talks about giving middle class perm. tax reliefe .... that's common sense .... but GOP is holding tax relief hostage because they want to give tax cuts to millionaires at a cost of $700 billion. ..... that doesn't make sense. .... that's what this election is all about. .... if want the same policies that got us into this mess, that's what the GOP is offering.

[Clio the Leo]

19. Q: Is there room to extend the tax cuts on the wealthy?

Lets get done what we all agree on .... they agree the mid. class cuts should be made permanent, let's do it! .... we can continue to talk about how they want to spend 700 billion on giving tax cuts to millionairs ..... but we AGREE on tax cuts for the middle class .... we could do that this month... why hold the middle class hostage?

[Clio the Leo]

20. Q: why did you wait for this election season to roll out the tax credit?

... and why doesn't the WH use the word "stimulus" to describe it.

Says 1/3rd of the original stimulus was tax credits .... so the notion that they waited until now is BS .... 3million people have jobs that wouldn't otherwise have them. .... but we're not there yet, so what else can we do? .... our proposals have traditionally garnered bipartisan support ..... I have no prob. with people saying "that President is trying to stimulate growth and hiring." I will keep on doing that as long as I'm President.

[elleng]

21. Our entire agenda to STIMULATE!

and I will keep on.

[cal04]

22. asking about Elizabeth Warren

this agency was her idea
announcement soon
had conversations with her

[Sugarcoated]

23. Haha

Obama made Chip Reid look foolish.

[Clio the Leo]

24. Q: Is E. Warren still a leading candidate....

.... and what do you think about her getting approval by Congress?

This is the prefect opportunity to talk about the CPA .... talks about it would protect from consumers on things like mortgages and credit cards .... this was E. Warren's idea. .... she is a tremendous advocate for this idea .... I'll have more annoucements soon .... i'm not gonna make an official announcement until it's ready ..... i'm concerned about ALL Senate noms. these days .... I"ve got people who've been waiting for 6 months that I cant get a vote on .... they're just playing games.

[Clio the Leo]

26. Q from Chuck Todd "How have you changed DC?"

mentions the health care bill .... credit card protection bill .... making sure tax cuts go to families that need it .... we've put in place policies that are gonna help grow a middle class ....... as to why I have not been able to create a better spirit of cooperation, I'm as frustrated as anyone by it... we came in under very tough economic circumstances .... and some GOP decided to sit on the side lines and let us solve the problem .... special interests are deeply entrenched in some of these issues, you have big fights and its messy and frustrating .... I had the option NOT to take on those issues, we could have said health care et al was too controversial ..... i dont think that's the leadership the people want from the Am. people .... are there things I could have done to improve the tone? Probably ..... but this is a core approach about how we move htis country forward.

[elleng]

25. Have had conversations with Elizabeth Warren.

A dear friend of mine, big task standing up the agency, will have announcement soon. Concerned about all pending appointments. 'They're' just playing games.

[babylonsister]

27. Not able to watch more of this; pls. post if he calls on faux? Thx. nt

[Clio the Leo]

28. Q: Why are we NOW seeing tense relations between Chrisitans and Muslims...

Times are tough, that plays a roll in it .... admires Pres. Bush for saying after 9/11 we were NOT at war with Islam but with terrorists who had perverted Islam .... I was proud of the country rallying around that idea that we were united as one against those who would do us harm .... we must hang on to that thing that is best in us .... religious tolerance .... our enemies are AQ .... we must not turn on each other ... I will keep reminding the nation we are one nation under God ... although we may call Him by diff. names ..... I rely heavily on my faith in my job and I understand the passion diff. faiths can raise .... eventhough I may disagree with someone over religion, they are still my neighbor ... tomorrow is a wonderful day to remind ourselves of htat.

[elleng]

29. Rely heavily in my Christian faith in my job.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. Why is he praising Bush again?

"Our enemies are the Taliban and Al-Quada"

sigh.

[elleng]

31. Because Bush laid the groundwork for approaching 'terror' issues as such,

NOT as anti-Muslim.

[GoCubsGo]

36. Yep. He's giving credit where credit is due.

As much as I detest Bush, this was one of the rare times he did something right and he should be praised for it. The anti-Muslim sentiment was nowhere near as bad right after 9-11 as it is now. And, like him or not, Dumbya DID have a lot to do with that. I only wish he'd come out and repeat that behavior now, instead of keeping his mouth shut.

[AngryOldDem]

33. I heard that and walked out the door.

That was mere lip service on Bush's part and Obama damn well knows it.

[elleng]

53. 'Lip service' is part of the job, and he did it properly at the time.

[impik]

51. Actually, he is boxing Republicans, and forcing

Bush to take that stand again.

[Clio the Leo]

32. Q If Israel/Palestinian talks fail, will you step in?

these negotiations will be tough and there will be those who will attempt to undermine ... we knew it was a risk, but it's a risk worth taking .... it's in America's national security interest to arrive at a peace deal .... BiBi has seen that we are committed to Israel's security ... but he knows this issue ha s to be dealt with .... Abbas came here because he undeerstood window for creating a Pal. state is closing .... the 2 parties need each other, but its up to them, we can help and stand behind them but it's up to them if talks break down, we will keep on trying.

[Clio the Leo]

34. Q: were you concerned when you had Gates call Pastor that you were elevating the fringe...

.... and on health care ... CMS reported health care cost was going up .... no Dems are running on this.

The idea of burning Qoran is contrary to what this nation stands for and was founded on, hopes Rev. prays on in and refrains from doing it .... we're seeing riots in Afghanistan .... we must send the message that this behaviour puts our men/women in harms way ..... my conern is we dont get copy cats... I hardly think we're the ones who elevated this story

Re Health care ... I said all along, bending the cost curve is hard to do ..... we took every idea out there .... I said it wasn't going to happen tomorrow or next year .... our goal is to slowly bring those costs down .... our OTHER goal is to make sure 31 million who weren't getting it are getting it .... and things are already in place (kids under 26, pre-existing conditions, recission) ... Jake reasks the question .... "I haven't read the entire study Jake, maybe you have..." but the report says in the short term, in order to insure 30 million more people, the cost would go up .... but our goal was to decrease it over time and STILL cover those 30 million people

[jefferson_dem]

35. "The idea that we would burn the sacred text of someone else's religion...

is contrary to what this country stands for."

[Clio the Leo]

37. I'm skipping April's question...

.... cause I need a break :)

[flamingdem]

38. This presser is GREAT! He is SO ON I'm feeling optimistic nt

[elleng]

39. The most important anti-poverty effort is to grow the economy.

Focus on broad-based job growth.

Target: improve school systems in low-income neighborhoods. Good bi-partisan cooperation seen.

Higher education loans directly to students. Poor kids will benefit most.

[Clio the Leo]

40. Q how can you lecture Karzai when so many corrupt Afghan officials are on our payroll....

..... reminds that we're in Afghan because that is were AQ launched the 9/11 attach .... we want to dismantle AQ and make sure they can never use Afghan as a base an attack again ..... there is no real central gvment in Afg. ... after seven years of drift, we said we're gonna train security forces .........

[Clio the Leo]

41. yall pitch in if you want..... laptop is about to run out of juice...

.... and Obama's wearin' me out lol

[elleng]

42. Afgh: How lecture Karzai about corruption when so many on U.S. payroll???

2d poorest country in world. Training, and promoting political settlement, encourage govt that can deliver services, working on/against corruption. Long way from where we need to be. Will continue pressuring Afgh govt. Constantly reviewing, and not sending mixed message. Challenging environment.

Middle-east: Settlement moratorium has been significant; about to expire. As talks moving forward, makes sense to extend moratorium. Get Abbas and Netan to think: How can the OTHER one succeed?

[cal04]

43. closing Guantanamo

politics of closing it are difficult
American justice system is strong enough to convict and lock up terrorists
We can do that

We are tough, we can 't be freightened
Prepared to work with Dems and Repubs to set up a system where prosecuting is appropriate
Work with Congress (bipartisan) that are consistant with our laws

[jillan]

44. He hasn't called on Faux yet. Love it!

[Clio the Leo]

45. lol this has to be the longest briefing he's done .... I gotta get up and walk around! lol nt

[elleng]

52. Yup! Over an hour! I'm outta here now!

[Clio the Leo]

55. Larry O'Donnel says this was not a briefing meant for the Am. people to sit and watch..

... as most American were at work .... most would see it in snippits and in the print news .... there seems to be less "gotcha" in this one and I prefer it.

[cal04]

46. Ed Henry on capturing Bin Laden

Hey Ed where were you when Bush was in office!

quote from twitter
Wonder if Ed Henry was that eager to ask that bin Laden capture question to Bush? Especially in that tone! Hmmm...

[Clio the Leo]

47. "Bin Laden has gone deep under ground?"

does he mean literally?

[elleng]

48. Capture/kill ObL?

Would be extremely important to our national security. Have ramped up pressure on AlQ; harder for them to operate.

Another 9 years faced?

Always potential for individual or small group to kill other people. Threat is there; reality. America resilient; important not to overreact. Problem doesn't have to distort us, and dominate our foreign policy.

[elleng]

49. Wisdom of building mosque, and burning Koran?

'Burning' = problem, more difficult.

NYC mosque: All =, inalienable rights= practice religion freely, including building mosque. Recognize 9/11 sensitivities. Not at war against Islam; war against terrorist orgs USED Islam. Need all allies. AlQ most interested in war.

[Parker CA]

50. He just blew that last question out of the water. Terrific answer without equivocation. nt

[Sky Masterson]

54. +1

:applause: