After an uncharacteristic gaffe on 'The Tonight Show' and an unfortunate case of the giggles on '60 Minutes,' President Obama had a lot riding on his Tuesday night press conference. The president largely stayed on message, using the hour to focus on the economy, the budget, and his anger (even if was delayed) at those darn AIG bonuses. The buzziest moment came about 35 minutes into the press conference when Ed Henry of CNN asked the President why he didn't spew outrage as soon as he learned about the AIG bonuses. Why, Mr. Henry asked, did the president wait several days before speaking out? The president, with an icy stare, responded that he "likes to know what he's talking about" before he speaks. It was a pretty testy exchange that brought about nervous laughter from the other reporters and snarky responses from Twitterers. Boom! Next question. Another moment that seemed to strike a chord came when Chuck Todd of NBC asked the president what sort of sacrifices he would like to see from the American people during this economic crisis. The president responded that he expects Americans to do what they've always done "which is working hard, looking after their families, making sure that, despite the economic hard times, that they're still contributing to their community..." Chip Reid asked a tough question about Obama's controversial budget. Reid asked if the budget, which will increase the debt to "$7 trillion over the next 10 years," is a case of passing problems onto the next generation. Obama responded that investments need to be made to "meet our growth targets that put us on a pathway to growth." He then pointed out that the critics of his budget have yet to bring forth an alternative. As is often the case with press conferences, some insider lingo was banded about that had normal folks running for the Search box. A question involving "out-years" seemed to inspire some activity and confusion within Yahoo! Buzz. According to a blog from the Washington Post, the phrase "out years" refers to the time period following the current fiscal year. The question about the military's "procurement system" will surely lead to increased searches. For the record, the procurement system is what the military uses to acquire necessary goods and services at the best possible rates. President Obama believes that it is broken and pointed out that Senator McCain, his onetime rival, apparently agrees. You can read the full transcript of the press conference here. http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92400?fp=1
posted this in the other thread Anybody notice the Fox News reporter with the communist and socialist question. He asked about China (and later referenced them as communist) trying to create an international currency, and some of the more leftist to socialist European Countries not agreeing with Obama's call for more stimulus. The guy was clearly implying that Obama was willing to spend more than Socialists and even communists have no more confidence in our currency. I'm sure Obama didn't pick that up because he went to answer the question as if the guy was questioning his leadership. But it was pretty obvious he was trying to get in a socialist dig.
