Voters Voice Concerns To Obama During Townhall Event

President Barack Obama took some pointed questions on Monday from townhall participants clearly worried about the precarious state of the nation’s economy.

The roughly hour-long event was attended by small business owners, students, union leaders and others, some supporters of Obama, some not. It was held at the Newseum, a museum dedicated to journalism located just blocks from the White House, and was broadcasted live with no commercial interruption by the business news channel CNBC.

Though questions ranged from taxes, to China, to the rise of the Tea Party, the struggling economy was the central focus. Obama used the opportunity to take a swipe at his predecessor in office, telling participants that while recovery has been slow to develop, it will take time to reverse the effects of policies passed under the Bush administration.

“As a consequence of reckless decisions that had been made, the economy was on the verge of collapse. Those same businesses now are profitable; the financial markets are stabilized,” he said. “The only thing that we’ve said is that we’ve got to make sure that we’re not doing some of the same things that we were doing in the past that got into this mess in the first place.”

The president reiterated his desire to see Congress extend a series of tax cuts for the middle class, but said it would be “irresponsible” to continue providing relief to “millionaires and billionaires.”

“I can’t give tax cuts to the top 2 percent of Americans…and lower the deficit at the same time,” he said.

One questioner, a woman who voted for Obama in 2008, told the president she was tired of defending him, and asked whether living off “hot dogs and beans” represented her new “reality.” The president responded that everything is not “where it needs to be,” but assured her that the nation is “moving in the right direction.”

When asked by another participant whether the ‘American Dream’ was dead, the president said “Absolutely not…We are still the country that billions of people in the world look to and aspire to.”

Obama was also asked about his handling of the bank collapse, including a question from an actual Wall Street executive who said he attended Harvard with the president. Obama acknowledged that he has beaten up on some firms since he took office, but justified it by telling the audience that “folks on Main Street feel like Wall Street has beaten up on them.”

The president argued that despite his actions to boost government regulation of the financial sector, he does not begrudge companies that profit, and has been cautious not to stifle the market.

“It’s very hard to find evidence of anything we’ve done that’s designed to squash business as opposed to promote business,” he said. “What I’ve tried to do is just try to be practical.”

Obama: We've Stopped The Bleeding, More Must Be Done

President Barack Obama spoke Monday in Fairfax, Va. where he told a group of local residents that his economic policies have “stopped the bleeding” from an economy nearing a state similar to that of the Great Depression. 

Obama reiterated to guests that the rate of recovery has not met his expectations and making up for the 8 million total jobs lost is an “enormous challenge.”.

“The fact of the matter is the pace of improvement has not  been where it needs to be and the hole that we had dug ourselves in was enormous,” Obama said. 

The president called on a Congress fresh off its August recess to pass a small business jobs bill that he said would offer businesses more assurance in prospective tax cuts, giving them more incentive to hire new employees. 

“Pass this bill, I will sign it into law the day after it’s passed or the day it is passed,” Obama said. “Right away, I think a lot of small businesses around the country will feel more comfortable about hiring and making investments.”

Obama also told the small group of northern Virginia residents that a Republican backed extension of Bush-era tax cuts is too expensive for the country.  The president said that his administration is still “in this wrestling match with John Boehner and Mitch McConnell” over extending tax cuts for the richest two percent of Americans. 

“We just can’t afford it,” Obama said. 

President Takes Swipes At GOP Over Economic Proposals

President Barack Obama spent a good portion of his eighth full press conference in office touting his administration’s efforts to turn the nation’s weak economy around.

Responding to questions from reporters, the president accused his White House predecessor, former President George W. Bush, of creating a years-long recession America has yet to climb out of. Obama said his decision in the past year to cut taxes for middle class Americans and spend billions on domestic programs saved the U.S. from succumbing to a depression.

The president did not mention Bush by name, but argued that the two-term Republican’s poor stewardship of the economy ignited the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the months before Obama took office.

“We know where that led,” the president said of Bush’s eight years in office.

Mr. Obama touted his recent proposals to create jobs by spending even more on infrastructure. Though he would not refer to his new plan as a “stimulus” measure, he argued that last year’s Recovery Act has worked, albeit not as well as the administration had hoped. In perhaps a mini-battle over semantics, Obama told CBS’s Chip Reid his new proposal would be aimed at stimulating job growth.

Read more about today’s press conference on Twitter

In his opening remarks before taking questions, the president spoke with a firm voice, leveling blows at Republicans for disagreeing with him on not wanting to renew tax breaks for wealthy Americans, and imploring his political opponents to stop standing in the way of passing a small business jobs bill.

“If the Republican leadership is prepared to get serious about doing something for families that are hurting out there, I would love to talk to them,” he said.

Obama did, however, kindly acknowledge Ohio Senator George Voinovich (R), who earlier in the day said he would urge his GOP colleagues to vote ‘yes’ on the bill when Congress returns to session next week.

Boehner Pitches Two-Year Tax Freeze, Reduced Spending

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) proposed on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday a two-year tax freeze on current U.S. tax rates, including the Bush tax cuts.

Boehner appeared on the show preluding remarks by President Barack Obama where he is scheduled to speak in the lawmaker’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio pitching a trio of his own economic proposals. 

The Minority Leader called on the White House as being “out of touch” with the American people and proposed a reduction in next year’s spending to 2008 levels to compliment his tax freeze pitch. 

“If we’re able to do this together, I think we’ll show the American people that we understand what’s going on in the country and we’ll be able to get our economy moving again and get jobs growing in America,” Boehner said.

Boehner’s nationally televised remarks come on the heels of a New York Times Op-Ed submitted by Obama’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag. In his article, Orszag endorsed the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans for two years before letting them expire. Orszag said that letting the tax cuts expire too soon could deal a heavy blow to an already struggling jobs market.

“Let’s continue the tax cuts for two years but end them for good in 2013,” Orszag said.

Obama Calls On Senate To Tackle Jobs Bill As Its Top Priority

President Barack Obama is expecting Congress to hit the ground running after returning from its August recess.

Obama told reporters Monday that the number one priority for Congress in the coming weeks is to vote on and pass a jobs bill that has been stagnant for months.

“Too many businesses are still struggling, too many Americans are still looking for work and too many communities are far from being whole again,” Obama said as he urged Congress to take immediate action on a jobs bill he said would cut more taxes and increase access to more loans for small businesses.

The president pointed the finger at Senate Republicans, calling on them to put an end to partisan politics and help put people back to work. 

“Unfortunately, this bill has been languishing in the Senate for months, held up by a partisan minority that won’t even allow it to go to a vote,” Obama said. “That makes no sense.”

The Senate is likely to make their return to Capitol Hill on September 14.