(07.01.09) "No voting on Obama questions" (Politico)

[Laura Cereta]

http://images.politico.com/global/politico44/090403_townhall_307.jpg

Something to look out for in Wednesday's health care town hall: the White House will be choosing the online questions ...

... for the president, rather than letting web users vote to select them.

In March, the White House designated questions through an online voting process. When users flooded the site with support for questions about marijuana legalization, it put White House aides in an awkward position. In the end, a drug-related was asked and Obama laughed it off.

For Wednesday's event, staffers chose some video questions that received high ratings from users on YouTube. And Internet users will also be able to ask questions on Twitter and Facebook during the event.


http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu212/2059911/politicoicon.gif (http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0609/town_hall_preview_91f28944-be66-4dc2-91e1-f062847933d2.html)

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0609/town_hall_preview_91f28944-be66-4dc2-91e1-f062847933d2.html

[matiah]

It is becoming his trademark strategy: he answers only his own questions.

[Laura Cereta]

It is becoming his trademark strategy: he answers only his own questions.

:rotfl: Is it really funny, though? :thinking: Not so much...

[hobbitt]

staffers chose some video questions that received high ratings from users on YouTube... [snip] on Twitter and Facebook during the event.


Think about this for a moment.

How many elderly haunt Facebook? How many poor people hang out at YouTube? There many CEOs, veterinarians, working parents, or Avon ladies on Twitter? The selection process seems to be strongly tilted toward the Adorers.

And the staff should have been intelligent enough (we are paying them, aren't we?) to recognize this after the first go-round; what with wars, tanking economy, unemployment, record deficits, housing crisis, failing banks, social problems of all ilks, they received a "flood" of questions about legalizing marijuana.

Duh.

[Spang]

There many CEOs, veterinarians, working parents, or Avon ladies on Twitter?

Yes.

[hobbitt]

Yes.

Of course I expected you to respond to the most trivial aspect of the discussion.

You have a source for your assertion? Do you have a response for the failure of your President to answer questions, even those proposed by his most ardent supporters?

[Spang]

You have a source for your assertion?

Yes. (http://twitter.com/)

Actually, this (http://wefollow.com/) is a better source.

[hobbitt]

Yes. (http://twitter.com/)

Actually, this (http://wefollow.com/) is a better source.

Very funny. Oprah, Ryan Seacrest, The Blah Girls, and two million followers of Brittney Spears.

You had me there for a moment; I actually thought that you were serious.

[Spang]

You had me there for a moment; I actually thought that you were serious.

I'll help you out. See at the top of the page where it reads enter a tag? Type 'CEO' and hit enter. Do the same for 'veterinarian' and 'Avon'. 'Working parent' may be difficult to search for.

[Spang]

President Obama Holds Online Town Hall on Health Care @ 1:15 ET (http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/)

CNN's feed is better. (http://www.cnn.com/live/)

[Spang]

Questions are being asked now.

[westmann13]

Questions are being asked now.

Oh, goody! Another campaign event!

[Laura Cereta]

Questions are being asked now.

What kind of questions were asked? What were the answers? I should probably try to go find some video of this, huh?

[Lealy]

What kind of questions were asked? What were the answers? I should probably try to go find some video of this, huh?

A staged event that answered nothing. When Helen Thomas is questioning staging going on at all of the events you know there is something wrong.

[Spang]

What kind of questions were asked? What were the answers? I should probably try to go find some video of this, huh?

Yes.

[Spang]

A staged event that answered nothing.

It wasn't staged and it answered plenty.

[westmann13]

It wasn't staged and it answered plenty.

Surely it was staged just like all of his press conferences/campaign events are.

[Spang]

Surely it was staged just like all of his press conferences/campaign events are.

Did you watch it?

[Tybee]

Before President Obama could even field the first Internet question for a town hall forum in Virginia on Wednesday, the White House was forced to defend the event against criticism that questions would be staged.

"I think will be a representative sample of the issues in this debate that we're dealing with," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs explained in response to concern that the event would be tightly controlled.

Over the weekend, the White House Web site solicited Americans to submit questions for the town hall via social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. According to the site, hundreds of entries were received.

Gibbs acknowledged that members of the White House's New Media office would be "shuffling through questions." And a White House Web site entry dated July 1st reads: "Today's the day where the president will get to answer some of the best submissions."

Gibbs tried to deflect further questions on why the event was being so tightly controlled -- unlike the town hall meetings Obama participated in on the campaign trail.

"How about you ask me that question tomorrow based on what questions were asked rather than pre-selecting your question based on something that may or may not come through," he said.

Asked if dissenting views would be expressed, Gibbs said, "I think that's a very safe bet."

But some reporters complained that the event was the latest attempt by the White House to control the media.

"I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency," said veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas.

"And you haven't heard the questions," Gibbs shot back.

"It doesn't matter. It's the process," CBS' Chip Reid argued. "Even if there's a tough question, it's a question coming from somebody who was invited or who was screened or the question was screened."

The exchange came one week after the White House drew fire for providing first-rate treatment to a Huffington Post blogger, who asked the president a question on behalf of Iranians who submitted queries to the site. The White House escorted Nico Pitney from the lower press area to the front of the main briefing room so he could be the second questioner called on during the midday press conference.

The town hall event was not the only question about transparency during Wednesday's briefing. Gibbs was also asked whether the administration was trying to minimize media attention by delaying until the July 4 holiday weekend the release of an internal CIA report on the agency's secret detention and interrogation program during the Bush administration.

"My understanding is that it's doubtful that it will be released this week," Gibb said about the 2004 report that was expected to be made public two weeks ago.

Asked whether the delay was part of an effort to make the report more transparent, Gibbs said it was a combination of transparency and legal issues.

Obama's town hall meeting in Annandale was designed to be a conversation with the public about the administration's proposed health care reforms. The town hall format is something the president has consistently relied on, both during the campaign last year and through the first few months of his presidency.


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/01/white-house-disputes-criticism-town-hall-meeting-staged/

[westmann13]

Did you watch it?

No need for me to watch premeditated events. I've seen em' all before. He already picks and chooses what media gets to ask him questions, what makes you think this is anything different?

[Spang]

No need for me to watch premeditated events. I've seen em' all before. He already picks and chooses what media gets to ask him questions, what makes you think this is anything different?

Did you watch it?

[westmann13]

Did you watch it?

Like I've said - there is no need to watch it nor do I want to. We have all seen him in his staged events plenty of times. The sound of the mans voice and the look of him drives me up a wall! So it isn't a matter of if I did watch it... I WONT watch it.

[Spang]

Like I've said - there is no need to watch it nor do I want to. We have all seen him in his staged events plenty of times. The sound of the mans voice and the look of him drives me up a wall! So it isn't a matter of if I did watch it... I WONT watch it.

So, you didn't watch it?

[Laura Cereta]

Yes.

Be that way. ;) Found a video (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/07/01/obama_on_health_care_we_are_at_a_defining_moment.h tml).

[Spang]

Be that way. ;) Found a video (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/07/01/obama_on_health_care_we_are_at_a_defining_moment.h tml).

The whole thing lasted longer than 20 minutes and 50 seconds. I think that's just the speech he gave at the beginning.

[Laura Cereta]

The whole thing lasted longer than 20 minutes and 50 seconds. I think that's just the speech he gave at the beginning.

Well, I can't find anywhere that post the whole video. The news outlets are only posting part of it and it's not on WhiteHouse.gov, OrganizingforAmerica.com, or Youtube.

[Spang]

Well, I can't find anywhere that post the whole video. The news outlets are only posting part of it and it's not on WhiteHouse.gov, OrganizingforAmerica.com, or Youtube.

I don't know where you'll find the town hall meeting in its entirety but this is definitely just his speech. I'm listening to it again. The video is almost done and he's still speaking.

[Tybee]

President Barack Obama wanted to put a human face on his plans to overhaul health care, and a Virginia supporter did just that Wednesday.

Fighting back tears, Debby Smith, 53, told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability to obtain health insurance or hold a job. The president hugged her _ she's a volunteer for his political operation _ and called her "exhibit A" in an unsustainable system that is too expensive and complex for millions of Americans.

"We are going to try to find ways to help you immediately," he told Smith as hundreds looked on at a community college forum _ and countless others watched on television. But the nation's long-term needs require a greater emphasis on preventive care and "cost-effective care," he said.

Smith, of Appalachia, Va., is a volunteer for Organizing for America, Obama's political operation within the Democratic National Committee. She obtained her ticket through the White House.
The health care changes that Obama called for Wednesday would reshape the nation's medical landscape. He says he wants to cover nearly 50 million uninsured Americans, to persuade doctors to stress quality over quantity of care, to squeeze billions of dollars from spending.

But details on exactly how to do those things were generally lacking in his hour-long town hall forum before a friendly, hand-picked audience in a Washington suburb. The lingering questions underscore the tough negotiations awaiting Congress, the administration and dozens of special interest groups in the coming months. Lawmakers will return to debating the issue when they return from a one-week recess on Monday.

Some of Obama's questioners Wednesday were from friendly sources, including a member of the Service Employees International Union and a member of Health Care for America Now, which organized a Capitol Hill rally last week calling for an overhaul. White House aides selected other questions submitted by people on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Republicans said the event was a political sham designed to help Obama, not to inform the public.

"Americans are already skeptical about the cost and adverse impact of the president's health care plans," Republican National Committee spokesman Trevor Francis said. "Stacking the audience and preselecting questions may make for a good TV, but it's the wrong way to engage in a meaningful discussion about reforming health care."

Obama made no new proposals at the sometimes emotional event. But he vigorously defended his plans while fielding seven questions from the live audience at the forum and on the Internet.

The president would bar insurance companies from turning down applicants because of their "pre-existing conditions." He would establish health care exchanges that would spread the costs of treating patients such as Smith over a large number of people.

Obama called for shifting huge sums of money from current health care spending to new goals. About two-thirds of the overall new costs "will come from reallocating money that is already being spent in the health care system but isn't being spent wisely," he said.

He restated his pledge to cut $177 billion over the next decade from Medicare Advantage insurance plans. And he noted that doctors, hospitals, corporations and others have promised to decrease the annual rate of spending growth by 1.5 percent, or $2 trillion over 10 years.

Such savings are not guaranteed, however, and many Republican lawmakers say Obama's plans will prove too costly.


http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2009/07/01/emotion,_few_details,_in_obamas_health_care_pitch


Nice 'touchy-feely' staged moment.

[Laura Cereta]

Fighting back tears, Debby Smith, 53, told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability to obtain health insurance or hold a job. The president hugged her _ she's a volunteer for his political operation _ and called her "exhibit A" in an unsustainable system that is too expensive and complex for millions of Americans.




Smith, of Appalachia, Va., is a volunteer for Organizing for America, Obama's political operation within the Democratic National Committee. She obtained her ticket through the White House.



I think this town hall was a bust and even the adoring media aren't happy.

[hobbitt]

What? Nobody fainted?? Where are those event organizers of yesteryear??

[Tybee]

I don't think it's too far to say that if Obama is in control, it's staged.

[Suzan]

Well, I can't find anywhere that post the whole video. The news outlets are only posting part of it and it's not on WhiteHouse.gov, OrganizingforAmerica.com, or Youtube.
mybarackobama.com? He still has a web site, right?

I checked, but you need to have an account.

[Laura Cereta]

mybarackobama.com? He still has a web site, right?

I checked, but you need to have an account.

I'll try that, but I think it might not be there since mybarackobama was through ObamaforAmerica, which is now OrganizingforAmerica.

I'm going to check it out now though.

[Laura Cereta]

Found it! And I now have an awesome fake profile on... http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu212/2059911/bowdown.gif OrganizingforAmerica!!! :D




YouTube - President Obama Holds Online Town Hall on Health Reform

[hobbitt]

View the voted-upon questions here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/OpenForQuestions/

[92,937 people have submitted 103,978 questions and cast 1,782,650 votes]




And registration was here...

https://www.whitehouse.gov/member/register/

We invite you to participate in Open for Questions. During this special event, participants of all ages may post questions to the President about the economy on WhiteHouse.gov. Participants will also be able to rate the questions and the President will answer some of the most popular ones.

WhiteHouse.gov hopes to receive questions and opinions from all viewpoints. Open for Questions will be a community-moderated event in order to retain focus on the designated topic and to ensure that the event remains appropriate for participants of all ages.


Note the emphasis on "of all ages" Inviting the adoring teenie-boppers?

[Laura Cereta]

Note the emphasis on "of all ages" Inviting the adoring teenie-boppers?

Well, there was a "Kids For Obama" link on his website while he was campaigning. It had instructions on how to take an adult to vote. Seriously.