LIVE BLOG: BET/CMT/MTV Town Hall
3:55pm - POTUS has arrived at the BET studios. He's waiting in a spare studio full of TVs.
4:00pm - 225 young people from a wide demographic perspective are in the studio. No subject off limits!
4:01pm - Do you have a question for President Obama? Tweet #askjobs or #askeconomy, etc...
4:02pm - POTUS takes the stage to a standing ovation and cheers and whistles.
4:03pm - First up: Chilean miners. Obama: I was watching it at the White House. It was a testament to their personal strength, to the way the Chilean people and the world came together. Some drilling machinery was made in US. The fact that we played some small part in this terrific story is a testament to how we try to help people across the globe in trying times.
4:04pm - First question is from a Republican. Q: How are you going to improve dialogue across the parties? Obama: I ran on the notion Washington was broken. This is a critical time when we have to come together to solve big problems. The record will show on health care that we had repeated meetings, hoped they (GOP) would meet us half way, some folks made a decision that politically it would be useful to suffer political defeat in terms of running against me the next time out.
4:07pm - Obama is listing the benefits of the health care law, you can stay on your parents insurance until you're 26, etc...
"I do think there are a lot of good Republican ideas out there." "My hope is as we look forward say on education or energy, we're going to have a greater sense of cooperation after the election."
4:08pm - Q: Why should we still support your monetary/economic policies going forward? Why should we vote you back in?
Obama: We lost 4 million jobs before I took office. Most of the 8 million jobs lost in this recession were lost before my economic policies were even put in place. Because of recovery, 3 million people are working that would be out of work. Obama is getting defensive "something that did not happen on my watch." Economy is now growing, 9 consecutive months of private job sector growth. What we have to do moving forward is make sure that small businesses are getting the kind of financing that they need. He says the previous administration put in place a tax policy and didn't pay for it. Said he'll continue tax breaks for those making less than 250,000 dollars. "I'm ready to pass that tomorrow." Taxes are not higher since I took office.
4:13pm - Woman shares personal story of domestic violence. Says the DC schools did not properly prepare her for college. She couldn't afford it. Q: What is your administration doing for comprehensive education reform? Obama: There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to afford going to college. Obama looks back on history of public education in the US. "What's happened in a generation is that our lead has slipped." We rank 21st when it comes to math, 25th when it comes to science. 9th in the proportion of college graduates.
4:17pm - Obama touts education reforms in k-12 and math and science, especially for girls and minorities (who apparently "under-perform" in those areas)
4:18pm - I haven't heard Obama say anything yet that he hasn't said before....
4:19pm - Obama is talking about the recent change to the student loan system so that students borrow directly from the government, instead of banks.
4:20pm - Q: this woman is a victim of online bullying. what can you do, if anything to these attacks over the internet while preserving freedom of speech? Obama: "our heart breaks when we hear about what happened at Rutgers, when we read about these young people who do nothing to deserve the kind of harassment and bullying that gets out of hand." Said Dept. of Education had a summit to talk about how local govts can set up structures for school officials to intervene. Says the internet is challenging because part of the power is the information on the internet isn't censored/controlled.
4:22pm - we have an obligation to think about how what we say will affect others. POTUS talks about talking to his daughters about the lesson of thinking of someone else like you think of yourself.
4:23pm - Woman voted for Obama in last election, asking about Don't Ask, Don't Tell. "You as the President, you can have an executive order to end it, why don't you do that?" President Obama: I'm against Don't Ask, Don't Tell. This is not a situation that with the stroke of a pen I can end the policy. Obama said he got the SecDef, JointChiefs to say the policy needs to end. Says he has enough votes in the Senate to go ahead and end it. Talks about the district court case, "I agree with the basic principle that anyone who wants to serve in our armed services... anybody should be able to serve, they shouldn't have to lie." Says it has to be done in an orderly way b/c we are in a war now. "This policy will end, and it will end on my watch."
4:26pm - Checking in on Twitter... top issues - Jobs, Education, LGBT issues. 10,000 tweets since they went live.
4:26pm - Twitter Q: Do you think being born Bi or Gay is a choice? Obama: I dont think it's a choice, I think people are born with a certain makeup, we're all children of God. We don't make determinations on who we love. Thinks discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is wrong."
4:30pm - Back from commercial break. Q: On Social Security, what are options. Obama: 2018, CBO says SS will have no more surplus... that doesn't mean it's going bankrupt or going away. "When I'm retired, (crowd laughs!) If you expected a dollar of benefits, you'll only get 70 cents." "All options are on the table." Obama says you only pay SS taxes up to $106,000. "That could be modified or changed." (AKA - raise taxes!) Obama touts his bi-partisan fiscal commission...
4:33pm - Q: Tea Party, is it legitimate? Obama: This is a democracy, so political participation is generally legitimate. I think there are a lot of people involved with the TP that have very real concerns, fiscal, believe the government should be less involved. "They have every right and obligation as citizens to be involved." He says layered on top of some of that general frustration, there is an awful lot of corporate money that is flowing in being spent on negative ads. "I don't watch that much TV." He says nobody knows who's paying for these ads. He says the ads are paid for Americans for Prosperity (which is a real group) and Moms for Motherhood (He admits that he made that one up). Basically Obama blames the funding for these ads on the Supreme Court decision last year that freed up disclosure. Um.... I didn't hear an answer there....
4:35pm - Guy produces a conservative talk show and he's getting married in two weeks. His next door neighbors are illegal immigrants, his question: When AZ tried to do something about immigration, they were attacked, Q: When AZ passed a law the Justice Dept struck it down, but when CA legalized marijuana the Feds said they would stay out of the way. How do you reconcile those two things. Obama: We take federal drug enforcement very seriously. How can be better enforce the laws on the books. On Immigration, Obama says he's put more $$ into border security than any other administration... "We've ramped up significantly the issue of border security." But, he says, "if we're going to solve the problem, given the massive border we have on the south... the best way for us to solve it is in a comprehensive way." He says they want to work with states, wants to go after employers who are exploiting workers, they have to make sure that undocumented workers take responsibility. He says, then we could focus on illegals like drug cartels. Says they're committed to it.
4:39pm - Guy is a grad student, Q on race relations. Obama: Historically, we make progress on race relations, then there's slippage. "Often times misunderstandings and antagonism happens when economic times are tough." Says people are less worried when they're buying houses and big screen TVs. Says when you're worried about not having a job, people worry about issues of race because there's more of a "tribal attitude." Obama: "Look at this audience, this audience didn't exist 20 years ago." Says the amount of interaction now is "unprecedented." Obama: "our strength comes from unity not from division." Puts it on the young people - if you lead, your parents, grandparents will follow.
4:43pm - Back to Twitter. 15,000 tweets now. Whoa! Now, Sudan - Q: how will you prevent war?
Obama: Sudan is where the genocide in Darfur took place, so many young people on college campuses helped to surface attention on the issue. Praises the Bush administration for helping to broker peace deal between Northern and Southern Sudan. "This is a dangerous area, the last time there was a war 2 million people were killed." Said they're trying to work a peace deal. Only have about 90 days to get this done. Obama says he's got Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice all working on "one of our highest priorities" Says Sudan is a huge issue, encourages young people to get involved and ask their elected officials to prevent war not only out of charitable reasons, but also because of national security reasons.
4:46pm - Guy moved here from Cuba when he was 6 years old says he's lived the American Dream. Q: How will your administration take concrete steps to pass legislation like DREAM act get passed by the end of your term? Obama: Talks about the DREAM act, saying it's central to the American story. Obama says he's hoping to get bi-partisanship, somewhat hopeful that it can get done in the next session.
4:49pm - going to break again. My little fingers are getting tired! :)
4:51pm - Q on environmental justice....about Katrina/New Orleans. Woman says there are landfills and nuclear power plants in low income communities, says it's a civil rights/public health issue... Q: What sort of steps are your administration taking to address environmental justice?: Obama - "the issue probably has more to do with income than it has to do with race or ethnicity." He says these things are located where "poor folks live," because wealthy people say "not in my back yard." Obama says "everybody should have the chance at clean air and clean water." He pushes clean energy here, saying that is a recipe for reducing overall pollution that's out there. Touts more investment in clean energy.
4:54pm - From the Feedback station. People's biggest fears. One person says their fear that we are turning into a communist country. Another person says their biggest fear is that Obama will be re-elected. POTUS chalks it up to the internet. Says we need to recognize we're all Americans, we all want the best for this country. He says "we've got to stop the name calling."
4:56pm - Woman cries, shares her greatest fear - her grandmother is in her 90's, she's in Colombia, and this woman has been waiting for a long time for her green card, she's afraid she won't see her grandmother again. Obama: "How do we make legal immigration faster, cut the red tape?" Says they're trying to reduce the backlog so that people who are doing things the right way they don't end up lost in the bureaucracy.
4:57pm - Tweets of hope. One person says their greatest hope is their kids will have better teachers. Another says they're worried about gun violence. Obama says we must respect teachers, encourage good teachers. On guns - he says the DOJ is working with local school districts to figure out how to keep guns out of the hands of kids.
4:59pm - Woman says her greatest hope is for African American men to turn their lives around, and so many not be in prison, more in college. Obama said we have to see that young African American boys don't get discouraged, and check out.
5:00pm - The President's last words: "Don't forget to vote, November 2nd."
DONE!
4:00pm - 225 young people from a wide demographic perspective are in the studio. No subject off limits!
4:01pm - Do you have a question for President Obama? Tweet #askjobs or #askeconomy, etc...
4:02pm - POTUS takes the stage to a standing ovation and cheers and whistles.
4:03pm - First up: Chilean miners. Obama: I was watching it at the White House. It was a testament to their personal strength, to the way the Chilean people and the world came together. Some drilling machinery was made in US. The fact that we played some small part in this terrific story is a testament to how we try to help people across the globe in trying times.
4:04pm - First question is from a Republican. Q: How are you going to improve dialogue across the parties? Obama: I ran on the notion Washington was broken. This is a critical time when we have to come together to solve big problems. The record will show on health care that we had repeated meetings, hoped they (GOP) would meet us half way, some folks made a decision that politically it would be useful to suffer political defeat in terms of running against me the next time out.
4:07pm - Obama is listing the benefits of the health care law, you can stay on your parents insurance until you're 26, etc...
"I do think there are a lot of good Republican ideas out there." "My hope is as we look forward say on education or energy, we're going to have a greater sense of cooperation after the election."
4:08pm - Q: Why should we still support your monetary/economic policies going forward? Why should we vote you back in?
Obama: We lost 4 million jobs before I took office. Most of the 8 million jobs lost in this recession were lost before my economic policies were even put in place. Because of recovery, 3 million people are working that would be out of work. Obama is getting defensive "something that did not happen on my watch." Economy is now growing, 9 consecutive months of private job sector growth. What we have to do moving forward is make sure that small businesses are getting the kind of financing that they need. He says the previous administration put in place a tax policy and didn't pay for it. Said he'll continue tax breaks for those making less than 250,000 dollars. "I'm ready to pass that tomorrow." Taxes are not higher since I took office.
4:13pm - Woman shares personal story of domestic violence. Says the DC schools did not properly prepare her for college. She couldn't afford it. Q: What is your administration doing for comprehensive education reform? Obama: There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to afford going to college. Obama looks back on history of public education in the US. "What's happened in a generation is that our lead has slipped." We rank 21st when it comes to math, 25th when it comes to science. 9th in the proportion of college graduates.
4:17pm - Obama touts education reforms in k-12 and math and science, especially for girls and minorities (who apparently "under-perform" in those areas)
4:18pm - I haven't heard Obama say anything yet that he hasn't said before....
4:19pm - Obama is talking about the recent change to the student loan system so that students borrow directly from the government, instead of banks.
4:20pm - Q: this woman is a victim of online bullying. what can you do, if anything to these attacks over the internet while preserving freedom of speech? Obama: "our heart breaks when we hear about what happened at Rutgers, when we read about these young people who do nothing to deserve the kind of harassment and bullying that gets out of hand." Said Dept. of Education had a summit to talk about how local govts can set up structures for school officials to intervene. Says the internet is challenging because part of the power is the information on the internet isn't censored/controlled.
4:22pm - we have an obligation to think about how what we say will affect others. POTUS talks about talking to his daughters about the lesson of thinking of someone else like you think of yourself.
4:23pm - Woman voted for Obama in last election, asking about Don't Ask, Don't Tell. "You as the President, you can have an executive order to end it, why don't you do that?" President Obama: I'm against Don't Ask, Don't Tell. This is not a situation that with the stroke of a pen I can end the policy. Obama said he got the SecDef, JointChiefs to say the policy needs to end. Says he has enough votes in the Senate to go ahead and end it. Talks about the district court case, "I agree with the basic principle that anyone who wants to serve in our armed services... anybody should be able to serve, they shouldn't have to lie." Says it has to be done in an orderly way b/c we are in a war now. "This policy will end, and it will end on my watch."
4:26pm - Checking in on Twitter... top issues - Jobs, Education, LGBT issues. 10,000 tweets since they went live.
4:26pm - Twitter Q: Do you think being born Bi or Gay is a choice? Obama: I dont think it's a choice, I think people are born with a certain makeup, we're all children of God. We don't make determinations on who we love. Thinks discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is wrong."
4:30pm - Back from commercial break. Q: On Social Security, what are options. Obama: 2018, CBO says SS will have no more surplus... that doesn't mean it's going bankrupt or going away. "When I'm retired, (crowd laughs!) If you expected a dollar of benefits, you'll only get 70 cents." "All options are on the table." Obama says you only pay SS taxes up to $106,000. "That could be modified or changed." (AKA - raise taxes!) Obama touts his bi-partisan fiscal commission...
4:33pm - Q: Tea Party, is it legitimate? Obama: This is a democracy, so political participation is generally legitimate. I think there are a lot of people involved with the TP that have very real concerns, fiscal, believe the government should be less involved. "They have every right and obligation as citizens to be involved." He says layered on top of some of that general frustration, there is an awful lot of corporate money that is flowing in being spent on negative ads. "I don't watch that much TV." He says nobody knows who's paying for these ads. He says the ads are paid for Americans for Prosperity (which is a real group) and Moms for Motherhood (He admits that he made that one up). Basically Obama blames the funding for these ads on the Supreme Court decision last year that freed up disclosure. Um.... I didn't hear an answer there....
4:35pm - Guy produces a conservative talk show and he's getting married in two weeks. His next door neighbors are illegal immigrants, his question: When AZ tried to do something about immigration, they were attacked, Q: When AZ passed a law the Justice Dept struck it down, but when CA legalized marijuana the Feds said they would stay out of the way. How do you reconcile those two things. Obama: We take federal drug enforcement very seriously. How can be better enforce the laws on the books. On Immigration, Obama says he's put more $$ into border security than any other administration... "We've ramped up significantly the issue of border security." But, he says, "if we're going to solve the problem, given the massive border we have on the south... the best way for us to solve it is in a comprehensive way." He says they want to work with states, wants to go after employers who are exploiting workers, they have to make sure that undocumented workers take responsibility. He says, then we could focus on illegals like drug cartels. Says they're committed to it.
4:39pm - Guy is a grad student, Q on race relations. Obama: Historically, we make progress on race relations, then there's slippage. "Often times misunderstandings and antagonism happens when economic times are tough." Says people are less worried when they're buying houses and big screen TVs. Says when you're worried about not having a job, people worry about issues of race because there's more of a "tribal attitude." Obama: "Look at this audience, this audience didn't exist 20 years ago." Says the amount of interaction now is "unprecedented." Obama: "our strength comes from unity not from division." Puts it on the young people - if you lead, your parents, grandparents will follow.
4:43pm - Back to Twitter. 15,000 tweets now. Whoa! Now, Sudan - Q: how will you prevent war?
Obama: Sudan is where the genocide in Darfur took place, so many young people on college campuses helped to surface attention on the issue. Praises the Bush administration for helping to broker peace deal between Northern and Southern Sudan. "This is a dangerous area, the last time there was a war 2 million people were killed." Said they're trying to work a peace deal. Only have about 90 days to get this done. Obama says he's got Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice all working on "one of our highest priorities" Says Sudan is a huge issue, encourages young people to get involved and ask their elected officials to prevent war not only out of charitable reasons, but also because of national security reasons.
4:46pm - Guy moved here from Cuba when he was 6 years old says he's lived the American Dream. Q: How will your administration take concrete steps to pass legislation like DREAM act get passed by the end of your term? Obama: Talks about the DREAM act, saying it's central to the American story. Obama says he's hoping to get bi-partisanship, somewhat hopeful that it can get done in the next session.
4:49pm - going to break again. My little fingers are getting tired! :)
4:51pm - Q on environmental justice....about Katrina/New Orleans. Woman says there are landfills and nuclear power plants in low income communities, says it's a civil rights/public health issue... Q: What sort of steps are your administration taking to address environmental justice?: Obama - "the issue probably has more to do with income than it has to do with race or ethnicity." He says these things are located where "poor folks live," because wealthy people say "not in my back yard." Obama says "everybody should have the chance at clean air and clean water." He pushes clean energy here, saying that is a recipe for reducing overall pollution that's out there. Touts more investment in clean energy.
4:54pm - From the Feedback station. People's biggest fears. One person says their fear that we are turning into a communist country. Another person says their biggest fear is that Obama will be re-elected. POTUS chalks it up to the internet. Says we need to recognize we're all Americans, we all want the best for this country. He says "we've got to stop the name calling."
4:56pm - Woman cries, shares her greatest fear - her grandmother is in her 90's, she's in Colombia, and this woman has been waiting for a long time for her green card, she's afraid she won't see her grandmother again. Obama: "How do we make legal immigration faster, cut the red tape?" Says they're trying to reduce the backlog so that people who are doing things the right way they don't end up lost in the bureaucracy.
4:57pm - Tweets of hope. One person says their greatest hope is their kids will have better teachers. Another says they're worried about gun violence. Obama says we must respect teachers, encourage good teachers. On guns - he says the DOJ is working with local school districts to figure out how to keep guns out of the hands of kids.
4:59pm - Woman says her greatest hope is for African American men to turn their lives around, and so many not be in prison, more in college. Obama said we have to see that young African American boys don't get discouraged, and check out.
5:00pm - The President's last words: "Don't forget to vote, November 2nd."
DONE!
