January 27th, 2011
11:10 AM ET
POTUS to take questions via YouTube todayBy CNN Wire Staff WASHINGTON (CNN) – As part of a White House offensive in support of this week's State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama will hold a YouTube interview Thursday to answer questions submitted by viewers. The interview on YouTube at 2:30 p.m. ET is part of a series of events in which top administration officials are talking directly to Americans about administration policies set out in Tuesday's address to a joint session of Congress. Obama spent Wednesday visiting solar and wind energy companies in Wisconsin to tout his push for increased government investment in clean energy as a growth industry of the future, a major theme of his speech the night before. Later Wednesday, senior administration officials David Plouffe and Stephanie Cutter were holding a conference call to discuss a range of issues important to "young Americans," according to a White House web posting on the State of the Union speech. Such access to top policymakers - the president, vice president and top aides including Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee, Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough - is generally unheard of and reflects the administration's desire to ensure its messages are "Throughout the week, we'll have plenty of ways for you to get involved and ask questions of President Obama and other senior administration officials about the State of the Union address," Plouffe said in an e- mail Tuesday announcing the outreach around the speech. The first event took place Tuesday night after the speech, when a panel of White House officials - National Economic Council Deputy Director Brian Deese, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy Roberto Rodriguez and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes - answered questions submitted via Twitter, Facebook and a live audience of young adults. In the hourlong session, which can be seen on a video posted at http://www.whitehouse.gov/SOTU, questions involved Obama's economic proposals, policy issues such as education and clean energy, Sudan, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, North Korea and other subjects. Some questions were challenging, such as one that expressed skepticism at restoring the United States as a world leader in education, but in general, the inquiries indicated participants were supporters of the administration instead of ideological opponents. When asked if the United States would remain engaged in Sudan following the recent secession referendum in South Sudan, Rhodes called the question a good one for the forum of young people. He noted that the issue "simply would not have the attention it has" without pressure from young people, nongovernment organizations, religious groups and others. "We see it as a kind of bottom-up activism that can help advance a more responsible foreign policy of the United States" while also helping the people of Sudan, Rhodes said. |
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Excuse me but the Constitution states that no law be made that excludes a few ( Congress & The Executive Branch ). How can the Health Bill be passed, when no one in Congress or the White House has to pay into it ? No Social Security payments by them either....a life time retirement !!!
I have never use the internet until the Mortage melt down. but I would like to know what you have done in your making home affordable. It's a joke and not very funny, you have gave the banks that had mass us around and rob us, then you came in gave them tax payres dollars and they got us again. I would like to know are you get kick back or just don't know what you'll doing. and your staff ??? I was happy when Elizabeth Warren but sent I have not seen or heard a word about her working on hope.