President Obama Holds Press Conference on March 24, 2009

President Barack Obama strode into the East Room of the White House at 7 p.m. (CDT), walking with that graceful, confident stride, and addressed a room full of journalists who asked tough questions about his economic stimulus package, stem cell research, his embattled budget plan, unrest in Mexico, and whether he has noticed much racism while in office for 64 days.

Obama stressed that there are four pillars of his proposals: Health Care reform, energy reform, education, and reducing the budget deficit. He mentioned these four pillars of his program more than once, and he counseled persistence in trying to enact his budget and solve the nation's problems, saying, "If you stick to it, you are persistent, then these problems can be solved." Obama articulated the belief that the best way to reduce the budget deficit, to "bend the curve," is to reduce health care costs.

Noting, "there are no quick fixes or silver bullets," Obama noted, once again, "this didn't happen overnight" and stated, at the beginning of his press conference, that he wanted to:

1) Jump-start the economy by putting money in people's pockets. From that comment, he went on to say that 95% of average Americans will see a tax cut by April 1^st.

2) Stabilize the housing market. President Obama said that up to 40% of mortgages are eligible, now, for some of the historically lowest mortgage rates in history.

3) Restart the flow of credit. Obama noted that last week, alone, the country made more progress on this front than it has in the past 4 months combined. (This courtesy of money sent to local community banking institutions by the feds.)

4) No return to "bubble and bust." He commented, in particular, on the maxed-out credit cards that had given the country an illusion of prosperity.

President Obama has pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. He wants us to move from a nation that "borrows and spends" to a nation that "saves and invests." President Obama stressed that there is an important lesson that we all must learn: "My budget is inseparable from this recovery. We can get there if we travel this road as one nation. There's an important lesson: we're all in this together."

Obama further added," If we don't tackle energy problems, health care reform, and science and technology problems, we won't grow." He added, "I'm not gonna' lie to you; it's gonna' be tough."

In talking about driving down the deficit over the next 5 years, figures of 2.2% to 2.6% were batted about, one spinning off from the budget as a projection and one coming from the administration. He referred to the nation's current economic mess as "An economic crisis like nothing we have seen since the Great Depression."

The unemployment figures for Iowa had just flashed on our evening news. The news was not good (up slightly), but it was far lower than the 8.7% cited for Illinois, which was higher than the national average. In Iowa, it was closer to 3.4 to 3.6% The nation, as a whole, is suffering at around 8.1%, but some states (Michigan) have unemployment that is as high as 10%. However during the Great Depression, that figure was at least 2 and ½ times as high at 25%, to draw a comparison.

Jennifer Loven of the AP asked about government authority to regulate what has been happening with AIG, etc. Obama responded that the government needs the tools to do this regulation of agencies like AIG (an insurance agency, initially), just as it has such authority over banks. Said Obama, "We've got a regular mechanism for FDIC-insured banks. The federal government needs authority over an institution that poses a systemic risk to the financial system (of the United States government)." This federal authority has been requested.

Chuck Todd of NBC News, the Chief White House correspondent for NBC there, asked what specific sacrifices Obama expects from the public? Obama replied, "Across the board, people are making adjustments, large and small, because we are in very desperate times right now." He noted that derivative selling (as practiced by Wall Street until the recent crash) was "not a model for sustainable economic growth." Yet I read recently that the financial sector had, on paper, given our nation 40% of its projected economic growth, and it seems to have been an illusion.

Jack Tapper of ABC News asked about the cap and trade issue and about the rumors that Congress (Republicans, but some Democrats, as well) are trying to cut out the tax cuts for middle-class Americans. Obama replied, "I expect serious efforts at health care reform, serious energy policy investment, investment in education, K through 12 and beyond, and they will drive the deficit problem down." Said Obama, "I am confident on the budget we put forward that we will have those elements in place."

Chip Reid of CBS News asked about Obama's pronouncement, upon election, "I didn't run for president to pass on our problems to the next generation." Obama was quick to point out that his administration inherited a $1.3 trillion annual deficit from his predecessor, George W. Bush and, from there, the figures $7 trillion in debt and/or $9.3 million in debt were bandied about.

Regarding questions about the violence in Mexico and whether they posed a national security risk to our borders in Texas (troops have been sent to the border) Obama praised Mexican President Calderon's attempts to deal with drug cartel violence in his country and said that "we need to do more" to stop the flow of illegal guns and cash to Mexico, both of which contribute to the problem.

Kevin Barrons of "Stars & Stripes" asked about how President Obama planned to ramp up veteran services, and was told, "this budget has the largest increase in veteran funding in 30 years."

The most contentious question of the night, and the one that will make the national news sound-bites, no doubt, came from Ed Henry of CNN who not only lashed out at Obama for (allegedly) doubling the national debt with his budget plans, but also wanted to know why he didn't speak out sooner on the obscene bonuses that troubled AIG insurance giant planned to take, despite recently receiving a huge government bailout. According to the March (2009) issue of Vanity Fair AIG planned to give secret retention awards to 2,000 employees and the ousted AIG CEO, Martin Sullivan, got $5.35 million for 2006 and 2007. $165 million in bonus money was planned for AIG employees, before the word got out and all hell broke loose.

$52 billion in TARP bailout money seems to have been just the beginning. Representative Paul Kyzewski, D, of Pennsylvania, said, "We're going to have to find someone out there to blame." Gary Ackerman (D, NY) said he wanted the names of all those who got bonuses and that he would subpoena to get them. "This is so outrageous." Stephen Lynch (D, MA) called it "arrogance," and another member of the House Financial Services Committee said the initials AIG stood for arrogance, indifference and greed. Barney Frank also asked for the names of the bonus recipients, but the current CEO, Edward Liddy, said he feared for the safety of his employees. Even Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was accused of being responsible, and Senator Chris Dodd (D, Connecticut) was also accused of leaving in or putting in the wording that allowed the AIG bonuses to occur. Edward Liddy (current CEO of AIG who works for $1 a year) said that the AIG name would be changed after this financial fiasco dies down. (All these revelations come from Jon Stewart's March 24^th program on Comedy Central.)

When Ed Henry of CNN expressed the view that New York (Mario Cuomo) seemed to be expressing outrage sooner than the White House did (over the AIG bonuses), President Obama drew some chuckles from the crowd when he said, "It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak." (Hopefully, Obama won't be expected to apologize to Cuomo, as he recently had to do in comparing his bowling prowess to the Special Olympics.)

Asked whether tax changes that Obama proposes will hurt charitable giving by rich fat cats, Obama dismissed this theory. In not renewing George W. Bush's tax cuts for the very, very wealthy making over $250,000, the top 5%, Obama stated that the Big Boys could (previously) write off 39% whereas the little guys making far less could only write off 28%. "There is very little evidence that this (the tax changes he proposed) has any influence on charitable giving."

Asked about scientific research, especially stem cell research that "W" basically shut down, Obama said that he does not believe that scientific consensus that this research is right and merited, alone, is enough. He noted that there are "strong moral, ethical guidelines." Said President Obama, "I wrestle with it on issues like stem cell research (cloning) and abortion." Yet, he noted, since many embryos were destined to be destroyed, anyway, the thought that cures for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimers and juvenile onset diabetes could come from these stem cells now available for research trumps his concern. Nevertheless, said the first African-American President, "I have no investment in causing controversy."

Asked about the Middle East Gaza Strip conflict between the Arab state and Israel, Obama pointed to Special Envoy George Mitchell and said, "What we do know is that the status quo is unsustainable." Asked by Kevin Chapell of "Ebony" magazine about the "help is on the way" mantra, when 1 in 50 are homeless and tent cities are springing up, many populated by children, as well as adults, Obama expressed his grave concern and repeated his plan to provide 3.5 million new jobs.

Just before he left the room, Obama compared turning the nation around more to piloting an ocean liner than a speedboat, seeming to ask, in this appearance (one of many recently) for understanding and forbearance as he moves past Day 64 and into the future of guiding the nation.