Oblabber learing it's easier to talk yourself into a problem than to talk your way out of it
Obama Goes to Town Hall, 'Jay Leno' to Spread Economic Agenda
The President Takes Responsibility, but Avoids Blame
By JAKE TAPPER
LOS ANGELES March 19, 2009—
From the East Coast to the West Coast, from town hall meetings to an appearance on "Jay Leno," President Obama is out and about the country to make his case.
The commander in chief continues his tour today in economically battered California, where he flew in Wednesday to talk about the economy and regulatory reform.
In Costa Mesa, 3,000 miles from the politics of the nation's capital, Obama took responsibility and chided Washington lawmakers for playing the blame game over the $165 million in bonuses for AIG executives. Some Republicans blame Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner for not doing more about the issue.
"I know Washington is all in a tizzy and everybody is pointing fingers at each other and saying it's their fault, the Democrats' fault, the Republicans' fault. Listen, I'll take responsibility. I'm the president," he said to applause.
But while he accepted responsibility, he didn't accept the blame.
In the next breath, the president said: "We didn't grant these contracts, and we've got a lot on our plate, but it is appropriate, when you're in charge, to make sure that stuff doesn't happen like this. So we're going to do everything we can to fix it."
Obama said the point wasn't to assign blame but to solve the larger issue. He pushed his agenda for more regulation of Wall Street and his $3.6 trillion budget and investments in energy, education and health care.
"For everyone in D.C. scrambling how to blame someone else, just go ahead and talk to me," the president said, deviating from his prepared remarks, "because it's my job to make sure we fix these messes, even if I don't make them."
Comparing big banks and embattled, scandal-ridden AIG to suicide bombers, Obama said, "Now, a lot of people say, well, why not just let the banks fail? Right? See, somebody is clapping. ... They were making all these bad bets. Why don't we just let them fail, let them go bankrupt? What's the problem?"
"Citicorp or Bank of America or, you know, Wells Fargo that controls 70 percent of the banking system, and all of them are weakening. You can't afford to have all those banks all at once start going under. Even though the deposits might be guaranteed, you've got the entire economy resting on that credit," the president said. "It was the right thing to do, even though it's infuriating, even though it makes you angry. ... Here's the problem, It's almost like they've got a bomb strapped to them and they've got their hand on the trigger. You don't want them to blow up. But you've got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger."
AIG Anger
Before he flew to sunny California to propagate his message, the president expressed his anger over the AIG bonus scandal and said Americans have the right to be angry about it.
"I don't want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry. I'm angry. What I want us to do, though, is channel our anger in a constructive way," he said.
He also warned Wall Street to cooperate with the regulatory reform he plans to push.
"And one of the messages that I want to send is that as we get out of this crisis, as we work towards getting ourselves out of recession, I hope that Wall Street and the marketplace don't think that we can return to business as usual. The business models that created a lot of paper wealth but not real wealth in this country and have now resulted in crisis can't be the model for economic growth going forward," he said.
Despite Obama's requests for working together, Republicans are openly expressing their displeasure of the treasury chief. Republican lawmakers have upped their calls for Geithner to resign or be fired.
"Secretary Geithner either didn't know about the bonuses, and was grossly negligent, or he did know and failed to bring this to the president's attention," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Wednesday.
"Timothy Geithner should either resign or be fired for the good of the country, and President Obama should nominate a new treasury secretary with the experience and leadership skills America deserves," Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., said in a statement. "Quite simply, the Timothy Geithner experience has been a disaster."
But the president defended his treasury pick, reiterating that he has "complete confidence" in Geithner.
"I have complete confidence in Tim Geithner and my entire economic team. Understand, as I said before, Tim Geithner didn't draft these contracts with AIG. There has never been a secretary of the treasury, except maybe Alexander Hamilton, right after the Revolutionary War, who's had to deal with the multiplicity of issues that Secretary Geithner is having to deal with -- all at the same time," the president said. "And he is doing so with intelligence and diligence. Nobody is working harder than this guy. He is making all the right moves in terms of playing a bad hand. And what we need to be doing is making sure that we are providing him the support that he needs in order to work through all these problems so that we're able to deal with them more effectively in the future."
Cautious Optimism
Obama warned Californians about the accusations that might be lashed out at him as the budget debate begins.
"This budget that we are now arguing about, and you're going to be hearing a bunch of arguments about, 'oh, you know, Obama, he's a spendthrift, et cetera, et cetera,'" the president said in the Q&A part of the meeting. "Again, some on the other side have said, 'oh, Obama, he's a tax-and-spend Democrat. Tax and spend.' Well, it turns out, yes."
He tried to project confidence that the economic situation will improve.
"And if we continue to provide some guarantees and help depositors and help strengthen some of the banks that are weakened, then my expectation is, is that we're going to be able to work our way out of this problem, and we are going to be able to get back to a point where banks are lending, businesses are investing, jobs are being created and the economy gets back on its feet," he said to the audience.
As for his ambitious agenda, Obama explained his bottom line.
"If I could get done what I think needs to get done in four years, even if it meant that I was only president for four years, I would rather be a good president taking on the tough issues for four years than a mediocre president for eight years," he said in response to whether he plans to run for the highest office in the country again. And does he?
"I've been in office for two months now. The last thing I'm thinking about is reelection," Obama said.
Today, the president woke up in Los Angeles, where he will tour and talk about "green" jobs at the Edison Electric Vehicle Technical Center -- a lab that incorporates alternative fuel vehicles and tests electronic vehicles, a so-called "Garage of the Future" -- in Pomona, Calif.
He is also scheduled to hold a town hall meeting in the city famous for Hollywood and celebrities and he will be introduced by the chief celebrity himself, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The former Hollywood star is one of the few Republican governors to openly and aggressively express support for Obama's stimulus package, from which California would receive a hefty chunk of money.
The president, who has garnered somewhat of a celebrity status and is known to hobnob with celebrities, will tape an interview for "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," the first ever for a sitting president.
A bigger show is planned for Tuesday, when Obama will likely continue the discussion about his agenda in a prime time news conference.
ABC News' Huma Khan contributed to this report.
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