The Return of the Live Blog

yes, my lovelies... i've been missing in action. but i return to you with a special live-blog of president barack obama's first live news conference.

i'm informed by keith olbermann that the president is expected to talk for about 10 minutes before he starts to take questions from the salivating press.

we await the 44th president of the united states....

and here he is and away we go.....

4.7% to 15.3%
he immediately says we need to pass the stimulus package and referred to his stop in elkhart, indiana today. they have the fastest growing unemployment in the united states. it's risen from 4.7% to 15.3%.

he is laying out fact after fact. the number of jobs lost in january (over 500,000). the lack of money in individual's pockets to buy goods which then causes employers to lay off more people which results in less people with money in their pockets to buy the goods which causes more layoffs... well, you get the point.

specifics:
the stimulus package will ensure individuals who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own will continue to receive unemployment benefits and health coverage. $2,500 tax credits will go to individuals struggling to pay their college tuition. and finally, $1,000 in tax relief to working and middle class families.

tax cuts
obama points out that tax cuts alone have not helped over the past 8 years... especially when they're targeted to the richest individuals.

lots of talk about infrastructure and dams and bridges and wind turbines and fuel efficient cars.

firefighters, teachers....

god, i love liberal plans! welcome back!

over 90% of the jobs will be in the public sector... not in government.

and there's the rub
"my government inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion." keep reminding them of that, barack.

"doing little or nothing at all" will cause more job loss, more deficits, etc.

once again...a call for congress NOT to delay. (best of luck, barack!)

"we have to work together." (once again, good luck!)

nice first question from the AP. "do you lose credibility when you use such dire language?"

oh, nice answer. bringing up japan in the 90's and the "lost decade." he follows with the loss of 3.6 million jobs and the greatest "recession" since the great depression. but he makes sure to emphasize that he thinks we can pass a stimulus package and turn things around.

okay...once again answering criticisms. government MUST do something. it can't just stand by.

good, good... he brought up the need to get credit flowing again. without banks lending credit...all bets are off, people. there MUST be credit available to individuals and businesses.

this continual phrase "saving or creating 4 million jobs" worries me. we need to do more than save 4 million job. yes, that's a good start. but you need to CREATE jobs. i feel like that phrase leaves too much wriggle room.

hmmm, reuters goes second. (the first two questions are also asked by women. nice!) and foreign policy is the topic. a question about iran.

well, pretty tow the line answer. they're interested in nuclear weapons. they're fucking with israel. funding terrorists, including hezbollah. all options are on the table...but he emphasized, "that includes diplomacy."

come on... if you're not giving us anything new, move on!

he keeps taking some nice little jabs at bush and his failures with the economy and diplomacy and foreign policy.

and here's chip reid. what network is he with now...? is he still with nbc or msnbc? and it's a bipartisanship question... or a lack of it question.

"when i made overtures to both republican caucuses"...three republicans in my cabinet (unprecedented) and other ways he's built up trust. but currently, they are not interested in bipartisanship.

"i can't afford to see congress play the usual political games. what we have to do now is deliver for the american people." nice.....

remember george bush's constant smirk...? yeah, i don't miss it.

oops... he took a swipe at republicans... "when i hear this from individuals who presided over the doubling of the deficit" and once again reminds everyone he inherited the deficit. hammer it home, mr. president.

i'm happy to hear him say that certain environmental proposals are NOT wasteful spending... they create jobs immediately and reduce costs in the long run. same with helping move all medical records to electronic records... helping rebuild or improve schools. these create jobs.... and improve things in the long run.

i'm sorry.... i think he's doing one helluva job at selling this package.

ALL RIGHT! chucky t! chuck todd of nbc. my favorite. his question concerns the lack of help tax cuts will make if everyone is simply saving the money or using it to pay off debt. (this is why, by the way, tax cuts do NOT help alone. i know the GOP wants to sell this shit....but as rachel maddow says: "its bull pucky." and it is. you get more bang for your buck using federal spending than by giving tax cuts. over 50 cents more on the dollar.)

hmmm...so if chuck todd is there representing nbc... where is chip reid? abc? cbs? ahh... he moved to cbs in september 2007.

bloomberg news is next. no love for abc or fox (duh!). and a good question about the credit crisis and what to do with the remaining $350 billion in TARP.

lack of oversight and other problems are listed as reasons why it didn't help as much as it should have helped. the president wants to make sure the remaining money is spent wisely. and it will be "transparent" and with clear oversight.

i feel like i should post this and then start another one....i don't want to lose everything i've written.

oh...and there's abc. same question, asked a bit differently. something about all the legs of the stool in place. hmmm....

e.