Open for Questions: President Obama to Answer Your Questions on Thursday

[depakid]

Today, the President invited everyone to use a new feature on WhiteHouse.gov called "Open for Questions" to ask a question about the economy and rate other questions up or down. Then, on Thursday morning, the President will conduct a special online town hall on the economy and answer some of the most popular questions and the event will be streamed on WhiteHouse.gov.

"Open for Questions" is a new experiment for WhiteHouse.gov, the President’s latest effort to open up the White House and give Americans from around the country a direct line to the Administration.

This first round will deal with a chief concern for all of us: the economy. We’ve created a few categories to better organize the questions, and encourage you to search for a specific question before you submit your own in case it already exists.

More: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/24/Open-for-Questions-President-Obama-to-Answer-Your-Questions-on-Thursday/

[Clio the Leo]

1. I would, but Ed Henry stole my question....

... thankfully! lol

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8288542&mesg_id=8288542

[babylonsister]

2. May I just say, how unique is this? I give Obama and his admin

mad props for doing this!

[depakid]

4. Yes it is- and we're hoping it will spread down under

Obama's web strategist to advise Rudd

The man who galvanised scores of Barack Obama voters with an unprecedented online campaign is in Australia to advise the Rudd Government on how it engages the public and fights elections.

The last federal election saw both Kevin Rudd and John Howard dabbling with new web technologies like MySpace but, by the next election, all sides of politics will have no choice but to use the internet to create a two-way dialogue with voters, said Ben Self, founder of internet strategy firm Blue State Digital.

As part of the Obama campaign, Self led an online donation drive that netted over half a billion dollars from over 3 million donors. He devised the MyBarackObama social networking website, which involved 13 million voters from the bottom-up and created an army of Obama volunteers who knocked on doors, collected donations through events and house parties and campaigned on his behalf.

Now, Self, who was enlisted by Obama 10 days before he announced he would run for President, is in Sydney for a series of speaking engagements. In an interview he confirmed he would be meeting with the Rudd Labor Government.

"We are going to be talking to the Labor Party as a part of this," he said.

"People want to be engaged with their government and either fix it, change it or be a part of it, and so you just have to give them a way to do that."

But Self - a diehard democrat who experimented with online campaigning for Howard Dean during his 2004 Presidential bid - baulked at the idea of meeting with Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull.

More: http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/web/obamas-web-strategist-to-advise-rudd/2009/02/13/1234028253832.html

[babylonsister]

5. That is so excellent! How can that not change the

opinion of the US? Thanks!

[depakid]

6. The sentiments are mutual

The two nations have much to learn from one another:

I feel that there's a great meeting of the minds between Prime Minister Rudd and myself", Mr Obama said. "I think he's doing a terrific job, and I'm looking forward to partnering with him for some years to come", the President added.

Mr Rudd, 51, and Mr Obama, 47, both hail from humble origins and lived overseas for some of their childhood years.

"They are ideological soul mates", said Alan Dupont, director of the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney.

Mr Obama's praise for Mr Rudd follows yesterday's surprise commendation from the US Treasury Secretary. Timothy Geithner applauded Mr Rudd's economic efforts as A+, implying that the rest of the world's developed economies would have done well to follow the Prime Minister.

Mr Rudd is "A+ on these issues", he said at a Wall Street Journal conference in Washington. "If we did what he advised, we’d all be in a better place", he said, according to Bloomberg.

Last month, the Rudd government unveiled plans for a $42 billion cash splash, which included handouts of up to $900 for millions of people across the nation. The Prime Minister also guaranteed bank deposits and earlier this year indicated that it could establish a fund to lend directly to blue chip companies, if foreign banks fail to roll over as much as A$75 billion of maturing debt.

Mr Rudd responded by calling President Barack Obama’s US$1 trillion plan - to purge banks of toxic assets and unfreeze the credit markets - an “important step.” “None of the above works unless it’s globally coordinated,” the Prime Minister added.

http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=793098

(You may recall that Rudd's predecessor, John Howard- had some early words to say to Obama):

February 12, 2007 Australia's conservative Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday that victory for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and his party in next year's presidential election would be a boon for terrorists.

"If I were running al Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008, and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats," Howard said, speaking on "Sunday," a TV show on Australia's Nine Network.

March 2008 is when Obama has said he would bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, according to legislation he introduced in the Senate. Obama, who represents Illinois in the U.S. Senate, declared his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in a speech on Saturday in his home state....

...Obama, campaigning in Iowa, told reporters Sunday he's flattered that one of Bush's allies "started attacking me the day after I announced (his presidential run) -- I take that as a compliment." The Democratic presidential hopeful said if the Australian prime minister was "ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq," he needs to send another 20,000 Australians to the war. "Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," Obama said.

That one backfired badly on little racist Johnny.

</threadjack>

[babylonsister]

7. I know about Howard, but do you know

what Aussies think about Rudd? I think I've heard both sides of this coin.

I wonder if it makes a difference when the population can vote someone out anytime they all become fed up enough? Would definitely have worked here in recent history.

I like to see this mutual admiration society anyway. Thanks for the info.

[depakid]

10. Rudd is very popular- not "rock star like" -but that's not his style

March 24, 2009

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s support rose as the government completed its A$42 billion ($30 billion) economic stimulus package and gained parliamentary support for labor laws, a Newspoll opinion survey said.

Rudd’s support as prime minister rose four percentage points to 65 percent and opposition Liberal-National coalition leader Malcolm Turnbull’s rating fell one percentage point to 20 percent, according to the poll that has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=adoc2CYYULIQ&refer=australia

[babylonsister]

11. Again, thanks.

I communicate with two Aussies, but haven't lately. I will now remember to ask!

[lxlxlxl]

3. Voting on Questions now...

Post good questions if they need a bump

[blue neen]

8. This is a fantastic idea.

I have my "thinking cap" on now! :)

[jenmito]

9. K&R! (And I recommend others recommend this thread, too.)

:)

[babylonsister]

12. Thanks for the reminder! Rec'd. nt

[jenmito]

17. No problem! (Kick!) n/t

[stillcool]

13. Some interesting questions there..

I didn't submit one of my own, just waded through and clicked on the ones I thought were good.

[mopinko]

14. my dream come true, this man. i have wished many times for question time

like the brits do. the thought of pissy pants having to take questions from any member of congress on a regular basis made me :rofl: and now i have a president that could do it without a teleprompter.
heady times.

[stevedeshazer]

15. Major credit to Obama here

I like it.

[GTO_fan]

16. This is an awesome idea.

Pretty cool.

[Aloha Spirit]

18. Do some of the questions read like prayers to anyone?

Dear Obama,

My family is suffering. Will you help us? What should we do?

[Hutzpa]

19. Maybe thats what he needs to do more often,

because most of those buffoons that called themselves Journalist have
nothing to offer since Lobbyist are no longer asking the questions.

[OhioChick]

20. Thanks for the reminder.

:kick: