Obama Incredulous Over School Closing, Says DC Needs To Toughen Up (VIDEO)

At a meeting in the Roosevelt Room with business leaders to discuss the economy, President Obama asked to make an unrelated comment -- on the weather.

"My children's school was canceled today, because of what? Some ice," Obama said, and all at the table started laughing.

"As my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never canceled," he continued. He said that in their old hometown, "you'd go outside for recess in weather like this. You wouldn't even stay indoors."

The President said he would have to bring "some flinty Chicago toughness" to Washington.

Asked if he was calling Washingtonians wimps, Obama responded: "I'm saying that when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things."

More on topic, President Obama said he is "confident" the stimulus package will pass.

Watch:

See Obama walk around in the snow on Tuesday without a coat.

Comments

[panurse]

03:24 PM on 01/30/2009

you tell them, prez......real folk don't woos out in the cold.....and they laughed @ them when they were wearing Chicago warm coats on a 40* day.......serves em right! Go Obama!

[shelbyville84]

03:18 PM on 01/29/2009

we dont get a lot of cold or snow here..this winter has been the coldest since the late 90's..i cant remember the last time i saw this much snow

[jan4insight]

12:55 PM on 01/29/2009

I grew up in DC, and snow days (there weren't that many of them) gave us a lot of great childhood memories. I'm glad Sasha & Malia got to experience this!

On a practical note, most municipalities at the edge of the snow belt simply can't afford to maintain the fleets of snow-removal equipment that more northerly cities must do. So it becomes a safety issue, because school buses must be able to the kids to school & home!

[saturnine maniac]

10:39 AM on 01/29/2009

Wow. I can't even believe all the controversy this has created! Maybe it's not just DC that needs to toughen up... :)

[vippy]

07:36 AM on 01/29/2009

Come to Texas - parents want no school on the days it rains! Besides, no one knows how to drive on
a wet road.

[Ginga]

07:53 AM on 01/29/2009

The problem in DC is that so many drivers come from all over the world and most are not accustomed to driving in winter weather conditions. They come for a few years and then leave only to be replaced by others who have no winter weather driving experience. You'll never get them all trained at once. It's best to err on the side of safety.
Obama just doesn't understand the problem...not yet, anyway. Best that his daughters spend the day with Grandma than risk their lives with desert drivers on snowy streets. It only took a dishpan's worth of water to back up traffic for blocks when I lived there. Apparently, nothing has changed.

[shereea]

10:23 AM on 01/29/2009

Wow! that statement was not too...well! So you are saying that the Washington D.C. metro area is the only area in this world where there are people from places where it does not snow? I hope that is not what you are thinking.

[sunnybunny]

05:43 AM on 01/29/2009

welcome to the south

[mistlesuede]

11:07 PM on 01/28/2009

As a Buffalo native, I laughed heartily at President Obama's remarks today. I'm with him.

[ahoyhoy]

11:38 AM on 01/29/2009

Totally! I'm from Indiana, and I can't believe they made a point that Obama was 'tough' for walking 30 feet outdoors without his topcoat. From what kind of tropical nirvana are these people who make such comments?

It actually took me a minute to figure out why he would even need a coat for such a short walk? It was 30 degrees!

[NotesFromME]

03:28 PM on 01/29/2009

No kidding! 30 degrees is just about a heat wave here in northern Maine. I've got more ice hanging from the edges of my roof than they probably have in DC.

What a bunch of wimps! And NO sense of humor.

[softclothing]

10:44 PM on 01/28/2009

DC needs snowplows and salt trucks. All of you from northern states where you don't freak out because of a little snow--that is because you have enough snowplows and salt trucks. As a DC native, now 12+ year New Yorker--I've lived the difference. A DC attitude shift will not lead to fewer school closings.

[LeBeau59741]

11:13 PM on 01/28/2009

Uhm... Ah... no, actually, I live 26 miles out of town and plows are a rare sight near my place.... Certainly equipment is important but attitude plays a bigger role than you seem to think.

[softclothing]

07:08 AM on 01/29/2009

You may live 26 miles out of town, but I'm betting you live in a state--a state that can afford equipment and more. Until DC has representation in congress, it will not function like a city should.

[Dara Walker]

10:43 PM on 01/28/2009

all that disgusting cold and ice and crap (from philly) is exactly why im in florida now. maybe im wimpy, but im warm and wimpy. lol.

[shereea]

10:34 AM on 01/29/2009

Yeah for now you are warm and wimpy (lol), but wait until the hurricane season starts, you are going to be cold and wet.

[LeBeau59741]

10:16 PM on 01/28/2009

Pulease- I am from the coast of Northern California where torrential rain does not phase anyone but any temp below 45 sends us whimpering for heavy coats and space heaters and was transplanted to Southwestern Montana- I still don't "enjoy" double digits below zero but it only took me one winter to adapt to functioning in the face of snow, ice and appalling temperatures.

If President Obama is walking around with his overcoat over his arm, no gloves and no hat, then it's not shatteringly cold or windy.... I'm thinkin' that Sidwell Friends needs to reconsider its "weather closure" policy.

[MomfromTexas]

12:19 AM on 01/29/2009

I'm from Texas, and we spend a couple weeks in the Canadian Rockies every winter. I go from wearing a light sweater to wearing a parka, long underwear, layers of clothing, gloves, hat, scarf and snow boots in one day! By the end of a week, I've adjusted pretty well and am soaking in a bathing suit outside in a hot mineral pool, while the snow falls and freezes my hair. Thirty degrees? That's nothing!

[shereea]

10:20 AM on 01/29/2009

Thank you. It's not as though this area has never had snow before. This happens at least, what! about EVERY YEAR, and they are still not prepared.

[manicallday]

10:11 PM on 01/28/2009

Maybe if we were a state we could afford more equipment to clear the roads. None of the sidewalks were cleared today or yesterday. I commute by bike and I can attest it was horrible. In fact, yesterday I saw a truck hit a spot of ice and overturn on a on-ramp to 395.

I used to live in Northern Maine so I understand what true cold is. Although this wasn't that bad, we don't have the infrastructure to support any sizable storm. Everything just freezes over. However, a solution would just let us become a state and enjoy the benefit of actual funding to buy those things that will help us clear out our roads so our kids can get to school safely.

Here's pics of the bridge by my house:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22280685@N06/

[DotMatrix]

10:10 PM on 01/28/2009

When I lived in Ohio and worked for Burger King we had a new regional manager from Florida who said he couldn't deliver our paychecks because he did not know how to drive in the snow. Needless to say, he learned MY-T quick when we all threatened to walk out. GObama! A little snow never killed anybody. Oh, wait...

[grata2ude]

09:51 PM on 01/28/2009

WOW, I can't believe how many people were offended by a joke. He was kidding around people. My father and mother lived in Arlington Va when they first married after WW II and my dad worked for the Navy in Washington DC. When they moved back to Pa they often joked about how DC would closed down everything if they saw one snow flake.

Its a joke people. He was being light hearted.

[grata2ude]

09:52 PM on 01/28/2009

PS, I shouldn't type in the dark. It should have been.....closed down every time they saw one snow flake.

[patrickgarret]

09:07 PM on 01/28/2009

I love all the TOUGH Midwesterner's making fun of people who can't drive in snow.
It's not hard to drive in snow when it's 10 degrees, the snow is so dry you can plow right through it, and you live in country that is flat for hundreds of miles.

Come to Seattle or Portland and try it going down a San Francisco style sloped street with 4 inches of wet slippery snow, then see how EASY it is. Flat land folks:) Bah!

Love you Obama!

[shereea]

10:18 AM on 01/29/2009

This is why the city would invest in snow plows and salt trucks. You would probably rather have your tax dollars go to prisons to keep people locked up instead of on your children to keep them in school. Which is most important to you?

[patrickgarret]

09:04 PM on 01/28/2009

We had 19.5 inches of snow in Portland, OR around Christmas. It was bad as the city has VERY few snow plows. People moaned but considering we average about 5 in. of snow a year and can sometimes go several years without it even falling from the sky it is not worth the expense by the city. People should just stay home and CHILL and enjoy:) It was beautiful.