Obama News Conference: WATCH LIVE

Striving to gain the upper hand on a crucial political issue, President Barack Obama is faulting Republicans for refusing to help him turn around the sluggish economy or support some proposed new tax breaks for businesses that the GOP has backed in the past.

Obama has argued that case many times recently. But on Friday he takes it to an audience of millions, including many who will vote in November's decisive congressional elections, during a nationally televised news conference from the White House East Room.

With Democrats in danger of losing control of the House, Obama is trying to convince voters that they have a choice between going back to GOP policies that led to the economic crisis or going forward with policies he says will grow the economy over the long term.

Friday's news conference marks just the second time this year that Obama has met alone with reporters at the White House.

He has appeared before the White House press corps several times with visiting foreign leaders. Obama last held a solo White House news conference in May to discuss the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

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Comments

[alanramsey]

09:06 PM on 09/15/2010

How can the TEA Party be real if their candidates and their Party aren’t registered on the ballots with a “T” (instead of an “R”) and meet the same election rules requirements of Party registration and declared candidacy as other Parties must meet? It seems they have a sense of special entitlement and preferential treatment above the other parties.

Elections Commissions should require all parties to play by the same rules in such filing and campaigning by a stated Party candidate and pay their fair share in doing so.

Otherwise, what we are seeing is a “shadow” (TEA - theocratic) Party, an extreme right-wing party inside another party and a defacto “shadow” government therein, with their fingers on the nuclear arsenal and without any accountability for having been elected because of an undeclared Party nomenclature.

That’s not very American and it’s not what the Founders intended.

[4QDC]

01:38 PM on 11/03/2010

The Tea Party is a movement. Do you see an LGTB party on the ballot? No. Yet LGTB folks are very politically active, because they are a movement.

BTW, it is Obama with fingers on the nuclear arsenal, not Congress.

[veritas aequitas]

10:07 PM on 09/10/2010

I can sum up what Obama said; Anything bad that has happened the last two years was Bush's fault, not his. Anything bad that happens from this point forward is because of Republicans, and Obama is not responsible.

That is a disapointment coming from a guy who ran as a visionary who was going to bring Hope and Change.

[USNDC]

08:13 PM on 09/10/2010

Obama had it all ... an historic election ... firm control over the House & Senate ... and the admiration of the world.

What happened ?

In less than two (2) short years ... our President has been reduced to blaming unkown members of the minority part for "his" failings.

The voters are about to speak their minds.

This should be telling.

[yellowdog71]

04:11 PM on 09/10/2010

The pundits are feeding the newscycle and the media is repeating the meme: Democrats are disparaged, disillusioned and won't turn out in great numbers this November.
They are hoping that actual Democratic voters will see that over and over and over and over and decide to stay home on Election Day, thus proving both the method and the result.
Seeing these poll numbers being wildly across the board shows that polls don't mean anything.
If Democrats believe the hype, the headlines which have been written months ago will be true. If Democrats do what they know to be the right thing: get up, get out and vote, then headlines will be re-written.
In my lifetime, only in the year-after-9/11 2002 elections did the party of the President not lose big. Democrats are sure to lose some but the tidal wave will only happen if we listen to what they want us to hear.
Think for yourself. Vote! Vote! Vote!

[Gneirre]

03:46 PM on 09/10/2010

See this is all part of the 'master' plan. It goes like this:
First...let's question his birth place. Never mind we never questioned his birth while he was a Senator, we need something because we can not have this black man or a bi-racial person having aspirations of a Presidency or the White House. Well, the birth certificate didn't work (although we had many mindless followers), let's try something else. Let's dig up everything from his father's past to his college years. Nothing there? Let's try this...how about we blame the entire economy on him? (some blank stares) Wait now...this may work. See, if we pump the voters full of reversed information and skewed polls and surveys, they may actually start to believe that it's his fault for the economy. Oh, and let's get a black man, Steele, as the President of the RNC. This may convert more African-Americans into Repubs. Now, all we have to do is try not to believe this mess we're going to put out and try not to make fools of ourselves.
We can convince the US that a black man can not run a country, any country for that matter - especially the US.

Script already read...lines already rehearsed...history already written...next administration already decided. Now, all that's left is deciding who's believing what.

[veritas aequitas]

10:09 PM on 09/10/2010

You don't have had to have been born in the US to be a Senator.

You must be a U.S. citizen for 9 years.

You must also live in the state you represent.

[Gneirre]

08:25 AM on 09/13/2010

True. I was just making a point that his birth certificate / place of birth was never in question while he was a Senator.

[situationcritical]

03:28 PM on 09/10/2010

I don't get it.

I thought nothing on earth could help the democrats in an election...nothing, absolutely nothing - not even 100% of the public voting 100% democratic.

Didn't Blumenthal blog that?

[SPQR1052]

02:43 PM on 09/10/2010

I envy the republican leaders because they only have to only deal with the teabaggers whereas our president must  deal with:

1, GAYS .   (DAT, DOMA)

2, Enviornmentalist

3, Labor

4, Elizabeth Warren fans

5, Liberal  bloggers, HP and Kos.

6, PACS  ex: MoveOn

Herding the DEMS ain't easy.  Thank goodness he hasn't said take this job and shove it.  I know my black arse would have pulled a TUNDRA TRASH move by now.

[veritas aequitas]

03:04 PM on 09/10/2010

Right! Republican have to deal with patriots who put their country and principles of individual liberty and freedom above their own self-interests, while Democrats have to deal with a large number of groups that are promoting their own selfish agendas.

Poor Democrats

[Katzencats]

03:14 PM on 09/10/2010

Which of your liberties has been taken away, which of your freedoms? I really want to know.

[judesuper]

03:29 PM on 09/10/2010

WOW, really?

When has one repub EVER put anything above their own interests? Name one!

The entire repub party would rather see this country fail, just so they might improve their own electability!

[Yurdelite51]

01:58 PM on 09/10/2010

The Thousands of People lost their lives and Bush says:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o

And Ed Henry years later asks President Obama if HE is ashamed that Bin Laden has not been captured or killed.  Absolutely galling...

[RiceStarz]

01:57 PM on 09/10/2010

Hey peeps, please starve the TR@//s this weekend. Let them flail. After today and tomorrow, the amount of negative energy and h8 that will be posted is just not worth the energy to reply.

[hopepad08]

01:19 PM on 09/10/2010

To Try the Truth, who said this to a post of mine"

No, but if you can't see the difference, there are classes that help with comprehension.

1st, I just asked a simple question that call for a simple yes or no answer. Having said that you may want to enroll in one those classes yourself,.

[veritas aequitas]

01:09 PM on 09/10/2010

He said the same old, same old.

Obama is growing government and dramatically increasing spending. Only a fool would assume that their is no cost to his spending spree.

I agree with John Locke (not the guy on Lost).

Human history is a record of irrepressible conflict between Power and Liberty, with Power (government) always standing ready to increase its scope by invading people's rights and encroaching upon their liberties.

The battle is almost always with government. Government grows on its own and we must actively fight the growth of government.

The power of large corporations must also be regulated, but that is a secondary threat when compared to government.

We must rediscover the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace

[karenz20]

01:24 PM on 09/10/2010

Why are you so sure that the POWER is government today.... surely it rests in the hands of the Corporations who have the ability { more so now after the Supreme Court decision] to effectively choose the Government they want.
Not happy now because Mr Obama circumvented their reach and via the internet drummed up a grass roots tidal wave.

[veritas aequitas]

02:33 PM on 09/10/2010

Government has exploded in size and influence while corporations are more spread out in power.

You talk like you live in the late 19 century/early 20th.

In the Liberal worldview, the oppressed are the poor, and the oppressors are the corporate interests who exploit them for their labor.

That made sense 75 years ago, when a relatively small number of corporations -- oil and coal companies, steel producers, car makers -- controlled a vast segment of the work force and when government was a comparatively anemic enterprise. In recent decades, however, as technology has reshaped the economy, more and more Americans have gone to work for smaller or more decentralized employers, or even for themselves, while government has exploded in size and influence.

You need to get a new shtick.

We now live in the Knowledge age. People are now an asset because of their knowledge, not their labor.

[LiberalDemIda]

01:25 PM on 09/10/2010

Corporations and financial institutions, not government, are the threats to American principles, individual liberty, and above all, peace. Just in case you forgot, this is a government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, for the PEOPLE. I.O.W., WE are the government. United we stand, divided we fall.

If you still don't get that corporations are the enemy of any freedom loving, hardworking people after all that's happened since WWII, then you must be one of the "guys" President Obama, then Pres. Candidate Obama spoke about: "It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant."

[DannyGlover]

01:52 PM on 09/10/2010

We are not the government, and if you seriously believe that then you are far, far out of touch.

[4QDC]

01:58 PM on 11/03/2010

The large corporations OWN the government -- both are real threats to your liberty.

There are 40,000 lobbyists in DC. Who do you think they represent? How do they influence DC?

Sometimes well-meaning politicians make it to DC with every intent of making the world a better place. But the corruption is so rampant, it is almost humanly impossible to avoid the temptations and truly serve the people.

The corporations OWN the government. They are one and the same.

[MamacitaOfLove]

12:43 PM on 09/10/2010

Standing 'O' for our President Barack Obama!

[loveroffarrakhanobamatoo]

12:43 PM on 09/10/2010

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

[karenz20]

12:49 PM on 09/10/2010

You are so lucky America!!!!!

[eirlymeyer]

12:39 PM on 09/10/2010

Roland Martin on CNN just destroyed Eric ERickson (still don't know why CNN hired this guy),
regarding that the President should have a stated opinion & to recognize the truths & ideals of America even if "SOME" Americans are not in agreement -- specifically regarding Muslim Americans & the mosque.

We all need to remember one thing ---In the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, we have,
Muslim Americans
African American - Americans
Jewish Americans
Latino Americans
Japanese Americans
Chinese Americans
Russian (hot spy) Americans
German Americans
Pakistani Americans
Iranian Americans
Indian Americans
Mexican Americans
And Many more....Americans

Each "American" has a religion, has a love, wants to be loved, has a life goal, may or may not have a family, has a desire to generate income and wants to do something great, and we love to EAT.

It's a wonder there is some HATE amongst us, and some ignorance amongst many. In reality, there is no difference, except that each independent group has a "small desire" and attitude to WANT others to be...."more like me" And that is our fatal flaw.

Besides,

[CAdawn]

12:46 PM on 09/10/2010

Chuckled over the "hot spy" post. Fanned for the laugh!

[RiceStarz]

01:58 PM on 09/10/2010

F&F :-D

[CAdawn]

12:34 PM on 09/10/2010

I missed part of the answer that the Pres. gave re Warren because my stooopid phone rang. When will he make his decision? Did it sound like she has the job?

[karenz20]

12:38 PM on 09/10/2010

Said she is one of his closest friends and is in constant contact with her Will make announcment shortly

[CAdawn]

12:40 PM on 09/10/2010

Thanks, Karenz. Her appointment is important to me.

[loveroffarrakhanobamatoo]

12:34 PM on 09/10/2010

You tell 'em Mr. President...you keep telling them the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth Mr. President! Its kinda like shining light on the republicans lies ...it exposes them for what t hey are : unamericans

[DannyGlover]

11:02 AM on 09/11/2010

Your blind adoration and ignorance to reality makes me want to vomit.

[loveroffarrakhanobamatoo]

03:57 PM on 09/11/2010

why thank you very much...its good to know that supporting my president and my country has the potential to induce vomitting....you sure made my day