Obama Facebook Town Hall: President Answers Your Questions (LIVE VIDEO)

Facebook users deluged President Barack Obama with questions as he readied for a town hall meeting at the Silicon Valley headquarters of the social media giant.

More than 36,000 users of the site have said they will virtually attend the Wednesday afternoon meeting that will include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The president is expected to answer selected questions submitted by users and read by a moderator. Video of the event is set to be streamed live over Facebook.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Obama will be the first sitting head of state to visit Facebook's brick-and-mortar home in Palo Alto.

Issues on users' minds run the gamut from gas prices and jobs to the war in Libya and marijuana legalization.

Comments

[americanalien]

08:32 PM on 04/22/2011

I love President Obama. He is the only President in recent times who have taken an active interest in the voice and interests of young people. He is a welcome relief from Bush.

[ttowse]

12:36 PM on 04/22/2011

...answers selected questions?
sounds like Bush to me.
Remember when politicians had to answer to the voters and not corporations?
I don't.

[SarahCuda2]

01:41 PM on 04/21/2011

The federal food stamp program started in 1977; http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/rules/Legislation/history/PL_95-113.htm

What year(s) did your mother receive food stamps?

[Shari Hodges]

10:29 AM on 04/21/2011

People still have questions? My only question is when are you leaving?

[devildog09]

08:49 AM on 04/21/2011

Too bad Obama doesn't read the Wall Street Journal. They had a good story the other day showing that there just isn't enough "rich folks" money to finance his spending plans- unless you take 100% of earnings of everyone making over $100k. The math was simple so even his financial czars could understand it. Obama's claim that we can eliminate deficits by making the rich pay their "fair share" without impacting entitlements was proven to be nothing but a lie.

[Shari Hodges]

10:30 AM on 04/21/2011

HuffPost just wrote up that article about the rich handing out coupons at Sam's Club. Obama doesn't have to read the Wall Street Journal. Just read the Huff Post.

[china6]

07:36 PM on 04/20/2011

These kids better hope mom and dad still have their bedrooms for them because they are about to find out that in Obama's world there are no jobs, they won't be able to afford gas, forget credit, and they still have their college loans to pay off.But the good news is McDonalds is hiring.

[Jim Fourniadis]

07:39 PM on 04/20/2011

And how is that Obama's fault?

[Earl K Hotaling]

12:42 AM on 04/21/2011

Nothing is Obama's fault.The president is suppose to leed,he's been leeding us down the rat hole since he been there.

[Shari Hodges]

10:31 AM on 04/21/2011

you're kidding right?

[Micki McClellan Cooney]

09:22 PM on 04/20/2011

I thought you said there were no jobs?

[whochi]

08:37 AM on 04/21/2011

For people of intelligence, 'no jobs' means there is no incentive to hire, i.e. hire at a rate to end this quasi depression. All made possible by the policies of Obama. Obamacare, idiotic 'targeted' tax cuts (so small that 95% of people receiving them did not notice them or could not take 'advantage' of them); fear that he will ream the banks and bail out the deadbeats who took on mortgages that they could not pay for. Catering to those dependent on government and increasing those numbers, with no end in sight.
We have the money; we have the workforce. We just don't have the policies to put the two together. Money + workforce + Obama's policies = no jobs.

[Mij13]

06:54 PM on 04/20/2011

He did a great job of explaining the out of control health care costs, and what really needs to be done to get them under control.
There is nothing brave about Ryan's plan. It's simply radical. And so are a lot of other ideas that wouldn't work. Passing the costs on to the elderly for tax cuts for the rich is actually cowardly, in my opinion.

[china6]

07:12 PM on 04/20/2011

Ryan put out a plan, what's brave about giving a speech and the elderly won't bear the costs that's just another outright lie by the left....try reading the bill, parrot.

[JTCan]

07:23 PM on 04/20/2011

What bill were you reading? And Obama DID put out a plan. One that makes a whole lot more sense.

[Mij13]

04:48 AM on 04/21/2011

I did. The president was right on when he said that it's not courageous to give tax cuts to the rich and take money, rights and freedoms away from those who are not as connected. Ryan deserved to be scolded for being un-American. That's actually too nice a term for his kind, and yours' too, I guess.

[devildog09]

08:54 AM on 04/21/2011

Equally cowardly is the deceitful proposition that everything will be fixed if we increase taxes on the rich. Sorry- that doesn't come even close to erasing a $1.7T deficit

Maybe we can start (I mean continue) nationalizing industries to raise money. IF the gov't took over GE, Exxon Mobile and a dozen or so other huge companies their value would put a big dent in the deficit

[Bob Wagner]

06:53 PM on 04/20/2011

That was pretty good, however I think that Obama seemed timid with that crowd. I guess I was expecting a shorter answers. The basics weren't needed with that crowd, or anyone on facebook. If he needs some short answers, he can contact me. Barack needs to spend less time around those disgusting trolls he hangs with.

[JTCan]

07:25 PM on 04/20/2011

Maybe not for that crowd but definitely for the general public who were also listening.

[devildog09]

08:55 AM on 04/21/2011

Considering that all the questions were "pre-selected to gel with Obama's talking points and victories" (CNN) its surprising that the answers were timid and verbose. He should have just used a telepromter since all the questions were known in advance, and purposely selected to fit his agenda.

[Robert Nix]

06:35 PM on 04/20/2011

Man! The Conservatives are already mad about losing in 2012. Slow down people let it build up.

[Wolf Larsen]

06:35 PM on 04/20/2011

Teabaggers_are so cranky until their fiber kicks in....

[china6]

07:13 PM on 04/20/2011

flee baggers are whiny until mommy makes their mac&cheese

[devildog09]

08:58 AM on 04/21/2011

actually the degree of anger and hate that I see on this site is orders of magnitude greater than what I see on conservative sites.

Your statement is also factually challenged by numerous polls that show conservatives, as a group, are more satisfied and content with life in general than liberals- who tend to think that life is denying them their just rewards

[Wolf Larsen]

02:33 PM on 04/21/2011

Hey_bonehead since your reply to me may not see the light of day let me answer you. ALL of your Google hits are for ONE poll that you_morons continually cite....over and over. Just like the ONE poll that shows you are more charitable. Most if not all of this data comes from right wing websites and "think tanks" which is really and oxymoron with it is conservative based. Which is why you cannot supply data that isn't from a conservative group.

The phrase "Ignorance_is bliss" pretty much sums up you_nitwits....

[69dogrudebark]

06:31 PM on 04/20/2011

Newt.....
Palin....
Bachmann....
Glenn...
R.us.H...
Trump....
Tea Party.....
Scott....
Rubio...
Brewer....
Healthcare Reform (Not what the Dems did but rather what the Repubs did NOT do)
Ryan Budget-Class War Document

I listed above the reasons I plan to vote for Obama. I have never....NEVER voted for a Dem in my life...now that IS CHANGE...and I HOPE the GOP gets the message....

[optimist7]

06:35 PM on 04/20/2011

Welcome!!! ;-)

[china6]

07:15 PM on 04/20/2011

We see you have never told the truth in your life, good luck with that hopey changey it's still a failure.

[SaveTheMarshMouse]

08:35 PM on 04/20/2011

hows that loser/quitty thing going anyway???

[Stanwyck]

06:21 PM on 04/20/2011

Whatever your political views, this is an important story. We can already see the disconnect here by the comments. Face it - this is how campaigning is going to be done. And those candidates who know how to campaign, 2012 style, will benefit. One more reason the GOP needs to worry. Look at their roster of potential candidates. Can you imagine Haley Barbour in this format? The GOP wants to win on the margins - which is why that overly hyped Tea Party margin gets so much press. They're not really that big of a group - but the GOP MUST have them to win. How can the GOP move beyond their old, white, male constituency if they're not able to move beyond their carefully orchestrated rallies - complete with staged questions from "ordinary citizens" who turn out to be GOP plants? The mass produced "spontaneous" signs aren't going to work anymore. Same for the corporate bussed-in crowds - hey, get a day off (or get fired) and carry this sign! George W. Bush ruined that format - we found out Jeff Gannon (real name: Jeff Guckert) was a plant. We found out the TV infommercials touting Bushian programs were propaganda - not news stories - and featured actors, not journalists. (plus, we taxpayers paid for those infommercials). You know what has always worked for the GOP with their base? Direct mail. Talk about your generation gap.

[iobject]

06:27 PM on 04/20/2011

Weren't you the same people who made fun of Sarah Palin for tweeting? Please, you know not what you speak of.

[seehowtheyrun]

06:30 PM on 04/20/2011

I made fun of her because she's a t.wit.

[69dogrudebark]

06:35 PM on 04/20/2011

I think those on the left that point out the OLD, WHITE, MALE thing really does a disservice to the Dems...because for one...we should respect people that are our seniors...we do not need to agree with them but lets not forget...these OLD people helped set the ground work for the Internet....they went to the moon....they came up with microwaves...as for the white male thing....that is something personal to suggets in a way that just because you are a white male you are corrupt or in fact a rac.ist....and that is the underlying meaning of the comment...

[Stanwyck]

06:58 PM on 04/20/2011

OK - I take your point on the ageism. But take my point: the ONLY demographic in which McCain improved voters over his GOP predecessor George W. Bush was with white, uneducated, Southern males over 40. McCain lost votes in every other demographic from Bush's numbers (source: Chuck Todd's book: How Obama Won). Wow. I wonder why McCain improved with older, uneducated, white, Southern males? A mystery, right? America is a huge country becoming more diverse. We will be predominantly Hispanic in our lifetime. We are more diverse - spiritually, with a growing Muslim population. And more people identify themselves as aetheist. We're changing - and the GOP is not changing with America. Look at their potential candidates: Haley Barbour. Mitt Romney. Donald Trump. Mike Huckabee. Tim Pawlenty. And you wonder why we consider the GOP as, well, old, white, and male? C'mon. This is not that hard.

[rtaylor1974]

07:01 PM on 04/20/2011

I agree with your sentiment,...,because there are some older white males that actually have some sense with regard to approaching this debt problem , and im hopeful that both of them run for president. With that being said I think the statement was more of a feeling than a belief. Not defending the context of the statement ,but thats how a large swath of affected voters feel....mistaken or not because its what you see coming from the political spectrum.
Young Black Male BTW

[realtalking]

06:20 PM on 04/20/2011

I watched the whole thing! It was good! The President discussed his education reform program Race to The Top), discussed healthcare reform, also discussed the economic turn around from a near depression to 18 months of jobs growth. Talked about his large investment in alternative energy - through the Stimulus Package! President Obama also discussed saving GM, and Chrysler - who are continuing to hire workers, and are also making the cars of the future, and at the same time, they are making Profits.
President Obama discussed the need for energy reform, and immigration reform, and also spent alot of time discussing his debt reduction plan.

[china6]

07:22 PM on 04/20/2011

maybe he should try telling the truth, GM is a total failure we are about to lose Billions on that bailout, give them billions, sell the IPO at 33,the only way for the govt to get their money back was for the stock to go 54 and now it's at 29 and O has said to sell...buy high and sell low, what a business man

[SaveTheMarshMouse]

08:38 PM on 04/20/2011

what are you dribbling about?

[DissPlaceSokks]

06:15 PM on 04/20/2011

It's so nice to be posting at a civilized forum, with everyone getting along so well lol. : /

[GoodbyeBlueMonday59]

06:22 PM on 04/20/2011

Two years ago this was a great place to discuss
what was going on......now this place is full of people
who are paid to argue.

[DissPlaceSokks]

06:25 PM on 04/20/2011

Yup, clearly...the tabloid-mentality Jerry Springer crowd...

[LittleOldLadyWho]

06:30 PM on 04/20/2011

BINGO!!

[samtee]

06:15 PM on 04/20/2011

I heard he wasn't even there he had some smart people fill in.