Nearly a month ago, April 29th, President Obama held his second televised press conference marking his first 100 days. There were thirteen questions given and answered.
What surprised me, well not really, was how challenging the press conference really was. It was anything but challenging.
One question was most penetrating ‘what has surprised, troubled, enchanted, and humbled you about the Oval Office?’
Another was about Chrysler Corporation.
Is bankruptcy the only option for Chrysler, and what about plant closings announced by GM? Obama says he’s more hopeful now than a month ago that there will be a deal that “maintains a viable Chrysler auto company.”
In less than a month, look at the difference between what he said then and what he has done to Chrysler, their secured creditors, and the UAW.
What is noteworthy about this press conference is what the President was not asked.
- The country is currently in an economic upheaval. Hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on turning the economy around. After all that ‘economic stimulus,’ why is the GDP shrinking and is it a sign that the stimulus is not working? Was Not Asked!
- The fact that you inherited a national debt to the tune of $1.3 trillion dollars when you took office 100 days ago, and have made the case that that kind of debt is the wrong path for the country, how is it that increasing that debt to over $10 trillion dollars in ten years is the right path for the country? Was Not Asked!
- Judging from criticisms of the previous administration for more than doubling the size of government spending and government bureaucracy, how will a budget four times that size and with 8,000 plus earmarks in it help our economic recovery? Was Not Asked!
- Health care is a hot political issue and an important part of your presidential campaign platform. Beyond the list of problems of health care in general, what is your national health care plan and how does it differ from that which Secretary Clinton tried in the early 90’s? Was Not Asked!
For this being only his second press conference, with so much that has happened since his last one, do you think that the media lived up to its ‘watchdog’ status? Is the media serving you well when out of 13 questions posed, none of them included the four most obvious ones?
related link: Watchdog No More