DUMB QUESTION ASKED BY MEDIA

Generally speaking the Media comported themselves professionally and asked appropriate questions. However, it has always fascinated me to hear the unexpected question. Whereas most asked questions that related to the economy, the budget, the economic burden to be handed down to next generations, and reasonable questions about how Obama planned to handle these major issues, one man asked the question as to why it took Obama so long to respond with anger about the AIG bonuses. Wisely, Obama said he likes to take his time until he feels he knows what he is talking about.

Actually, I liked the answer though I am not sure he understood the problem when he talked about his rage over the bonuses...but he is playing to a very broad and fickle audience.

Anew question which has arisen is whether people now working in the White House but who worked for companies that gave bonuses before they took their new jobs, should take the bonus received from these companies that took bail-out money from the government. The NY Times wrote: "Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a former member of the A.I.G. board of directors, and Michael Patterson, the chief of staff to the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, is a former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs. But both left the firms in the middle of 2008 and received no year-end bonuses. Several other administration officials worked in some capacity for companies that received bailout funds last year but did not receive year-end bonuses.

At least three members of the still-growing team of political appointees, for example, worked at Citigroup and were eligible for year-end bonuses. One of the former Citigroup executives, Michael Froman, the deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, has decided to give his bonus to charity. The White House declined to provide specific details on what the other two — the deputy Secretary of State, Jacob J. Lew, and David A. Lipton, the White House’s senior director for international economics — will do." Read the entire article here.

Oddly, it was Al Jazeera that wrote one of the more objective, I thought, summaries of all that Obama had to say.
News Americas Obama urges patience on economy

The press conference was Obama's second since taking office in January [AFP]

"The US president has urged patience over his plans to boost the country's ailing economy.

"We will recover from this recession. But it will take time, it will take patience," Barack Obama told a media conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Obama said he was "beginning to see signs of progress" in his strategy to confront what many say is the worst US economic crisis since the 1930s."

It was comforting to read the account, without distortion or opinion, of the press conference. It made me wonder why the Americans can't be decent enough to do the same.