OBAMA TOUTS BUDGET WITH WEB TOWN HALL

President Takes Questions Voted by Millions

President Franklin D. Roosevelt had his radio fireside chats. Now,
President Barack Obama is breaking new ground by reaching out to the
public with an Online Town Hall.

People from across the country and the world were able to submit text
and video questions to the presidential Web site, www.whitehouse.gov,
from Tuesday to Thursday.

President Obama then answered seven of those questions during a
75-minute town hall session broadcast live on the Web site. The topics
ranged from how to improve the educational system and make higher
education more affordable, fix health care coverage and help
Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans.

After an opening statement and declaring, "This isn't about me, it's
about you," Obama took up a microphone and strolled the ornate East
Room, playing to an audience of 100 invited guests and what the White
House said were an estimated 67,000 people watching him online.

Obama explained he had called the first-of-its-kind online town hall
meeting "an important step" toward spreading information about his
administration. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said there would be more such
events.

A total of 92,922 people sent in 104,124 questions. White House Web
site visitors then cast 3.6 million votes for the questions they
wanted President Obama to answer. Denny B., of Bridgeton, who asked
about education, was among them. " Our system doesn't suffer from lack
of money. It suffers from lack of standards. No one is "allowed" to
fail; standards are continually dumbed down. What are you going to do
about raising the bar and holding students accountable in
performance?" Denny B. asked.

Many of the questions were left unanswered due to time
constraints.

President Obama did answer one unusual question about whether
legalizing marijuana would create jobs and build up the economy. That
question drew a lot of votes on the Web site, according to the president.

"I don't know what that says about the online audience ..." Obama
said. "The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow
our economy."