President Obama had a rough go of it at a small gathering in suburban Iowa today, fielding tough questions from frustrated Americans.
On Hope:
The first question right off the bat was one that has been on the White House – and the president’s mind – as forecasts for a grim election turnout of the 2008 young voting army has predicted tough results for the Democrats.
Mary Stier of Des Moines said that her 24-year-old son “who campaigned fiercely” for the president and “was very inspired by your message of hope,” now is basically hope-less. “
He graduated from Simpson College about a year and a half ago, with honors and he’s still struggling to find a full-time job,” Stier said, “he and many of his friends are struggling. They are losing their hope, which was a message that you inspired them with.”
The president said that no doubt that young people are having a tough time right now — worried about the future in a way that most are not when they get out of college.
The president said that his message to them is that he is doing “everything we can” to make sure that they can get the best education, and that he is working to help get the economy back on track.
From a woman who worried the U.S. health-care system will come to look like Britain’s:
in the state that shot him to the front of the pack during the Democratic presidential primaries in 2008, Obama found that anxieties about Big Government and doubts about the economy have overshadowed some of his signature accomplishments.
Obama explained to a woman that she’s not going to be forced to buy a “government-run health care plan” and there is no federal mandate to cover undocumented workers.
“I understand why people are concerned — this is a very personal thing, and nothing is scarier when you don’t have health care and you’re sick,” he told the crowd of about 70 people.
“There’s nothing in our health reform bill that is going to impact whether your mom can get heart surgery if she needed it,” Obama said. “We didn’t change the core Medicare program.”
And from a frustrated small-business owner:
Next, a man spent several minutes describing the way his small business works – and his unhappiness with the prospects of a tax hike.
When the man veered off into his thoughts on Chinese currency, Obama interrupted.
“Okay, we’re going way afield now,” Obama said, jumping in to address part of the man’s earlier observations.