Costa Mesa: President Barack Obama took questions on topics ranging from immigration to the economy on Wednesday at a town-hall meeting in California, where recession, a housing meltdown and double-digit unemployment have taken a toll.
The event in Orange County marked Obama's first appearance as president in a state he won convincingly last year. It was designed to highlight the job-creating benefits of the $787 bn economic stimulus plan he pushed through Congress last month.
Another such meeting was scheduled in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, where he also is scheduled to tape an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
Obama defended his ambitious plan to overhaul health care, energy, education, taxes and spending policies in the coming months.
"I know some folks in Washington and on Wall Street are saying we should focus on only one problem at a time: 'our problem,'" Obama said. "But that's just not the way it works," he told a crowd of 1,300 in a hot auditorium. "You don't get to choose between paying your mortgage bills or your medical bills."
The government must tackle multiple challenges at once, he said.
Obama spoke for 21 minutes, then took eight questions. The first: Will he seek re-election in 2012?
"If I could get done what I think needs to get done in four years, even if it meant that I was only president for four years, I would rather be a good president - to take on the tough issues for four years - than a mediocre president for eight years," Obama said.
There were other whiffs of self-sacrifice. Referring to the uproar over bonuses paid to executives of the largely nationalized AIG insurance company, Obama said: "I know Washington's all in a tizzy, and everybody's pointing fingers at each other and saying, 'It's their fault, the Democrats' fault, the Republicans' fault.' Listen, I'll take responsibility. I'm the president."
In the same breath, he said, "We didn't draft these contracts." But he added, "It is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure that stuff doesn't happen like this."
Obama tried to head off questions about AIG by saying he understood taxpayers' anger. And he tried to broaden the issue, which has vexed his young administration.
"These bonuses, outrageous as they are, are a symptom of a much larger problem," he said. It's "a culture where people made enormous sums of money taking irresponsible risks that have now put the entire economy at risk."
On a different topic, the president also said immigration is an emotional issue that cannot be dealt with in pieces, and added he wants to work with leaders in Congress and in Mexico to come up with a comprehensive plan.
Obama said it's important for longtime illegal immigrants to have a path to citizenship so they can join unions and get protection from employers who exploit them. He said those illegal immigrants could earn US citizenship if they pay a fine and learn English.
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