Obama Interview: 'I Expect to Be Held Accountable'
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Andrea Stone

Andrea Stone Senior Washington Correspondent
AOL News
(July 16) -- President Barack Obama said "nobody in the White House is satisfied with where we are right now" in the still sluggish economy, but he exuded confidence that when voters go to the polls in November they will face "a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and my policies that are getting us out of this mess."

In an interview that aired today on NBC's "Today" show, the president said he is prepared "to be held accountable for the policies that I've put in place," including massive overhauls of the health care and financial systems. Citing those changes, along with investments in education, clean energy and dealing with deficits and entitlements, Obama said: "Those structural challenges have to be fixed. And it's hard because you don't see immediate gratification.

"But what I'd say to the person who's out of a job right now is we are gonna be doing everything we can to create the environment where the private sector can come in and start creating jobs. But I'm not any more satisfied than they are. And until they can find a job, I expect to be held accountable."

Obama, whose job approval ratings are mediocre, still remains more popular than Congress, whose members will face voters this fall. While history shows and current polling predicts that Democrats will lose seats in November, the president echoed his party's pitch to voters to stick with the current majority.

"We had a disaster on our hands," he said of the economic landscape when he took office. "We've been able to stabilize the economy and prevent the freefall. Instead of 750,000 jobs a month being lost, we've now gained jobs in the private sector for five consecutive months. But we've still got a long way to go."

Obama told NBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd that statistics show his administration is on the right track, even if Republicans have tried to derail his initiatives.

"Washington has spent an inordinate amount of time on politics, who's up, who's down, and not enough on how are we delivering for the American people," he said. "The good news is that, despite no cooperation from the other side, we have, over the last two years, stopped an economic freefall, stabilized the financial sector."

Still, Obama said, "The main thing that keeps me up at night right now is we lost 8 million jobs," and getting them all back will "be a challenge."

The president relayed a conversation he had with investment guru Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha."

"He said, 'We went through a wrenching recession. And so we have not fully recovered. We're about 40, 50 percent back. But we've still got a long way to go.' And the reason people haven't fully invested yet and started creating as many jobs as we would like is because it takes some time to come back."

Obama said Buffett offered the housing market as an example, noting that historically "about 1.2 million households are formed that buy a house each year. ... But we went through a span of time four or five years, because of the bubble and subprime lending and all the shenanigans that were going on with the mortgage market, where we were building 2 million homes a year."

"Now we're building 500,000. And what Warren pointed out was, look, we're gonna get back to 1.2. But right now we're soaking up a whole bunch of inventory. ... The challenge is to work our way through this recession."

With a little time off for vacation. The president, who heads to Maine and Martha's Vineyard this summer for some R&R, revealed that older daughter Malia, 12, will be going away to camp for a month, something "she's never done before," Obama said. "I may shed a tear when she's on the way out."

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/obama-interview-i-expect-to-be-held-accountable-for-policies-including-health-care-financial-overhauls/19557252


Good read and I believe he really does feel our pain and means what he says here.

more pre-election babble...

Well I know I never heard Bush say anything even close to this that is for sure.

I believe so too,, there was a huge MOUNTAIN to overcome in 2009 and many will hold him responsible for seeing that we get completely over it,,,but I am satisfied that we are still moving forward instead of falling back. I think everyones 'OBama' positions on here are crystal clear and unchanging though.

lol--- thats because he really didn't think it was his fault...
but i still do

This guy is an idiot...goes to show you why someone that's not a citizen of the US should not be president

NO PROOF he is not a citizen, OVERWHELMING documntation that he is,,,,,,,



so,,, he must NOT be a citizen,,,,,,(odd logic)

What's the overwhelming documentation..he's refuses to provide his birth certificate

He's already done that to the satisfaction of the courts. Even Ann Coulter agrees that people who continue to beat this dead horse are being unrealistic.

-Kerry O.

Right. He's provided an ON-LINE COPY (file type: .jpg) of a Certificate of Live Birth ... that is NOT the same as providing (as McLame did) the long-form VAULT COPY of his BIRTH CERTIFICATE - they are two DIFFERENT documents. If YOU were the subject of this much controversy and knew that, to end it, you only had to SHOW your BIRTH CERTIFICATE, you would - wouldn't you ... ? I would. McLame did. Every OTHER candidate EXCEPT 'The UN' has ... and he hasn't because he knows what it says. Prove. Me. Wrong.

Well, the state of Hawaii has twice shown the actual certificate to the media. Anyone that still argues that he wasn't born here shows only their ignorance of the topic, and is probably more concerned about his African "heritage" more so than his alleged birthplace.

I have no idea where my birth certificate is, I only have a copy, but I imagine that if asked, the State of Kansas could produce it in the same way Hawaii did for OUR President.

JMO

What goes on today regarding Obama and his birth certificate how he is not an American born is one of the biggest propaganda ever pulled on so many people.

All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.
--Adolf Hitler

The State of HI has not shown the VAULT COPY of the Birth CERTIFICATE ... some people will believe anything - this is a perfect example of how the 'will to believe' lives on ...

like some people believe the MASS conspiracy theory of all the fact check sites which have VIEWED the birth certificate and the HAWAII government officials who have verified that they VIEWED the certificate(including republicans) and the Congress who have stated he is HAWAIIAN born and the official raised seal certificate which states his place of birth and ISLAND of birth as being in Hawaii,,,,,,,a mass conspiracy to cover up the truth,,,,,

kind of like 911 not really being airplanes because I didnt get to actually SEE any of the victims families or attend the funeral or see the bodies,,, never mind the official reports and statements about it,,,,its all a LIE,,,

give it up already

He's still POTUS and Birthers are still the lunatic fringe usting the Internet to joust at windmills in lieu of being able to convince even ONE court with jurisdiction that their position has even a micron of merit.

I rather suspect if the Republicans do manage to take control of anything this fall besides The Local Road and Juvenile Authority, we'll see more waste of the taxpayer's money on Republican 'commissions' combing the White House garbage for evidence of impeachable offenses.

-Kerry O.

I think all of the birthers and most of the tea partiers or baggers whichever they are calling themselves these days need to have a mass counseling session with a therapist that will get them to say to themselves "America has elected a black president and it WILL be okay". And let them cry and receive the counseling that they need to come to grips with reality and a freeing understanding that it really will be okay.

This denial is not doing them any good that is for sure.

lmao,, ok, now in reference to those who ARE racist bigots,, thats hilarious,,,,,

This thread proves one thing beyond doubt: Barnum lives.