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Washington - President Barack Obama took to Twitter on
Wednesday to press his economic agenda, using the popular social media site to
tweak Republicans and advocate for a deal to reduce the deficit.
In a "town hall" style meeting that lasted about
an hour, the president fielded questions posted by users of the Twitter site
and sent his first live tweet from a laptop in the White House East Room -
making what he called presidential history.
Sitting on a tall stool with a screen that showed tweeted
questions nearby, Obama responded aloud before an audience of 140 invited
guests who came to the White House for the event.
That number was a nod to a key part of "tweeting."
Twitter users send short, 140-character messages through the Internet about issues large and small.
The White House has tried using Twitter and other new media
outlets to reach American voters, sometimes making announcements that way
instead of through more traditional journalistic venues. The White House's
@whitehouse account has some 2.25 million followers.
Obama, who is not known for brevity, touched on topics
ranging from the weak housing market to NASA to the debate about the US debt
ceiling.
He did not stick to concise answers and did not send further
tweets himself.
"One last point - I know Twitter, I'm supposed to be
short," he said while answering a question about education, drawing some
laughter.
Another funny moment came when Republican John Boehner,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, managed to get in a question through a
Twitter message of his own.
"After embarking on a record ... spending binge that
left us deeper in debt, where are the jobs?" read the moderator, Twitter
co-founder Jack Dorsey, from Boehner's tweet.
The tweet had some typos, however.
"First of all, John obviously needs to work on his
typing skills," Obama joked.
"Obviously John's the speaker of the House. He's a
Republican. And so, this is a slightly skewed question."
Obama went on to say that the United States had not seen
fast enough job growth relative to US needs.
Housing woes
Asked by one Twitter user what mistakes he had made in office, Obama singled out the moribund housing market.
"The continuing decline in the housing market is
something that hasn't bottomed out as quickly as we expected," he said.
"We've had to revamp our housing programme several times
to try to help people stay in their homes and try to start lifting home values
up."
Obama is locked in a dispute with congressional Republicans
about how to reduce the deficit and raise the debt ceiling, and he used many of
his answers during the town hall to press his case for ending tax loopholes
while reducing spending.
He said the country could face a second recession or worse
if Congress did not raise the borrowing limit and suggested Republicans were
using the debate like a gun to the head of the American people to support tax
breaks corporate jet owners and the wealthiest Americans.
The Twitter town hall came after hackers took control of a
FoxNews.com Twitter account on Monday, sending six false tweets saying Obama
had been shot dead and prompting an investigation by the Secret Service.
Obama was at home at the White House on Monday, celebrating
the July 4 holiday with his family.
The White House has declined comment on the hacking event.
