Obama's TweetUp: Fix a 'broken' immigration system

Cementing his status as President 2.0, Barack Obama held a town hall on the US economy via Twitter on Wednesday.

The White House solicited questions from the Twittersphere (#AskObama), and in an hourlong webcast, he responded to 18 queries that tackled everything from education to the American space program to jobs for veterans. Questions came in from citizens tweeting from across the country, as well as from Speaker of the House John Boehner and conservative New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

[caption id=“attachment_37582” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“US President Barack Obama reads a tweet from US Speaker of the House John Boehner on a screen during his first ever Twitter Town Hall in the East Room at the White House in Washington on Wednesday. Larry Downing/Reuters”]  [/caption]

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How it worked

The White House TweetUp was moderated by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, who explained that the questions would be culled by eight “curators”, many of whom are journalists, and that Obama did not receive information about the questions in advance.

Though he began the town hall with a tweet of his own (“In order to reduce the deficit, what costs would you cut and what investments would you keep?”), Obama did not attempt to reply to the public’s questions in 140 characters or less. Instead, he responded to the questions from the White House via livestreamed video in front of a small audience. But at one point, as he continued an already verbose response, he joked: “One last point – I know, Twitter, I’m supposed to be short.”

What’s the wise idea behind the TweetUp? Macon Phillips, the White House’s director of new media, told The Hill that the purpose of the event is “to bring new voices into the conversation with the president.”

Communications director Dan Pfeiffer added that the town hall would allow Obama to communicate directly with the public and without the filter of the mainstream media.

Obama on immigrant entrepreneurs

After addressing a few questions about the debt ceiling and the cost of education (see the entire transcript here), Obama received a question about immigrant entrepreneurs: “Immigrant entrepreneurs can build companies and create jobs for US workers. Will you support a startup visa program?”

Obama responded by saying that immigrant entrepreneurs needed to be supported in the US through various policy reforms, including a streamlined visa system:

…we’re working with the business community as well as the entrepreneurial community to figure out are there ways that we can streamline the visa system so if you are studying here, you’ve got a PhD in computer science or you’ve got a PhD in engineering, and you say I’m ready to invest in the United States, create jobs in the United States, then we are able to say to you, we want you to stay here.

… We’ve got an immigration system that’s broken right now, where too many folks are breaking the law but also our laws make it too hard for talented people to contribute and be part of our society. …we need comprehensive immigration reform, part of which would allow entrepreneurs and high-skilled individuals to stay here – because we want to be attracting that talent here.

Obama on Jobs

Speaker Boehner, the Republican from Ohio who has been a stalwart challenger to Obama’s policies, also sent in a query: “After embarking on a record spending binge that left us deeper in debt, where are the jobs?”

Obama acknowledged that jobs were not being created at a fast enough rate, but he also said that the government has already taken some strong steps forward, including a payroll tax cut that passed in December that “put an extra $1,000 in the pockets of almost every single American. That means they’re spending money. That means that businesses have customers. And that has helped improve overall growth.”

Obama added that the government has provided about 16 tax cuts to small businesses. But he said that politics sometimes gets in the way, particularly when it comes to rebuilding infrastructure as a job-growth strategy. “There are some areas where the Republicans have been more resistant in cooperating, even though I think most objective observers think it’s the right thing to do,” Obama said.

Obama on raising taxes

The President also said repeatedly that he would like to maintain tax cuts for all American except for the wealthiest, which he’d like to tax at Clinton-era rates.

…people like me who have been incredibly fortunate, mainly because a lot of folks bought my book – (laughter) – for me to be able to go back to the tax rate that existed under Bill Clinton, to pay a couple of extra percentage points so that I can make sure that seniors still have Medicare or kids still have Head Start, that makes sense to me. …It does mean that those who are in the top 1-2 percent, who have seen their incomes go up much more quickly than anybody else, pays a little bit more in order to make sure that we can make the basic investments that grow this country – that’s not an unreasonable position to take.

Pakistan’s cameo

Pakistan also earned a reference in the town hall. A Chicago citizen commented: “Stop giving money to countries that waste it – Pakistan. Keep military, share the wealth between branches, and don’t cut education.”

But Obama said that foreign aid makes up only 1 to 2% of US government spending, and he defended the longstanding practice of providing financial support abroad.

“It’s a tiny amount that has a big impact,” he said. “It’s a force multiplier and it’s something that even in tough fiscal times America needs to continue to do as part of our role as a global leader.”

From the other side of the aisle

Conservatives are not a fan of Obama’s social media tactics, and some claim that the White House uses Twitter to bully its critics.

There were also efforts to jam the TweetUp with questions posed from a conservative perspective.