{"id":7333,"date":"2012-03-07T00:01:15","date_gmt":"2012-03-07T08:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=7333"},"modified":"2012-03-07T00:01:15","modified_gmt":"2012-03-07T08:01:15","slug":"obama-solid-at-news-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/07\/obama-solid-at-news-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama Solid at News Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday Barack Obama held his first major news conference this year.  Answering questions without using a teleprompter even once, Obama stated his positions clearly and straightforwardly, as you will see in the complete video that follows.  I was particularly pleased with the way he contrasted his efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution with Iran and Republican warmongering toward that nation.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"7ObamaNC\"President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that diplomacy can still resolve the crisis over Iran’s possible pursuit of nuclear weapons, and he accused his Republican critics of "beating the drums of war."<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities," Obama said. "They are not commander in chief."<\/p>\n

Tension with Iran, and Obama’s preference for restraint<\/strong>, dominated his first full news conference of the year, held on the same day that Republican Super Tuesday voting was drawing attention as well.<\/p>\n

On politics, Obama said that higher gasoline prices as a result of Mideast worries would be a bad idea for any president running for re-election, and he also said he was working to expand America’s energy base.<\/p>\n

He called violence in Syria "heartbreaking" but showed no new willingness for military involvement in that Mideast country.<\/p>\n

Obama said his critics are forgetting the "cost of war" in their rush to punish Iran and defend Israel<\/strong>, which sees a nuclear Iran as a mortal threat in its Mideast neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Rhetoric on the right is "more about politics than about trying to solve a difficult problem," Obama said\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Huffington Post<\/a>><\/p>\n

I find this approach far more rational than \u201cBomb, Bomb Iran\u201d.<\/font><\/p>\n

Obama also offered more help for beleaguered homeowners.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"7ObamaNC2\"President Obama on Tuesday unveiled two new housing initiatives intended to assist Americans with government-insured loans and members of the military<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In his first major news conference of 2012, Obama announced a new plan to cut refinancing fees for any loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The president also outlined a new agreement with banks to review foreclosures for members of the military that have taken place since 2006 and provide compensation to anyone who wrongfully lost a home.<\/p>\n

Neither proposal requires Congress\u2019s approval. But they are also more modest than the $10 billion refinancing plan that Obama asked lawmakers to pass in his January State of the Union address<\/strong>\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Washington Post<\/a>><\/p>\n

This is a very small deal, but what any President can do singlehandedly in quite limited.  The only reason that we do not have far more assistance in place is that Congressional Republicans blocked it.<\/font><\/p>\n

Here is the complete video of the news conference.<\/font><\/p>\n