Obama's Press Conference on the Stimulus Plan

I got home after the Obama press conference started and decided to eat instead of watch it.

So here are David Sirota's thoughts on it went...

Best Moment(s): When Obama repeatedly reminded the braindead Washington press corps and the lobotomized Republican Party that it was the GOP that created the national debt with its irresponsible tax cuts and wars, and that therefore, their fake outrage at the stimulus's deficit spending is absurd.

Worst Moment: When Obama repeated right-wing - and silly - talking points that "some in my party [are] too resistant to reform" and think "only money makes a difference." This is the old conservative meme that all progressives want to do is throw money at problems. Except, last I checked, one of the people who's been most "resistant to reform" and who has effectively insisted that "only money makes a difference" is President Obama when it comes to the $8 trillion no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout - a bailout that hasn't included any financial regulatory reform whatsoever.

Movement Moment: When Sam Stein of the Huffington Post - a progressive media outlet - was given the opportunity to ask a question.

Most Predictable Moment: When CNN's John King later called the Huffington Post "not a mainstream news organization" as a subtle dig at his new media competitors.

Silliest Moment: When Obama was asked about A-Rod - as if the president's opinion on that matter means anything.

Most Shocking Omission: While the D.C. media continued fetishizing "bipartisanship" with its incessant questions about process, unbelievably (and thankfully) nobody wasted time asking about the First Family's choice of canine.

Biggest Missed Question: Not surprisingly, nobody asked Obama any questions about the composition of his economic team, and why the American people should feel confident in him when he's hired many of the same people who had a hand in creating the economic crisis.

Unanswered Questions: Obama didn't give a conclusive answer about whether he had learned anything about the legislative process from the stimulus negotiations. Seems like the lesson is clear: You don't start a proposal by making concessions in the first draft - in this case, Obama began by proposing a stimulus chock full of Republican-style tax cuts, and now has been negotiating from a position of weakness. But it also seems that Obama isn't sure what he's learned from this - and that could bode poorly for even more divisive issues (health care reform, EFCA, etc.) than the stimulus in the future.