President Obama Sells Job Plan In Silicon Valley, Meets Lady Gaga
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) -- President Barack Obama says the optimistic, dynamic and forward-thinking attitudes in Silicon Valley are what can help drive the American economy and get people back to work.
Obama made his remarks Monday during a town-hall-style meeting hosted by social networking site LinkedIn.
About 300 people were in the audience, mostly LinkedIn employees and members, and the president answered questions on education, veterans, job-training, taxes and business regulations.
He had the opportunity to trumpet his jobs plan while encouraging jobless attendees about the future. He said the problem is not them, it's the global economy.
Obama said the big question is how to continue to spark the innovation that's going to ensure economic success in the 21st century while also preparing workers to plug into the new economy.
The town-hall comes midway through a three-day West Coast swing that includes seven fundraisers. Obama is racing to collect cash ahead of an important Friday quarterly fundraising deadline that will provide a snapshot of the president's strength against the gelling GOP field.
Pop singer Lady Gaga was among the guests at a Silicon Valley fundraiser for President Barack Obama.
The intimate gathering was held under a tent in the yard of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg on Sunday night. Gaga wore a black, sleeveless gown and high heels, and with her hair piled up she towered over the Silicon Valley elites who were paying up to $35,800 per couple to attend.
Gaga attended as a paying guest. She said last week that she wanted to meet with Obama to discuss her concerns about bullying, but it wasn't clear whether the two would be having that discussion.
Obama has been using the events to try out his newly aggressive tone with supporters who have been disappointed with the president's compromises with the GOP. The president is mixing frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up.
Obama said 2012 would be an especially tough election because people are discouraged and disillusioned with government, but he also said he was determined because so much is at stake.
The GOP alternative, Obama said Sunday, is "an approach to government that will fundamentally cripple America in meeting the challenges of the 21st century."
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
