Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Florida's Charlie Crist Welcomes Obama; Obama Gives Speech on his Financial Stability Plan

Aired February 10, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Here are the headlines from CNN for this busy Tuesday, the 10th of February.

A Democratic Senate leader says the time to act is now. A final vote expected this hour on the $838 billion plan to put live back into the economy.

And you are looking live at Ft. Myers, Florida. In just minutes, the president takes his stimulus hard-sell to the American people once again.

A city hit hard by mortgage foreclosures, the setting for President Obama's town hall meeting set to start shortly. You will see it live right here in the "CNN NEWSROOM." The president is in Ft. Myers, Florida, on the road for his recovery plan. That's before the Senate this hour.

White House Correspondent Dan Lothian is traveling with the president.

Dan, good to see you again. What does the president hoping to accomplish with this town hall meeting today? What's the mission? What's the goal?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, first is to sell this stimulus plan to the American people, as you were talking about, but also send a loud message to Congress that they really need to act on this. As you know, depending what the Senate does on Capitol Hill, then the Senate and House will have to sit down and negotiate that final package.

But the message that the president is taking out there to the American people is that this money can get people back to work. You were talking to the mayor here in Ft. Myers a few minutes ago, and he was talking about how he could get about 400 people to work pretty quickly if he can get those federal dollars.

They are hurting here, not only if Ft. Myers, but also in Cape Coral, part of Lee County. The mayor called it ground zero. Some people look at this as the foreclosure capital of America. The reason for that is there was a lot of speculation when the real estate market was happening, the bottom fell out, and you're left with a lot of homes that people walked away from. Because of that now, you have a high unemployment rate, more than 10 percent, where it was just 6 percent early last year. That's sort of the framework. That's what the president wants to highlight, that here's a community that's going through a very difficult time, but if they get the federal dollars here, they can turn things around, Tony.

HARRIS: Our Dan Lothian on the ground in Ft. Myers, Florida. Thank you.

Just after high noon, and a high-stakes vote expected any time now on Capitol Hill. The Senate set to vote on its now-$838 billion stimulus plan.

Brianna Keilar joins us live.

Brianna, we are expecting three Republicans to join Democrats in this vote as they did yesterday. Any possibility that vote breakdown might change?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We're not expecting that, Tony. Yes, we are expecting these three centrist Republicans, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania to join Democrats. But there is, of course, always a possibility that someone could change their mind. We're not expecting it, but if that were to happen, it would be very unexpected. We'd be paying a lot of attention to it, of course, tony.

HARRIS: Brianna, assuming this economic stimulus bill passes, there is another pretty tough process ahead, right?

KEILAR: Yeah. You heard Dan refer that, the House and the Senate having to hash out their differences. Because then following this vote today they'll have each passed their own version.

If you look at the price tags, they're pretty similar, $838 billion in the Senate, $819 billion in the House, Tony, but they're very different. The Senate version is heavier on tax cuts, less on spending. The House version has about $100 billion more in spending on education, aid to states, things like health care, things that got cut from the Senate version. House Democrats aren't going to be happy about it. They aren't happen about what they're seeing in the Senate. But there is this question of whether their hands may be tired as well by these Senate Republicans who signed on saying that they would do so under the condition that they kind of get the makeup that they want, which is more tax cuts, less spending. So they may be wielding influence on the House side as well.

HARRIS: Our Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar. Brianna, thank you.

On a companion to the stimulus, the $700 billion federal bailout program got a new look and a new name today. The Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, is now the Financial Stability Plan.

A few key points. The federal government will partner with the private sector to buy banks' bad mortgages and other toxic assets. Washington will put up perhaps $1 trillion for consumer and business lending. And it will monitor banks to be sure they are in fact lending and not hording. The government will commit billions of dollars from the bailout pot to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

Here's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: Many of these families borrowed beyond their means, but many others fell victim to terrible lending practices that left them exposed, overextended and with no way to refinance. On top of that, homeowners around the country are seeing the value of their homes fall because of forces they did not create and cannot control.

This crisis in housing has had devastating consequences, and our government should have moved more forcefully to help contain the damage. As housing prices fall, demand for housing will increase and conditions will ultimately find a new balance. and you're seeing that happen in parts of the country today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: An overriding goal in Secretary Geithner's plan, unfreeze credit and make it easier for people and businesses to get loans.

Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us from New York.

Allan, maybe this is too simple a question, but I can't get this question out of my head. Why aren't banks lending? We keep hearing bank are turning down people with great credit, 700-plus credit scores, and money for down payments. Why is this happening?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Very true. The bankers have not been lending because they're worried about their own stability. They're worrying about themselves. So even though they've been getting billions of dollars from the federal government over the past month or so, just money handed out like this, the banks are just grabbing on to it.

Well, Secretary Geithner says, forget that. TARP is trash. What he's talking about now is for every dollar that the government hands over to the banks, the U.S. government wants to know what's being done with that dollar. How, Mr. Banker, are you going to be lending the cash that we're handing offense to you? Not only that, but the U.S. government is also putting restrictions on the bankers, limiting dividends, limiting stock repurchases and acquisitions. Uncle Sam does in the want U.S. taxpayer money to be spent on all of that. Geithner said this is all about the customers of the banks, not the banks themselves -- Tony?

HARRIS: Yeah. Hey, Allan, is there any indication that if the bad assets are sort of walled off, the balance sheets of the banks that are in trouble right now, that the banks will actually start lending? I mean is there a bank CEO saying, yes, get the bad stuff off our books and we'll start lending?

CHERNOFF: Tony, as you know, there have been a lot of bad bankers, a lot of bankers who have been bad piggies, essentially. What the government is trying to do here is get those bad assets out of the banks and to get investors, individuals and private investors, to all jump in and buy those bad assets. The government's going to provide some financing for the private investors to buy the bad assets. If those bad assets are off the books, the bankers will feel more secure. and the idea is that they should go ahead and start lending. And that's what it's all about in terms of getting the economy moving again -- Tony?

HARRIS: All right, Allan, as you can maybe hear, and probably see as well, the president is in the room at the Harborside Event Center. Just to give you a bit of a tick-tock here, the president is going to make his way through the crowd. He is going to be introduced by Florida's governor -- taking the stage right now -- Charlie Crist, and then the president will make some brief remarks, is our understanding. Just as he did in Elkhart, Indiana, yesterday, the president will open the floor to questions from everyone in the room.

Why don't we listen in now to Florida's Republican Governor Charlie Crist as he introduces the president of the United States.

CHARLIE CRIST, (R), GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: Thank you. (APPLAUSE).

(CHANTING)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Thank you. (APPLAUSE).

CRIST: Thank you.

Well, Mr. President, welcome to Ft. Myers, Florida. (APPLAUSE).

Just a couple of points I wanted to make to you, Mr. President. Our budget is in balance here in Florida. We have some people that have worked very hard in our Florida Senate and our Florida House to make that possible. In fact, we've had to cut about $7 billion over the past two years and we haven't raised taxes and we're still in balance.

But to be candid, it is getting harder every day. It's getting harder every day and we know that it's important that we pass a stimulus package. It's important -- (APPLAUSE). It is important that we do so to help education -- (APPLAUSE) -- to help our infrastructure infrastructure, and to help health care for those who need it the most, the most vulnerable among us. Let me finish by saying, Mr. President, we need to do it in a bipartisan way. (APPLAUSE). This issue of helping our country is about helping our country. This is not about partisan politics. This is about rising above that, helping America and re-igniting our economy.

You know, a great president once said, the government ought to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. That was Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday we celebrate later this week.

Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm Florida welcome to President Barack Obama. (APPLAUSE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. All right, everybody, thank you so much. Please, have a seat. I am -- it is good to be in Florida, (APPLAUSE), especially in February (LAUGHTER).

I want to acknowledge a number of people who are here, who are just great friends and outstanding public servants. We've got Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Give Alex a big round of applause. (APPLAUSE). We have your own mayor, Jim Humphrey. (APPLAUSE). Thank you, mayor. Representative Allen Grayson, Representative Allen Boyd, Representative Coreen Brown, Representative Kathy Caster, Representative Kendrick Meek, Representative Ron Klein, Representative Suzanne Kosmas, Representative Deborah Wasserman-Schultz and Representative Robert Wexler. As fine a set of Congress people as you can image. Florida, you're lucky.

I want to give a special thanks to your governor, Charlie Crist, for joining us here today. (APPLAUSE).

The thing about governors is they understand our economic crisis in a way that maybe sometimes folks a little more removed don't understand. They're on the front lines dealing with the economy every single day. They're having to make choices about the budget every single day. They know what it means to balance a budget when revenues are short, and more and more people are asking for help. Governor Crist shares my conviction that creating jobs and turning this economy around is a mission that transcends party. And when the town is burning, you don't check party labels. Everybody needs to grab a hose, and that's what Charlie Crist is doing right here today. (APPLAUSE). Governor Crist and governors across the country understand that. Mayors, Mayor Humphrey, understands that. And I think that you understand it, too, which is what I want to talk about today.

Last night, I addressed the nation to explain why I believe we need to put the economic recovery plan that is before Congress in motion as soon as possible. But during the day, I spent some time in Indiana, talking to folks in Elkhart. In Elkhart, the unemployment rate went from 4.7 percent last year to 15.3 percent this year. One year, and the unemployment rate tripled. Today I want to come to Florida, and I wanted to visit all of you in Ft. Myers because you have seen hardships as well. You've seen a change in the economic conditions of your communities.

You see, all too often in Washington, what happens is, is that people think in terms of numbers and statistics. They think about it in abstract terms. But when we say we've lost 3.6 million jobs since this recession began, nearly 600,000 in the past month alone, when we say that lee county has seen its unemployment rate go from 3.5 percent to nearly 10 percent in less than two years. When we talk about the plummeting home prices and soaring foreclosure rates that have plagued this area, and the layoffs at companies like Craft Construction and Chico's, companies that have sustained this community for years, we're not just talking about faceless numbers. We're talking about families. We're talking about some of the people in this town hall meeting today, your neighbors, your friends.

We're talking about people like Steve Atkins who joins us today with his wife, Michelle, and their son, Bailey, and daughter, Josie. Steve's the president of a small construction company in Ft. Myers that specializes in building and repairing schools. But work has slow considerably like it has across the border in the construction area. He's done what he can to reduce overhead costs, but he still has been forced to lay off half his workforce, which means that many of those people may now be trying to figure out how are they going to pay their mortgage, how are they going to pay for the basic necessities of life, which puts us on a downward economic spiral. Steve and Michelle have made sacrifices of their own. They sold their home and moved into a smaller one.

And that's what this debate is about, folks in Ft. Myers, and all across the country, who have lost their livelihoods and don't know what will take its place. Parents who have lost their health care and lie awake at night praying their kids don't get sick. Families who have lost the home that was the foundation of their American dream. Young people have put that college acceptance letter back in the envelope because they can't afford it. (APPLAUSE). That's what's behind the numbers. That's what's behind the statistics. That's the true measure of this economic crisis.

Those are the stories I heard every time I came to Florida, because this isn't new. When we were campaigning down here, before the election, I was hearing about Florida suffering the first recession it had in 16 years. We didn't know then how deep it was going to go. Well, it's gone deep. It's gotten worse. And the stories that I've heard here in Florida and in Indiana and all across the country I carried with me to the White House. (APPLAUSE).

I promise you back then that, if elected president, I would do everything I could to help our communities recover, that I would not forget. And that's why I've come back here today to tell you how I intend to keep that promise to make communities like Ft. Myers stronger. (APPLAUSE).

So, the situation we face could not be more serious. I don't have to tell you that. We've inherited an economic crisis that's deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression. Economists across the spectrum have warned, if we don't act immediately, then millions more jobs will disappear. The national unemployment rates will approach double digits. More people will lose their homes and their health care. And our nation will sink into a crisis that, at some point, is going to be that much tougher to reverse. So we cannot afford to wait. We can't wait and see and hope for the best. I believe in hope, but I also believe in action. (APPLAUSE).

We can't afford to posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us into this mess in the first place. (APPLAUSE). That's what the election was about. You rejected many of those ideas because you know they didn't work. You didn't send us to Washington because you were hoping for more of the same. You sent us there to change things, and that's exactly what I intend to do as president of the United States. (APPLAUSE).

The problems that led us into this crisis are deep. They're widespread. And so we're going to have to do a lot of different things to get the economy moving again. We need to stabilize and repair our financial system. We need to get credit flowing again to families and businesses. We need to stem the spread of foreclosures that are sweeping this country. (APPLAUSE).

My treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, outlined a plan to address these challenges just this morning. We know that in order to address our economic crisis, we're going to have to help homeowners -- not just banks, but homeowners as well.

Ft. Myers had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation last year. Entire neighborhoods are studded with foreclosure signs. Families across the city feel like they're losing their foothold on the American dream, because when one person loses their home to foreclosure, that doesn't just affect that family. Property values across the board start declining. So we're going to do everything we can to help responsible homeowners here in Ft. Myers and other hard- hit communities stay in their homes.

If we want to truly turn this around, we've got to remember that the stronger our communities are, then the stronger the financial system would be, and change can't just happen from the top-down. It's going to have to start from the bottom-up. (APPLAUSE).

Now, in addition to the housing situation, what we have to do is put people back to work. (APPLAUSE). Last week, we saw a thousand men and women stand in line for just 35 Miami firefighter jobs, 35 jobs, 1,000 people standing in line. It is a story repeated across the country. There's so much demand for jobs that just aren't there. That's both the paradox and the promise of this moment. At a time when so many Americans are looking for work, there's so much work that America needs done. That's why we put forward this plan for recovery and re-investment.

It's the simple idea at its core that we put people back to work, doing the work that America needs done. It's a plan that will save or create up to four million jobs over the next two years. (APPLAUSE). It will ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike. It will make the investments necessary for lasting economic growth and prosperity.

We'll begin by ensuring that Americans who have lost their jobs, through no fault of their own, can receive greater unemployment benefits and continue their health care coverage. (APPLAUSE). That means that an additional -- that means an additional $100 per month to more than 760,000 Florida workers who have lost their job in this recession. It means extended unemployment benefits for another 170,000 folks who have been laid off, and are looking for work but can't find any right now. That's not just a moral responsibility to help -- give a lending hand to our fellow Americans in times of emergency, it makes good economic sense, because if you don't have money, you can't spend it. If you don't spend it, that means businesses don't have customers. Our economy will continue to decline.

For that same reason, this recovery plan includes $1,000 of badly needed tax relief for middle-class workers and families, putting money back in the pockets of nearly 6.9 million workers and their families here in Florida. (APPLAUSE). And we will provide a partially refundable $2,500 per student tax credit to help 195,000 Florida families send their kids to college, (APPLAUSE). Relieving your household budget. That provides household budgets relief right now, but it also awards America in the long run with a highly skilled workforce.

And most importantly, this plan will put people to work right now by making direct investments in areas like health care and energy and education and infrastructure, investments that save jobs and create new jobs and businesses and help our economy grow again. More than 90 percent of the jobs created by this plan will be in the private sector -- 90 percent. They won't be make-work jobs, they'll be jobs that lay the groundwork for a lasting economic boom, jobs that put people to work today preparing America for tomorrow, jobs building wind turbines and solar panels and fuel-efficient cars, (APPLAUSE), doubling our investment in clean energy, helping end our dependence on foreign oil, (APPLAUSE), jobs upgrading our schools, jobs creating 21st-century classrooms and libraries and laboratories for millions of children across America, (APPLAUSE), jobs computerizing our health care system, which saves billions of dollars and countless lives, jobs constructing broadband internet lines that reach Florida's rural schools and small businesses so they can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world, (APPLAUSE), jobs rebuilding our roads and our bridges and repairing our dangerously deficient dams and levees so we don't face another Katrina. (APPLAUSE).

And the jobs that Charlie Crist has to worry about, the jobs of firefighters and teachers and nurses and police officers, that would otherwise be eliminated if we don't provide states some basic relief. (APPLAUSE).

Of course, there are some critics, always critics, who say we can't afford to take on these priorities. But we have postponed and neglected them for too long. And because we have, our health care still costs too much. Our schools still fail too many of our children. Our dependence on foreign oil has actually grown since the 1970s, still threatens our economy and our security. We have seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail. They say we can't afford to take on these tasks? Florida, you know we cannot afford not to. (APPLAUSE).

I'm not going to tell you that this plan is perfect. I mean it was produced in Washington. (LAUGHTER). No plan -- no plan is perfect. I also can't tell you with 100 percent certainty that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope. But I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act in the face of this crisis will only worsen our problems. Doing nothing is not an option. (APPLAUSE). You didn't send me to Washington to do nothing. (APPLAUSE).

So we've had a good debate. We've had a good debate. That's part of what democracy is all about. But the time for talk is over. Folks here in Ft. Myers and across America, they need help. They need action. And they need it now. (APPLAUSE). Americans I've met understand that even with this plan our economy will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months.

You know -- (LAUGHTER).

(APPLAUSE).

For our TV audience, somebody said I had eight, which we're not clear about yet. (APPLAUSE).

Here's -- you know, the American people, all of you -- (LAUGHTER). You've got common sense. You understand it took us a long time to get into this fix. We're not going to get out of it overnight. But what you don't have patience for is just listening to a bunch of bickering in Washington and nothing getting done. (APPLAUSE).

And I know that there are a lot of folks here in Ft. Myers and across Florida that are struggling, but I also know -- because I spent a lot of time in this state -- that you've got some of the best workers in the world here. (APPLAUSE). You got some of the best neighbors in the world who step up, who help each other, who make sacrifices when times are tough. I know that all that people are asking for is a chance to work hard. They're not looking for a handout. They just want to be able to work hard and translate that hard work into a good life for themselves and their families. So you're doing your part down here, it's time that Washington did its part too. (APPLAUSE).

This is a responsibility that we did not ask for, but it is a responsibility we will accept for the sake of our future and our children's. And being here in Ft. Myers with all of you, I am more confident than ever that we can set aside our differences. And if we commit ourselves to the work ahead, and come together, then I guarantee you, we can meet the great test of our times.

So thank you very much for your attention. Thanks for your attendance. And now we're going to start opening this thing up for some questions.

Thank you, Ft. Myers. Thank you. Thank you.

Testing, one, two, three. Everybody have a seat.

Now the -- here's how we're going to work this. There are folks in the audience who have microphones. Raise your microphones, guys. They will be going around and I will be just calling on folks as they raise their hands. If you could introduce yourself when you -- before you ask your question, or make your comment. Because we've got a lot of people here and we've got a limited amount of time, try to keep your question relatively brief and I'll try to keep my answer relatively brief. And I think I'll go girl, boy, girl, boy, so that I avoid any trouble. All right? And stand up when you ask your question as well so we can all see you. All right? So let's see. There's a young lady right there. Yes. Right there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. My name's Jodi Nike (ph). I've work for Edison State College. And I was wondering, how much stress (ph) you're putting in your economic stimulus plan for higher education? Because vocational training helps lower unemployment.

OBAMA: Well, it's a great question. And we put a huge emphasis on education generally and higher education in particular. Now, I already mentioned one provision that's in there, which is to provide a tax credit to help young people go to college and afford it. Now that is not only helpful to the young person, it's also, obviously, helpful to household budgets, which means that there will be money that those households can spend on other things. And people will be accumulated less debt.

We're also, when we talk about money for school construction in the plan, we are not just talking about elementary schools or high schools. We're also talking about community colleges and public universities. There's a lot of unmet -- undone work that needs to be done. And for us to be able to fund some of that work will not only improve, let's say, the science lab in a particular school, or a vocational training facility, but it also will upgrade, over time, the skills of the workforce here in Ft. Myers an in the surrounding community.

So we are going to be putting a lot of emphasis on job training, on school construction, and on financing of higher education. I think that's the highest priority. It's an example of how we can use a crisis and turn it into an opportunity because if we use this moment to address some things that we probably should have been doing over the last 10, 15, 20 years, then when we emerge from the crisis, the economy's going to be that much stronger.

If people who have been laid off from work are able to get a tax credit or a voucher to retrain so that now they have upgraded their skills, then they're going to be that much stronger when it comes to finding a job in the future. They'll boost their earnings, boost productivity in the community. So I think it's very important for us to think both short term, as well as long term, and that's going to be one of my highest priorities as president. OK?

All right. Gentleman in the tie right behind you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Ft. Myers, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Thank you, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Adam Palmer (ph).

So many of the lenders these days are unwilling to discuss any possibility of doing a loan modification program unless you're currently in default. Subsequently, this is penalizing responsible Americans who have lost all the equity in their property. What can be done to change that? OBAMA: Well, you're making a really important point. My Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, announced much of our financial restructuring plan. He's going to increase oversight, transparency. Some of you may have heard we're going to condition any taxpayer assistance to banks on them doing something serious about executive compensation. No more enormous bonuses for companies that taxpayers are helping out.

But, what he also pointed out is that we've got to provide some direct relief to homeowners. Now, we didn't want the story about what we're doing with homeowners to be buried in this larger story today about how we're dealing with the financial system. So I'm going to be personally making an announcement in the next couple of weeks about what our overall housing strategy is going to be.

But I think you identified the key issue, which is, look, if we're honest, there are probably some folks who bought homes that they couldn't afford. And no matter how much we help, they're not going to be able to make their mortgage payments.

But the larger group of folks are folks who have made their mortgage payments, but because of foreclosures, property values have declined, they're now what's called "under water," where the mortgage is worth more than the price of the home -- the current value of the home, and people may have been -- people may be getting squeezed on their job, their incomes are lowering, and they're still doing what they're supposed to do, they're still making these payments every day, but it's getting harder and harder and harder.

So the question is, can we work to design a system where the banks recognize it's in their interest to avoid foreclosure because the bank's only going to get 40 cents on the dollar if there's a foreclosure. On the other hand, the borrower is going to have to probably, if they get some assistance, agree to give up some equity once housing prices recover so that both sides are giving a little bit, but you avert the foreclosure. That's good not only for the homeowner, but it's good for the entire community and it's good for property values throughout the state.

Now, there are a couple of wrinkles in order for us to accomplish this. For example, unfortunately, it used to be that when you took out a mortgage you went to the local bank. They gave you the loan and they kept the mortgage right there in the bank. As I think a lot of people know, these days what happened was, they took these mortgages, they wrapped them up in a big bundle, they sold slices of them on the stock market and so you don't have any one person who actually owns the mortgage, which makes negotiations on a lot of this stuff very difficult.

Part of what we may have to do is to make some changes in the law that make it easier for the servicers, the people who take your check every day, and are managing these portfolio of mortgages on behalf of a bunch of people who own bits and pieces of the mortgage, to make it easier for them to engage in these negotiations in an efficient way. And those are some of the issues that we'll be laying out over the next couple weeks. But this is absolutely vital. No place is seeing tougher times because of the mortgage crisis than the people here in Florida and the people here in Ft. Myers. And unless we address this in a serious way, we are not going to be able to get the economy back to where it needs to be. All right?

All right. Let's see, this side of the room. Young lady right here who's standing right up front. She's waving at me. Right over there. Are we getting her -- well, I was actually pointing at her right there in the blue. But now I feel bad you were walking -- I'll call on you, I promise! I promise you. You just -- don't worry. I know you've got a great question, too. I didn't even see you down there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Mr. President.

OBAMA: How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to southwest Florida. In light of the fact that you've inherited an economic crisis, where does your priority lie with health care reform?

OBAMA: Well, it's the great question. And I think it is -- there are some people who are making the argument that, well, you can't do anything about health care because the economy comes first. They don't understand that health care is the biggest component of our economy. And when it's broken, that affects everything. I mean we've got a system right now where the average person has seen -- even if they've got health insurance, the average family has seen their premiums double over the last eight years. Folks are paying twice as much. Co-payments have gotten higher, deductibles have gotten higher. And now, with people losing their jobs, they're also losing their health care.

Businesses are also less competitive because of the fact that here in the United States, we spend more than anybody else does. Any other nation on earth per capita we spend more on health care but we don't get better results and companies are paying for that. So when they're competing against -- you know, if a U.S. carmaker is competing against a foreign carmaker, they've got all these extra health care costs that they've got to deal with. And finally, Medicare and Medicaid are draining state budgets and federal budgets in a way that's unsustainable over the long term. So health care has to be part of the solution.

Now, in the recovery package, there are a couple of things that we do immediately. Number one, we're providing some help to Governor Crist and the state because now they are getting more Medicaid claims and we've got to make sure that they can just meet the basic needs of citizens here in Florida.

Number two is, what we have in this bill is a mechanism so that we will subsidize people to keep their health care even if they lose their jobs. How many people here know what COBRA is? Now COBRA is the law that says that if you lose your job, you can keep your health care and you go through COBRA. Here's the only problem. If you've lost your job, who can afford $1,000 a month or $1,200 a month for health care? You can't afford it. So part of this plan says, we will subsidize a significant portion of what your health insurance costs so that you can actually afford to keep your health care. That's number two.

Number three -- and this is an example of using a crisis and converting it into an opportunity. One of the problems with our health care system, it is so inefficient, you go into the hospital and what's the first thing you've got to do? You've got to -- even if you've got insurance, what do you have to do? You've got to fill out so many forms and there's paperwork an there's this and there's that. Then you go and you get your examination and they've got a clipboard with all this paper on it. Then the doctor's writing out something and the nurse can't read it and -- you know, the fact is, is that it causes huge amounts of medical errors. We've got all this bureaucracy. One of the simplest, most effective things that we could do is to convert from a paper system to an electronic data system.

Now, think about it. Health care's the only area where we still use paper. I mean the banks, that's all computerized. So if you've got a credit card, that's all on a computer so they can find you any time you don't make a payment and that computer's calculating every dime of interest you've got to pay. Right? It's all very efficient. But when it comes to health care, it's a disaster. So what we did is, in this plan, in the House bill that passed, one of the things that we do is we say we are going . . .

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill, where the Senate has just passed its version of the economic stimulus package. The vote break-down, 61-37. All Democrats voting yes, along with three Republicans. Only three Republicans, as expected.

And now the next step is reconciling the Senate version of the bill and the House version of the bill. While they both have a similar price tags, $838 billion in the Senate, $819 billion in the House, their composition is different with more spending on education and state aid for health care in the House version, and more tax cuts in the Senate version. This could be a tough road. While House Democrats may want to change it so there's more spending, the three crucial votes from Republicans in the Senate, those folks making it clear they want what they gained in these negotiations, more tax cuts and less spending.

So let's go back now to President Obama's town hall meeting in Ft. Myers, Florida.

OBAMA: That provides millions of children who didn't have health insurance, health insurance. My hope is, over the course of the year, I'm going to be able to work with Congress to move forward a bill that gets us on track to every single person in America being able to get affordable, decent health care coverage. We are a wealthy enough country to do it. And that's going to be one of my top priorities as president of the United States.

All right. It's a guy's turn. It's a guy's turn. Let's see, this gentleman in the cap right here. That's you. Who else got the -- oh, I didn't see that one. All right. Well this guy right here. This guy. Hold on. No, no, I'm calling on this guy right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also, welcome, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my question to you today is, as you stated earlier, there are many of us here in the area that are unemployed and have been unemployed for some time. And probably some people here have large families. And we have had the opportunity to receive unemployment, but yet we have not been able to get any other type of governmental assistance to help us during this crisis so that we can kind of be able to take the funds that we do have from unemployment to pay our bills. Usually what happens is, when you apply for governmental assistance, they say, well, you make too much money. If you go from making $3,000 a year -- a month to $1,100 a month, how are you able to take care of your families? Why can't we have that to be automatic, that goes along with your unemployment tenure, that you can get government assistance that's an automatic for you?

OBAMA: Well, look, unemployment insurance is not ideal. People want a job, they don't want unemployment insurance. But when the jobs aren't out here, it's tough. But I want to be honest with you, we are bumping up unemployment insurance. As I said, tens of thousands of people will be getting an extra $100 a month, which doesn't sound like a lot, but that means an extra bill that you can pay.

I'll be honest with you though, we're not going to be able to take it from $1,100 up to $3,000. So our priority has to be on job creation. We can reform unemployment insurance to make it more efficient. We have extended it. But ultimately people want to work. And the priority of this package is to create jobs. Create jobs in construction. Create jobs in the health care system. Create jobs in energy.

Something that we haven't talked about is the whole opportunity around clean energy. I mean this package proposes to double our use of alternative fuels. It proposes that we weatherize homes all across the country. It proposes that we are starting a smart grid that allows energy -- let's say you have solar energy produced in Florida. The smart grid would allow us to transport that energy to other states so that Florida could be an energy exporter. But right now we don't have the infrastructure in place to get that done. So my priority is going to be on job creation. That is priority number one.

One other point that I want to make, because it hasn't come up. It came up a little bit with respect to the issue of housing. This recovery package, even if we pass it, is just one leg in the stool. In order to get the economy moving, we're also going to have to deal with the foreclosure crisis. We're also going to have to start getting banks and financial institutions to lend again, because right now there's a credit crunch out there, and a lot of small businesses that are out there, they're having trouble making payroll just because they can't get loans. So we've got to get lending moving again. And that's part of what my Treasury secretary talked about today. Working with the banks, tracking what they're doing. You know, we already spent $350 billion and that averted catastrophe, but what it didn't do is to create a clear, consistent, transparent credit process whereby we could see small businesses, consumers, actually getting loans. And we're going to have to make that a top priority as we move ahead.

It's going to take some time because, frankly, the banks borrowed a lot of money and they risked it on a lot of bad investments. And unwinding that and restabilizing the system is going to take some time. And I know how frustrating it is for taxpayers when they're looking and they're saying, let me get this straight, you've got a guy who's making $20 million a year who ran his bank into the ground and now we've got to come in and clean up the mess.

Now, that's something that -- it just makes you mad. I understand that. But recognize that whether we like it or not, credit is the life blood of our economy. If consumers can't borrow for a car loan, then cars don't move out of the dealership. And if the dealership can't move its cars, then Detroit and all those suppliers aren't going to be making cars. And on and on it goes. So we've got to do something about getting credit flowing again and that's going to be one of my top priorities as president.

All right, there's the young lady who I thought -- who thought I had called on her and I hadn't. Don't want her mad at me. She'll talk about me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for taking my question, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Sure, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just tickled pink that you came to visit us.

OBAMA: Oh, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your stimulus package outlines, you know, over $800 billion. And I know a huge portion of it is designated for giving individual states the money that they need to rebuild. Is there any provisions in your stimulus package that actually will give back to the taxpayers, individually, that we'd all get stimulus checks to jump start the economy?

OBAMA: Yes. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what provisions or what amounts are they actually looking at for the taxpayers?

OBAMA: Here's what we're looking at is -- and this is actually a commitment that I made during the campaign. I said that we had to change our tax system where instead of giving all the tax breaks to the wealthiest few, that we start giving tax breaks to middle class families who are struggling to make ends meet. So I made that commitment even before the crisis.

So in the package that we put forward, what we have is $1,000 for working families, $1,000 in additional immediate tax relief that would start flowing right away. And -- so it would offset a lot of the payroll taxes that people are paying. And that would be -- again, $1,000 may not sound like a lot to some, but I tell you what, if you're making $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 a year, having an extra $1,000 during some tight times can really make a difference. So that is a central part of the package.

We've also get some other tax cuts that are targeted at small businesses because, again, they're under enormous pressure right now as business is declining. But part of what I hope to do is to show that by providing tax cuts directly to the middle class, that's the best way to re-invigorate the economy when it comes to tax cuts, not just giving tax cuts and expecting it all to trickle down. If you put it directly into the pockets of people who are really going to need it, then they spend it. And when they spend it, that means that the economy is moving. That's what we're going to try to do in this package. All right?

Ok. Gentleman's turn. By the way, I just want to announce that the Senate just passed our recovery and re-investment plan. That's good. So that's good news. That's good news. That's because -- that's good news.

That's good news and I want to thank all the members of the Senate who moved the process forward. We've still got to get the House bill and the Senate bill to match up before it gets sent to my desk, so we got a little more work to do over the next couple of days, but it's a good start.

And you know why it passed? Because they knew I was coming down to Ft. Myers. They didn't want to mess with folks in Ft. Myers. Right? They said, we don't want folks in Ft. Myers mad at us.

All right. Gentleman back there in the blue shirt and the tie. Right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good afternoon, Mr. President. First of all, I want to thank you very much for coming to listen to us today.

OBAMA: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has not happened in the last eight years. My name is Andy Irvin (ph). I'm a local commercial contractor here in town. We have been building and remodeling schools for the last 10 years or so. How, in your stimulus plan, do you get money down to the states and down to the counties to continue that program?

OBAMA: Well, what we would do -- and the fact that there's already a program in place will make it that much easier. We would be working with Governor Crist and Alex Sink (ph) and others in the state government, as well as local school superintendents and county governments. And where there's a school that needs repair, we'd go in and repair it. But what we'd also want to do -- we're not looking just to, you know, put on some new paint. I mean, that's nice. But let me give you an example of some of the things that we can do. There are a lot of schools in this country that don't have state of the art science laboratories. And for us to not only modify the building, but also to go into some of these classrooms and redesign them in ways that allow kids to get state of the art learning in science and math? I mean that's a gift that keeps on giving.

So if there is a mechanism in place, if there's a mechanism in place, then what we're going to do is we're going to make sure that that money is funneled as quickly as possible to those local school districts and those schools that need help. And hopefully you'll be able to get some work and you'll be able to keep your folks on payroll and that will make all the difference in the world for the economy general here in Ft. Myers. All right?

OK. This young lady's been waiting very patiently. And she's just been standing there and making me look all guilty. So, go ahead. You've got the microphone right behind you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much. I first want to say, I respect you and I'm so grateful for you.

OBAMA: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Been praying for you.

OBAMA: I believe in prayer. So I appreciate that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have an urgent need of employment and homelessness. A very small vehicle (ph) for my family and I to live in. We need urgent -- and the housing authority has two years waiting list and we need something more than the vehicle and the parks to go to. We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom. Please help.

OBAMA: Well, I -- listen. What's your name? What's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Henrietta Hughes (ph).

OBAMA: OK. Miss Hughes, well, we're going to do everything we can to help you. But there are a lot of people like you. And we're going to do everything we can. All right? But I'll have my staff talk to you after this town hall. All right?

All right. Back here. These folks have been neglected back here. Gentleman right here. Just go ahead and give him the mike, because I don't want him to fall over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, I'm a retired high school teacher and I have this question. Last night I was so impressed by your news conference. I haven't heard this in eight years. My question was about your stimulus package. You said we have to be patient. The American people are notorious for not being patient. How you going to deal with that problem? OBAMA: Well, look. My -- first of all, I think that the American people understand, as I said before, that we didn't get into this fix overnight and we're not going to get out of it overnight. I think people understand that it is a big and very complicated problem and that we're going to have to try a bunch of different things to get the economy moving again.