Obama’s unscreened town hall audience in Indiana.

Thinkprogress:

Today, President Obama hosted a town hall meeting in Elkhart, IN — which faces the nation’s fastest-rising unemployment rate — to promote his recovery and reinvestment plan. As the Washington Post’s Dan Froomkin notes, Obama traveled to relatively unfriendly territory: Obama lost the county to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 44 percent to 56 percent. Despite that fact, the White House did not screen its audience, who had the chance to ask the president questions:
In a dramatic contrast to former President Bush’s town-hall meetings — which were held almost exclusively in party strongholds, with tickets distributed primarily to supporters — it was first-come, first-served in Elkhart on Saturday [when tickets were distributed]. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained on Friday: “I’ve watched the President do town halls from 2004 through 2008, and the audience has never been hand-picked, and neither have the questions. And we’re not going to start any of that on Monday.”
What’s more, Obama invited two critics of his package along for the Air Force One ride to Indiana: Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), who both voted against the bill.

From White House website:

Questions from the crowd of about 1,700 people ranged from the foreclosure crisis and green energy to the mechanism by which recovery funds will reach communities like Elkhart. Some highlights, then the full transcript below.

Q: With respect to the stimulus bill, are there provisions in there that address green job issues, improvement of environmental issues, and those type of matters?
A: Under this plan, we would double the production of alternative energy -- double it from where it is right now….there is money allocated in this plan to develop the new battery technologies that will allow not just cars but potentially RVs as well to move into the next generation of plug-in hybrids….We also have put in money that provide for the weatherization of millions of homes across the country....If we don't use this crisis as an opportunity to start retooling, then we will never catch up and be able to compete effectively against Japanese automakers, Korean automakers, and we will find ourselves continuing to slide. This should be an opportunity for us to retool.
Q We are truly tired of the economics that we have been getting that has got us into the position that we're in. That theory has been a trickle down. We need to trickle up. So I would hope in your philosophy about trying to kick-start the economy that the money gets directly to the people who are -- have homes that are foreclosed, the people that have lost jobs....So I would hope...that the money gets directly into the hands of the people who are hurting.
A: When it comes to tax cuts, you are exactly right that instead of providing tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, what I've been pushing in this plan is to make sure that the tax cuts go to working families. That is not only good for those families, it's actually good for the economy, because when you give a tax break to working families who are struggling, they will spend it on buying a new coat for the kids, or making sure that they get that car repaired that they use to get to work.
Q: What are you going to do about enticing companies to stay here in the United States once we have them?

A: The single most important factor I think in whether companies are going to continue to locate here in Elkhart and around the country is, what are we doing about education. Because the quality of the work force is probably what most companies are going to pay the most attention to over time…. [W]hat we should be looking for is how do we encourage high-wage, high-value work. And there the key is going to be how well we are training our work force….And over the next few days, as we are having these conversations, we should talk about how we can make sure that we're investing in education, because that's what's going to keep companies investing right here in the United States over the long term.
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Read here transcript of Obama's town hall meeting in Indiana.