Obama seeks support in Internet town hall

Obama seeks support in Internet town hall

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama seized the bully pulpit Thursday and reprised the best of his acclaimed campaign skills in an unprecedented Internet town hall from the White House — a direct sales pitch for Americans to get behind his $3.6 trillion budget and be patient as he tries to right the tottering economy.

After an opening statement and declaring, “This isn’t about me; it’s about you,” Obama took up a microphone and strolled the ornate East Room, playing to an audience of 100 invited guests and what the White House said were an estimated 67,000 people watching him in cyberspace.

The event capped a concerted Obama recent public relations foray in support of his young administration’s assault on the country’s twin crises in the economy and financial system, including two in-person town hall meetings in California and an appearance on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show.”

Obama explained he had called the first-of-its-kind online town hall meeting as “an important step” toward creating a broader avenue for information about his administration.

Senate votes to triple size of AmeriCorps

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to give tens of thousands of people more opportunities to mentor children, clean parks and help the poor, a sweeping call to national service in a time of need.

The legislation would triple the size of the Clinton-era AmeriCorps and broadly expand incentives for students and seniors to give back to their communities, at a cost of $5.7 billion over five years. It also would create five groups to help poor people, improve education, encourage energy efficiency, strengthen access to health care and assist veterans.

The vote was 79-19. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., changed his vote after the roll call to support the measure.

The legislation would increase AmeriCorps to 250,000 from its current 75,000 positions over eight years, its largest expansion since the program was launched in 1993.

Senate Dems on panel OK Obama’s budget

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats pushed a recession-era budget backed by the Obama administration through committee on Thursday after rejecting Republican attempts to cut spending and reduce mammoth deficits.

The 13-10 vote was along party lines in the Senate Budget Committee, and came as GOP critics sharpened their attacks on a plan that Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama derided as “the most irresponsible budget in the history of the Republic.”

The plan calls for spending of $3.5 trillion for the year that begins Oct. 1 and assumes a deficit of $1.2 trillion. It includes increases for hundreds of domestic programs and clears the way for major legislation later in the year on President Barack Obama’s priorities of health care, energy and education.

Engine pieces fall on town

SAO PAULO — Engine pieces from a U.S. plane fell from the sky early Thursday in Brazil, hitting 22 houses and a car but sparing passengers and residents on the ground.

Pieces of one of the turbines of the DC-10 plunged to the ground in the Amazon jungle town of Manaus in northern Brazil. The plane is owned by the Miami, Florida-based Arrow Cargo company.

Television images showed houses with damage to their roofs as an engine piece nearly 6 feet long lay nearby in front of amazed onlookers.

That particular piece — which appeared to be the tip of the turbine — weighed about 550 pounds, observers said.,

Bomb kills at least 20

BAGHDAD — A car bomb exploded Thursday along a bustling commercial street in a mostly Shiite area of north Baghdad, killing at least 20 people in the third major attack in the capital this month.

Recent high-profile blasts suggest that Sunni insurgents are trying to mount a comeback as the U.S. prepares to leave Iraqi cities in three months and hand over responsibility for security in the capital to the Iraqis.

Shaken survivors voiced fears that the blast heralded a return to violence that swept the Iraqi capital before U.S. and Iraqi forces turned the tide in late 2007.

Witnesses said the vehicle — believed to be a yellow Peugeot — was parked along a street near a bus stop, a food market and a hospital in the Shaab district when it blew up around noon.

Associated Press