video via Wizbang

The first presidential Twitter Town Hall’s coming up at 2PM today, which considering all the Twitter people on Obama’s staff,

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is a State Department adviser. Chief exec Dick Costolo is a telecom/national security adviser. And in the other direction, former State Department aide Katie Stanton is now a Twitter “vice president of global policy.”

we shall expect softballs:

Questions addressed during the Town Hall will be selected both in advance and in real-time during the event.

More on that at the Memeorandum thread.

However, here are Five Questions for President Obama’s Twitter Townhall, with background on each question,

1. Background: Conservatives in the House of Representatives passed a serious budget proposal with necessary reforms and responsible steps. Liberals haven’t passed—or even offered—a budget in over two years, making their concerns voiced about America’s fiscal future seem false. The President’s own budget was defeated 97–0 in the Senate.

Twitter Question: Your budget was rejected by Senate 97-0 & Dems haven’t produced budget in 700+ days. Where is your economic plan? #AskObama

2. Background: America’s unemployment rate has been near 9 percent for the majority of President Obama’s time in office. While he might have truly believed that trillions of dollars in stimulus, the time has come to admit that he was wrong.

Twitter Question: You said your stimulus plan would keep unemployment below 8%. Do you agree that was a trillion dollars wasted? #AskObama

3. Background: Countries like Greece are experiencing great financial tragedy because they failed to address their overwhelming debt issues. If the U.S. continues federal spending at the current rate, it will face the same scenario, something President Obama doesn’t want to admit. Mandatory spending has increased at more than five times the rate of discretionary spending, and America is headed for fiscal doom without a quick turnaround.

Twitter Question: You said it wasn’t a good idea to raise taxes in a recession but that is all you offer now to fix debt. Why? #AskObama

4. Background: Small business owners are suffering due to burdensome regulations and new requirements in Obamacare. IHOP franchise owner Scott Womack says that “if the health care reform law is not repealed or if the employer mandate doesn’t go away, we’re going to have to take drastic action.” As a Midwestern job creator currently employing nearly 1,000 people, Womack fears regulations like these threaten the livelihood of many employees.

Twitter Question: You’ve added more costly regulations in 2yrs than any of your predecessors, who all reviewed. When will it stop? #AskObama

5. Background: President Obama opened up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to release 30 million barrels of oil onto a market suffering from his moratorium on domestic drilling. His own Energy Information Agency estimates that as a result of the President’s moratorium, we’ll lose 90 million barrels of oil just this year.

Twitter Question: Gas prices are high. We’re losing 90m barrels of oil due to your moratorium, plus jobs. Why release 30m from SPR? #AskObama

Answers, please.

You can follow the Town Hall at AskObama