Obama faces online questioning

US president answers web queries on economy in White House online “meeting”.

More than 100,000 questions were submittedfor the meeting [Reuters]

“We’re still going to be in a difficult time for much of this year.”

Submitted queries

Obama had earlier vowed to use technology to make government more accountable, and launched a new website about his new administration only two days after winning the presidential election last November.

Some of the questions already submitted to Obama dealt with outsourcing, government bailouts and the stimulus package.

However, Obama also answered a question regarding a request to legalise marijuana, saying he did not think that legalising the drug was a good strategy for turning around the US economy.

The administration of George Bush, the former US president and Obama’s predecessor, also took questions on the White House’s website.

Source: News Agencies