One on one with President Obama

President Obama got an earful this past week from Americans worried about the state of the economy, during his three-state heartland bus tour. CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason was invited to come along, and now reports our Sunday Morning Cover Story:

The road across the farm fields of Middle America is a long way from Washington and the White House.

This past week, the presidential motorcade cut through the heartland, stopping in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois - three states Barack Obama carried in the last election. But the faltering economy has made voters everywhere uneasy.

Please don't challenge us with more rules and regulations from Washington, D.C.," one town hall participant said.

"This is one of the most painful places I think our country has been in decades or centuries," said another.

"I don't think we should solve this debt crisis on the backs of the middle class," said another.

For three days, the president traveled in the new black, armored bus, commissioned for him by the Secret Service and nicknamed "Ground Force One."

How does he like his new bus? Mr. Obama was asked when we caught up with him in Illinois:

"You know, the bus is terrific, mainly because it allows me to get into places that otherwise we couldn't go," he said.

"It has a slightly Darth Vader quality to it," Mason opined.

"I will say that unless I'm in the front of the bus, people can't see a thing," Mr. Obama laughed.

After the bruising battle to raise the debt ceiling, the president was eager to be seen out here. Mr. Obama was about to escape on a 10-day vacation. But the economy's troubles have proved inescapable:

"This has been a scary summer for a lot of people," Mason said.

"Absolutely," said the president.

"'Cause the stock market, economy's struggling. Should Congress be back in Washington? Should you be going on vacation?"

"Well, no, because I think that, you know, if all we're doing is the same posturing that we saw before the debt limit vote, that's not gonna encourage anybody; that's gonna discourage people," President Obama said. "And the reason I'm out here is to remind people what the expectations of ordinary Americans are. In small towns like this, and in big cities all across America, they are saying to their representatives, 'Stop playing the games and get something done.'"

Complete transcript of Anthony Mason's interview with President Obama

The road into Atkinson, Illinois - population 1100 - was lined with nearly as many American flags.

Larry Eckhardt, who collects Old Glory, had planted them for people awaiting the president's arrival:

"Having an avenue of flags this long - this is about 2-3 miles - it brings a lot of emotion back to them and it kind of jars them awake and makes them realize that hey, it is a great country," Eckhardt said.

The president, who stopped in Atkinson on Wednesday, tried to reassure voters of that, too.

"There's nothing wrong with our country right now; there is something wrong with our politics," he said to applause.

At a town hall meeting in the warehouse of Wyffels Hybrids, a seed corn company, he got an earful about the economy:

"Since the debt ceiling fiasco in Washington," said Luanne Levine, "we have no consumer confidence after what has just happened."

Wyffels employees Fritz Behr, Carlie Elliot Bowman and Jeff Hartz were in the crowd.

When asked by Mason how he felt about his country today, Behr replied, "Concerned. I mean, our political process is scary and the economy is kind of on edge."

Behr voted for Obama in the last election. Hartz and Bowman voted for John McCain

"What would you like to hear from the President, right now?" Mason asked.

"Well, I'd love for him to say that, you know, our economy's going to blossom again," Bowman said.

"And I think, you know, there's a lot of people that are just tired of listening about what we need to do," said Hartz. "They want to see something happen. They want to see the results of all this talk."

When the town hall ended, we met with the president, in a back corner of the Wyffels warehouse:

"This past week your popularity hit a record low," Mason said. "What does that say to you?"

"Well, what it says to me is I'm the President of the United States and when people aren't happy with what's happening in Washington, that I'm gonna be impacted just like Congress is," Mr Obama said. "And you know, I completely understand that, we expected that.

"It frustrates people, understandably, when you've got an unemployment rate that is still too high, an economy that's not growing fast enough. And for me to argue, 'Look, we've actually made the right decisions, things would have been much worse has we not made those decisions,' that's not that satisfying if you don't have a job right now," the president said. "And I understand that, and I expect to be judged a year from now on whether or not things have continued to get better."

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[BuckeyeChuck]

Bottom line is this country would be in so much better shape if Al Gore had been elected in 2000. But the country could have still been saved from the republican/bush depression had the present set of republicans been interested in rebuilding America and not the defeat of Obama. NONE of what Obama wanted to do was enacted including the stimulus every thing had to be weaken to the point of being infective to pass the 60 vote filibuster in the Senate.

Has anyone thought that maybe God is punishing America by giving us these hate filled republicans?

[seenoland]

Oh but then AlGore wouldn't have got his Oscar or his Nobel Prize...of course now Nobel Prizes acrry about as much weight as a prize from a Cracker jack box.

[utahav8r]

I look forward to an equal time piece with Speaker Boehner.

[seenoland]

Rasmussen has Obama at his lowest approval rating yet but you won't find that reported on any LameStream media channel or site. That was all you heard when Bush was in office.

[Ruteger]

I don't care if Bush spent EVERY DAY of presidency on vacation! Are all you Liberals CHILDREN? Bush is not POTUS! Hussein O. is POTUS. He PROMISED us HOPE and CHANGE! Where is the change?

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by insightig August 22, 2011 9:37 AM EDT After laughing my ... off at your comment I decided to ask you a question. While Mr. Bush Jr was president and while he was on vacation after vacation his 8 years (which I remember all of them because I was trying to figure out who was really running the country if the President was never there) where you as upset then as you are now? Congress went on vacation and said they would not come back... Obama stayed and worked out a few major problems on his own... you want to mad be mad at yourself for not knowing how the government actually works. The President has done his job and beyond... Your House on the other hand has not. Government One
would help! .

[Ruteger]

Even God hates Moderates! Rev 3:16

================================================

New Living Translation (©2007)
But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

[lady2b2c]

Mr. Obama is still the President of the United States of America. We should respect that. But he is over his head. Socially and fundamentally, he is out of touch. He could start by creating a dialogue with Congress about reversing outsourcing of US jobs. Make the tax burden to great on those companies that outsource American labor. Case closed. 2nd Medicaid waste. There are private and public sector companies working on solutions. DHS is one of them www.datahealthsystems.com. If the President would look to the private/public sector for help and stop throwing money around, his approval ratings would be reversed. Capitalism is the solution not bigger government.]

[GrannyCares]

*How serious will Obama be about kick starting jobs?

Will he be willing to:
* Get the NLRB out of telling corporations where they can expand, who they can hire, and what benefits they will have to pay?
* Delay any further regulations that will have either a short or long term negative impact on job creation until unemployment reaches 5% nationally?
* Modify the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for U.S. corporations, allowing firms to deduct dividends earned by their foreign subsidiaries from their taxable income? Otherwise, they will be double taxed!
* Aggressively approve oil and natural gas leases throughout the US to both create jobs, and permit DECREASED dependence on foreign sources?
* Voice support for a flat tax to enable businesses - large and small - to have a benchmark to plan on for the future?
* Reduce the top corporate tax rate to 25% (.5% lower than the OECD average) to attract foreign business? At present, the US has the SECOND highest at 39.2% (.3% lower than that of Japan). This would attract foreign business, and could reverse the current trend of moving jobs overseas.

If he is not willing to do the above Gang, then he will be selling WOLF TICKETS to the lambs! DON'T BUY THEM!!

[insightig]

Mom always said: Your President is for Military and your Congress is the one that creates the bills that run the country... always remember your Congress is just as if not more important in your life.

Thank you Obama for doing your job. You sir have done it well... very well!

[insightig]

Your Congress job description... Shows you that you need to really study your Congress as hard as you study your President Candidates:

The congress has varying degrees of responsibility.
The Congress has varying degrees of responsibility, but primarily its purpose is to propose laws, write tax codes, regulate both domestic and foreign trade, maintain a fully funded military and vote to declare war on other nations when it is proposed by the president. A member of congress is also nominated to various committees. A few of interest and popularity are the House Ways and Means Committee that oversees tax legislation, the Senate Banking Committee that monitors the nation's banking industry and the U.S. currency and the Senate Finance Committee, one of the oldest committees in the congress, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid and has extensive oversight powers into health care, tax and trade policy as well as the ability to examine and review existing laws. Many members of Congress find this committee to be the most distinguished.

[insightig]

For those who are confused on what the Presidents job description is:

Executive
The president enforces the laws created by Congress. He is in charge of 15 departments, each headed by a member of his Cabinet. He also leads other federal agencies, such as the CIA.

Legislative
The president cannot make laws by himself. He must create a plan that he believes in and find someone in Congress to introduce legislation. He can lobby members of Congress, usually from his own political party, to vote in favor of his ideas. The president does have the power to approve or veto laws passed by Congress, but Congress can vote to override a veto.

Judicial
The president has the power to appoint judges as well as grant pardons. By carefully selecting replacements for retiring Supreme Court judges, he can shape the way laws are interpreted.

Commander-in-Chief
The president is in charge of the military and must make important decisions regarding national security. He has a team of advisers to guide him, but ultimately the president is in charge of a war.

Global Leader
Many countries look to the United States for leadership regarding important global issues, such as climate change, the economy and health care. The president is expected to attend international summits to work on these issues.

[rjtohio]

It ia unbelievable that the congress and president think we the people are so gullible. Mr. President your low approval is because americans are sick of watching you go on vacation at tax payers expense when we worry about keeping a roof over our heads, jobs, feeding our children, and our government going bankrupt. Congress is just as clueless. Get out of the limos, take the bus like the rest of us. Instead of flying in private plans at tax payers expense buy a coach plane ticket! THESE ARE THE TYPES OF CHANGES AMERICA WANTS TO SEE FROM WASHINGTON! 2012 VOTE them all out of office America!

[insightig]

After laughing my ... off at your comment I decided to ask you a question. While Mr. Bush Jr was president and while he was on vacation after vacation his 8 years (which I remember all of them because I was trying to figure out who was really running the country if the President was never there) where you as upset then as you are now? Congress went on vacation and said they would not come back... Obama stayed and worked out a few major problems on his own... you want to mad be mad at yourself for not knowing how the government actually works. The President has done his job and beyond... Your House on the other hand has not. Government One would help!