Barack Obama

Talking to the Senator

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER
Steve Horrell

Obama hosts town hall meeting

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama conducted a town hall meeting at Lewis and Clark Community College, and on Tuesday about 430 people showed up.

It lasted for an hour, but it was long enough for the recently-elected Democratic Senator to answer such questions as whether it would be a good idea for President Bush to release oil reserves to counter rising gasoline prices ("I would not be in favor of that . . . we have those for strategic reasons . . . ") to an Alton woman's query about what can be done about a noisy construction crew in her neighborhood (Obama: "Find one of your council members and corner them before they can sneak out of here").

It was Obama's 28th town hall meeting in Illinois since he assumed the office in January.

The 44-year-old won in a landslide last year and was tabbed to give the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention.

The Senate, he said in opening remarks, is "filled with a lot of bright people" who "don't always get along as well as they should."

Before taking questions he remarked on his status as "99th out of 100" senators, in seniority. "The day I arrived, they handed me some pencils to sharpen."

Carmen Littleton, a recently-retired teacher who lives in Dorsey, asked him the first question. "One of the things that zapped the joy of teaching out of me the last few years has been"No Child Left Behind," she began.

"I just wanted to know whether there is any legislation pending now, or any changes, or do you know how it is going in the Senate?"

Obama responded that while the goals of accountability, measurable standards, and the need to improve public school education are laudable, the execution and design have been "problematic." The problem, he continued, is that schools that don't meet the act's standards are labeled failures regardless of where they started and how much progress they have made. "They don't take into account what the starting line was," he said.

His snappier response -- "George Bush left the money behind for No Child Left Behind" -- drew applause.

After a while, Obama fielded a question from Chantay Williams, who lives in Glen Carbon and teaches at Lewis and Clark, and Mike Schuette, a St. Rose resident. Schuette, who volunteers for Catholic Charities of Southern Illinois, asked Obama whether anything could be done to cut the waiting time for inmates looking to get their GEDs. "There's a waiting list," Schuette said. "I was just wondering whether you have any suggestions?"

Obama responded that most prisons are state-run and that he has been "trying to see if they can do some things in the federal system." Obama used the question to remind the audience that he is not "soft on crime" and that he has no patience with lawbreakers. Still, he said, "most of those people are going to be released and there needs to be a mechanism to change their lives around . . . "

Obama drove to the town hall meeting in a black GMC Yukon XL. After responding to a question posed by an Alton man, Johnathon Forbes, about tapping into the country's oil reserves, Obama mentioned his role in getting a provision added to the recent Energy bill that provides a tax credit incentive for businesses that add E-85 fuel pumps to their gas station. E-85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petroleum gasoline.

Statewide, about 60 gas stations offer E-85 pumps.

Outside the auditorium, Obama criticized the president for responding to higher gasoline prices with short-term answers. "I'm a tall man, and I understand people's preferences for big, comfortable vehicles," he added. "I don't mean we all have to drive around in Volkswagen bugs, but it does mean we're going to have to be smarter."