Obama welcomes Twitter to White House

President Obama is hosting his first-ever Twitter Town Hall at the White House. Twitter has culled through thousands of tweets and developed summary questions for Obama. most of them dealing the the economy and jobs.
Some highlights:
2:35 p.m. -- Question 11: Can you give a tax break to a businesses that hire veterans.
Maybe, Obama says; they're looking into it.
2:33 p.m. -- A tenth question deals with help for small businesses.
Obama cites tax incentives and new rules for depreciation and financing.
2:29 p.m. -- Dorsey asks a question from, of all people, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio: Where are the jobs?
Obama jokes "this is a slighly skewed question," but notes that he inherited an economy that was shedding jobs, but now employment is on the rise, though not at a rate people would like. Obama also promotes the business tax cuts he has championed, but chided the GOP for opposition to infrastructure development and other jobs prograns.
"Eventually, I'm sure the Speaker will see the light," Obama adds.
2:26 p.m. -- The eighth question deals with housing -- how do you help people with mortgages that are "under water."
Obama says his team is working with banks and lenders, trying to help alter problem mortgages.
2:24 p.m. -- A seventh questioner asks if Obama will "rectify" new state laws that restrict collective bargaining rights.
Obama defends unions, but says everyone will need to make sacrifices in a tough economy. He says he will work to protect the principle of collective bargaining at the federal level -- but can't do anything about state policies.
2:22 p.m. -- A sixth question is whether Obama will promote alternative energy programs in oil states like Louisiana and Texas?
Obama says he wants to promote new energy in every state.
2:20 p.m. -- Question five: Will there be start-up visas for foreign business people?
We're working on it, Obama says, again touting his plan for comprehensive immigration reform.
2:17 p.m. -- A fourth question -- from "renegade nerd" in Atlanta -- asks Obama if he will order debt payments even if Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling, citing the 14th amendment of the Constitution.
After outlining the debt ceiling dispute with congressional Republicans, Obama says he doesn't think he needs to get to the constitutional issue -- says he expects to strike a deal with Congress in the next few weeks.
Still: he didn't say no.
2:13 p.m. -- Third question: What can be done about the high cost of higher education?

Obama talks about revamping the student loan system, lowering the costs by cutting out banks as middlemen. Obama says he has also eased rules on re-paying student loans. Says he encouraging colleges to keep their costs down.
The president jokes that he knows his Twitter answers should be short, but he can't help himself.
2:11 p.m. -- Second question: Why not talk more about high-tech jobs than manufacturing?
Obama says he wants to promote both sectors. Details some his plans.
2:08 p.m. -- First question: What mistakes have you made on the economy, and what would you have done differently.

Obama defends the stimulus bill and the auto bailout. He doesn't talk about mistakes, but says there are things he would have done differently -- one, explain better to people that recovery would take a long time; second, better housing programs.
2:05 p.m. -- Running a little late, President Obama appears with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who is moderating the event. The crowd claps and whoops it up.

Obama says he wants to make history by being "the first president to live tweet." As Dorsey jokes, "it's only 140 characters," Obama tweets out a question about the deficit -- what costs would you cut and what costs would you keep? We're pretty sure that was directed at the Republicans.
2:00 p.m. -- Our USA TODAY colleague Mimi Hall, who is in the East Room, reports that Obama will be flanked by three big flat television screens.

One screen carries the label "Topic Tracker," and shows that 28% of the questions are about jobs; 18% are about the budget; 17% taxes; 7% education, and 6% housing. A second screen simply says, "Twitter Town Hall @ the White House;" the third features a map of the United States, with dots showing where the questions are coming from.