Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

President Obama Tells Crowd He's Done 60% of What He Wants to Do

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

President Obama has had a busy 24 hours in Los Angeles. So far, he's spoken at two fundraising dinners in Hancock Park, eaten some classic SoCal fare, and is now heading to NBC studios to tape a segment with Jay Leno.

We won't know what he says to Leno until later, but CBS News reports that during his dinners, the President laid out what he's accomplished so far during his tenure in the Oval Office. At his second fundraiser of the night, held at the home of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, he made note of his work on health care reform, financial reform and pulling the troops out of Iraq.

That, he said, was 60% of what he hoped to accomplish in office. ""I'm pretty confident we can get the next 40 percent done in the next five years," he added.

Earlier in the evening, at a $35,800 a head fundraiser held at the home of film producer James Lassiter and his wife Mai Lassiter, Obama told the crowd that the next campaign wouldn't be as "sexy" as the first.

"Back then it was still fresh and new," he said. "I didn't have any gray hair. Everybody loved the 'Hope' posters and all that. This time it's -we've got to grind it out a little bit. We've got to grind it out. But the cause is the same. And my passion is the same. And my commitment is the same.''

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today