Town Hall Free-For-Alls; President Obama: 'The Worst May Be Behind Us'; Should You Junk Your Clunker?
MAX PAPPAS, FREEDOMWORKS: We don't want them to yell and shout down people. We want them to try to talk to the congressmen.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But some Democrats say Max Pappas' conservative group, FreedomWorks, doesn't want that at all. Some claim it urges its thousands of members to participate not in a discussion about health care reform, but a shout- down.</s>PAPPAS: You get some instances where people are so passionate about what's going on, that they get caught up in the emotions. And instead of having a civil discussion, they do start yelling or chanting, but that's only because they're passionate about this.</s>COSTELLO: But Democrats say plenty of likeminded organizations want it to work out that way. That's why RecessRally.com lists where town hall meetings will be held, or why Operation Embarrass Your Congressman celebrates making lawmakers look foolish. Though you could argue those sites don't leave out Republicans. There is one senator who was shouted down himself down at a town hall meeting who says all of this doesn't matter.</s>SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (D), PENNSYLVANIA: My preference would be to have it more sedate but, listen, democracy is robust, can be rough and tumble. And nothing really surprises me anymore.</s>COSTELLO (on camera): But other lawmakers are adjusting, holding teleconferences instead of town hall meetings and talking one on one with constituents at places like senior citizen centers. They say they want an intelligent conversation. Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.</s>FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And now comes word that organized labor plans to go head to head with anti-reform activists. And we have to wonder, is this any way to set policy affecting every single American. Is it even possible to ratchet down the rhetoric? Carrie Budoff Brown is a reporter for Politico.com who has written on this at length. And so, Carrie, give me an idea. I understand the White House has actually been prepping Democrats to brace for this kind of behavior.</s>CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN, POLITICO: Exactly. I mean, there were -- this week, with the House already on recess, you had the Senate prepare three days' worth of meetings. And at every meeting, it was sort of a going out there, trying to prepare senators, giving them tips yesterday. Two top White House officials came to the Senate, showed clips of some of these town halls, and advised them to really prepare for these events, which, maybe in the past, they would just call a meeting and see who shows up and hope for the best. But now, they are advising senators to prepare for them, meaning reaching out to your supporters, get them to come there, and prepare your supporters in case there is some sort of confrontation. There can be sort of counterbalance. So there's a lot more thought going into these town halls than I think we've seen.</s>WHITFIELD: And part of that -- and is it true that part of that preparation also means trying to direct the dialogue? I guess the emphasis the White House wants made by the Democrats is for them to concentrate these conversations on what it means to insured Americans, as opposed to what it means to the uninsured. Why would that make a difference?</s>BROWN: Well, absolutely. The advice that was given to the senators, there was a lot of messaging. And David Axlerod, a senior adviser at the White House, passed out polling data that showed these are the popular messaging tips. You should emphasize that consumer protections, that individuals will not lose their insurance if they have a pre-existing condition, that their out-of-pocket costs for health care will be limited. The idea is to steer the conversation to proposals that are popular, and away from the controversial proposals such as the public option, which draws a lot of criticism. So, Democrats were encouraged to talk about insurance reforms. They called it consumer protection to try to appeal to a couple of demographics -- women, Independents, rural voters.</s>WHITFIELD: Is there any real dialogue or even concern as it pertains to the White House and Democrats talking about health care reform as to who might be at the root of these disruptions, or is that distracting from the message that Democrats want out?</s>BROWN: Well, there has been a lot of discussion about that this week. And definitely, the Democratic Party leadership has promoted the idea that these are groups that are being organized by Washington lobbyists. I think we have heard some senators yesterday, though, say, look, there are people out there with legitimate concerns. People are not happy. We need to listen to them. And it is throwing the Democrats off their game a little bit. This is not, I believe, what they expected going into this recess. I think they expected some of this give-and-take, but to this level, I think it's caught them off guard.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. It's going to be a long, hot August. Right?</s>BROWN: It seems like it that way so far.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Carrie Budoff Brown, thanks so much, of Politico.com. Appreciate your time.</s>BROWN: Thank you for having me, Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Well, here's a health care fact that no one disputes these days -- fraud drives up costs for everybody. CNN's Allan Chernoff digs into that later on this hour. And the worst may be behind us. A guarded prognosis on the U.S. economy from the man elected to fix it. As you saw here live last hour, President Obama talked about an unexpected dip in the nation's unemployment rate and other recent signs the recession just might be easing. CNN's Dan Lothian joins me now from the White House. All right, Dan, talked to Jared a little bit earlier, Jared Bernstein, who says the White House is trying not to celebrate or gloat too much, but at the same time, they don't want to, I guess, undersell these little glimmers of hope.</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, there is no celebration going on here at the White House, and they've always been very cautious when talking about the direction that they believe this recovery is going in. But it was interesting to listen to the president, the remarks that he made not long ago, really striking what sounded like a very strong, optimistic tone about the direction of the economy. I just wrote down some of the quotes that really jumped out at me. The first one, "The worst may be behind us." He also said today, "We are pointed in the right direction." Then there was, "As we begin to put an end to this recession," and then ended with, "We can see a light at the end of the tunnel." Certainly, the president, this White House encouraged by the unemployment numbers, but still thinking that there's still a lot more work to be done.</s>BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a lot further to go. As far as I am concerned, we will not have a true recovery as long as we're losing jobs. And we won't rest until every American that is looking for work can find a job. I have no doubt that we can make these changes. It won't be easy though. Change is hard, especially in Washington. We have a steep mountain to climb and we started in a very deep valley. But I have faith in the American people and their capacity for hard work and innovation, and their commitment to one another, and their courage to face adversity.</s>LOTHIAN: At his morning gaggle, spokesman Robert Gibbs says that he still expects the unemployment numbers to hit double digits at some point in the future. And the analogy that he uses is a patient that had a life-threatening illness. He says that patient has now been stabilized but they will have good days and bad days -- Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian at the White House. Thanks so much. Appreciate that. All right. More now on those job numbers. Analysts expected unemployment would keep going up and layoffs in July would top 300,000. Instead, employers cut 247,000 jobs, the fewest since last August. And the jobless rate fell from 9.5 to 9.4 percent. The rate had not dropped since April of last year. All right. So, before you celebrate, analysts say the drop is due, in part, to job seekers actually giving up and dropping out of the labor force, or perhaps just taking part-time work. But Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says jobs are out there.</s>HILDA SOLIS, LABOR SECRETARY: Here's an opportunity now to look in health careers and IT, and also those other emerging industries. We're starting to see some uptick, for example, in health care, allied health care careers, and also in IT, but also renewable energy. You've got to think about those people that lost their jobs, that may not be coming back here, but could get into, say, solar energy types of positions, and also any renewable energy type of job that could help provide them with a lasting income and one that will hopefully bring them up anywhere from 10 percent to 20 percent in their earnings. And that's something that's realistic. And the president just this week issued $2.4 billion in the creation of lithium batteries. So, we are putting money towards the research and development and there will be job creation.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. As White House Correspondent Dan Lothian just reported, the administration still expects unemployment to rise, perhaps hitting 10 percent before the recovery takes hold. All right. Millions of you graded President Obama on his 200 days for CNN's "National Report Card." In about 20 minutes, we'll get the tally from CNN's Tom Foreman. And for now, Cash for Clunkers gets an incomplete. Earlier today, President Obama signed off on a $2 billion extension of the rebate program, but does that mean that you should rush to junk your clunkers? Let's bring in Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis.</s>GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi there, Fred. The bottom line is that one of the reasons the U.S. automakers is in trouble now is because people took out car loans they simply couldn't afford. Last year, almost 25 percent of Americans who bought a new car still had an average almost $4,500 in negative equity when they trade it in. Here are some rules of thumb when it comes to figuring out if you can afford a new car. First off, your monthly payment shouldn't be more than your 20 percent of your after-tax monthly income. And keep in mind, I'm not even talking about gas, insurance, or maintenance. Stick to a loan term of 48 months, don't go out 60. And finally, aim to put down 20 percent. Now, this reduces the size of your loan and your monthly payment. You can calculate how much you can afford at Edmunds.com. And if you do want to take advantage of Cash for Clunkers, don't forget there are other goodies on the table. On top of the government rebate, some dealerships are offering cash incentives to get you to buy. You may also qualify for cash rebates because you're affiliated with a specific employer, credit union or university. And don't forget that a lot of new car buyers will also qualify for a federal income tax reduction. Back to you.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Gerri. A painful reminder of America's racist past -- the hangman's noose. One state moves to bar its display, but there is a loophole.