Livebloggin' Obama at Facebook

Palo Alto Patch is inside Facebook Headquarters liveblogging Obama's Town Hall event here.

2:16PM

Second question has to do about mortage crisis. How can you assure that low to moderate [income] homebuyers can afford their first home?

This is the biggest drag on our economy, Obama says.

"I think we’ve got to understand that the days where it was really easy to buy a house without any money down is probably over," adding that he is now concerned with making sure the mortgage crisis doesn’t drag down rest of economy, despite how much more difficult it is to buy a home.

2:08PM

Zuckerberg asks first question: what do we do about the debt?

Obama says the nation faces many challenges, including economic, environmental, energy related and technological, but that "I don’t think there’s a problem out there that we can’t solve if we solve it together."

Obama says that the economy was booming when people like Zuckerberg were, "and I'm trying to say this delicately, still in diapers."

"If we can get $1 trillion on the revenue side and $2 trillion in spending cuts, we can invest again in research," which will lead to breakthrough technologies that allow us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

1:56PM

Sanberg says Obama, with 19 million Facebook 'likes', "we feel like he’s coming home, so welcome home Mr. President." Mark Zuckerberg is taking the stage to uproarious applause.

1:54PM

Sheryl Sanberg has just taken the stage to welcome the audience to Obama's first Facebook Town Hall.

1:51PM

President Obama has arrived at Facebook Headquarters. His motorcade drove up California Ave., avoiding about 200 demonstrators who had gathered on Page Mill Road.

1:49PM

President's traveling press corps has arrived.

1:41PM

Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom, Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa, Rep. Ed Honda, Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese and State Controller John Chiang are all sitting shoulder to shoulder in the second row.

1:28PM

Air Force One touched down at exactly 1 p.m. POTUS is on the way!

1:20PM

Gavin Newsom is here, as is Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just walked by. Attendees are being asked to take their seats.

12:53 PM

Cindy Chavez – former Vice Mayor of San Jose – in charge of South Bay Labor Council is talking to Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese.

Nancy Pelosi (D-California 8th) and Anna Eshoo (D-California 14th) is taking pictures with Facebook employees, and Anna Eshoo is hobnobbing with local press.

12:34 p.m.

About 100 credentialed media have gathered next to about 500 Facebook employees and invited White House guests and are awaiting President Obama's arrival.

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President Obama has arrived at San Francisco International Airport
for a visit to the Bay Area today and Thursday.

Air Force One touched down exactly on schedule at 1 p.m.

Several demonstrations are being held in Palo Alto and San Francisco today in response to President Barack Obama's scheduled visits to Facebook headquarters and a fundraiser at the Nob Hill Masonic Center.

More than 100 people gathered outside Palo Alto City Hall at 11 a.m. to call for protecting the nation's social safety net while addressing its budget problems. One of the main groups participating was Sacred Heart Community Service, an organization dedicated to addressing poverty in the Silicon Valley.

Unemployed and low-wage workers discussed how proposed cuts to federal programs would affect them. The demonstrators stood before a large banner created in the image of a Facebook page bearing Obama's photo. It read, "Low-income families need help."

CODEPINK, a grassroots peace and social justice movement, also planned a rally at 11 a.m. in front of Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto to speak out against the Obama administration's foreign policy and war funding, event organizers said.

The Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, or ANSWER, coalition, will protest during the Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Nob Hill Masonic Center in San Francisco at 7 p.m. The group will protest the wars abroad and ask for an end to budget cuts.

The town hall meeting will begin at 1:45 p.m. and will stream on the White House's Facebook page. The actual event with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will not be open to the public.

Obama will answer questions from the public and discuss his fiscal plan. Last week, he said he would reduce the nation's deficit by a cumulative $4 trillion over 12 years, in part by cutting defense spending, reducing health care costs and eliminating tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

Questions for the town hall can be submitted up to and during the event at facebook.com/WhiteHouse or WhiteHouse.gov/facebooktownhall.

—Bay City News contributed to this story