"The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions."
At the same time, President Obama went on to say, he doesn't plan to interfere with Iran's internal affairs.
"This is not about the United States and the West; this is about the people of Iran, and the future that they, and only they, will choose."
On the domestic front, a recent ABC News / Washington Post poll shows the president has some heavy lifting to do when it comes to convincing Americans "yes we can" to his economic initiative and health care reform. 52 percent of respondents believe President Obama's first major legislation, the $787 billion stimulus package, has made no difference in the economy. 19 percent said it has hurt the economy.
"The economy right now is really the issue. People are scared people are scared about their own jobs their family jobs their houses their health care," said Cokie Roberts with ABC News.
The president faces opposition from both sides of the aisle on the current efforts to reform it. Some say it won't cover enough Americans and will be too expensive. But the president says reform is not a luxury. He called it a necessity.
"Unless we act, one out of every five dollars we earn will be spent on health care within a decade. And the amount our government spends on Medicare and Medicaid will eventually grow larger than what our government spends on anything else today."
Some estimates have produced price tags ranging from $1 to $1.6 trillion over ten years.
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