President Obama got a few pointed questions at his Montana town hall, but nothing like the shouting matches we have seen elsewhere.
Obama disputed one man's assertion that he could not pay for his health care proposals, and repeated his claim he would not raise taxes on people making less than $250,000 a year.
"You are absolutely right that I can't cover another 46 million people for free," Obama told the man. "You're right. I can't do that. So we're going to have to find some resources."
The president also chided television news for its coverage of the raucous town halls featuring Democratic members of Congress. "T.V. loves a ruckus," he said. "What you haven't seen on T.V. and what makes me proud are the many constructive meetings going on all over the country ... That's how democracy's supposed to work."
Here's some play-by-play from the town hall in Belgrade, Montana, a suburb of Bozeman:
3:00 p.m.- A little news already: Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is speaking. Baucus and Obama have argued about how to finance a new health care plan, and Baucus was not on the agenda a few days ago. Baucus rips the "dishonesty" of Obama's health care critics.
3:07 p.m. - "Hello, Montana!" the president exclaims. He lauds Baucus for "working tirelessly."
3:10 p.m. - Obama butters up the crowd with a Montana/Washington, D.C. joke -- "here in Montana you've got bears and moose and elk. And in Washington, you just have mostly bull."
3:13 p.m.- Obama's remarks hit on the theme of the day -- people who lose health insurance because they get sick or develop a medical condition. The president vows to fix this problem (and again praises Baucus for his efforts)
3:19 p.m. - The president defends the spending in his $787 billion stimulus bill, the si