President Obama’s microphone was accidentally left on at a fundraiser on Thursday, relaying to a reporter from CBS Radio some candid comments on his budget—and how the White House is still living in a technological stone age.
Obama attended this week’s event in Chicago and—unbeknownst to him—had his afterthoughts broadcast to the White House press room thanks to the accidental leak of an audio feed. CBS correspondent Mark Knoller managed to catch Obama’s remarks and has since released the sound bytes to the web.The president’s thoughts on the budget compromise and health care shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Though a slip of the tongue could have proved problematic to his presidency—and catastrophic to his upcoming campaign—Obama didn’t indiscreetly unload a smoking gun.He did, however, slam the White House’s inability to modernize.“When it comes to technology, we are like 30 years behind,’” says Obama in Knoller’s clips. “Come on, guys. I’m the president of the United States. Where’s the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up. It doesn’t happen.’”Apparently the bowling alley and basketball court isn’t enough for Mr. Obama, who seems to think that the commander in chief’s residence should be less like the days of Reagan and more like the Batcave. On the topic of the budget, Obama didn’t unearth anything new. "I said, 'You want to repeal health care?'" asks the president. "Go at it. We'll have that debate. You're not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. ““You think we're stupid?'" asked Obama to his private audience, to which audible laughter is evident on the feed.