01/27/2012

Good afternoon,

Today, I was in Michigan. Yesterday, it was Colorado and Nevada. Before that, it was Iowa and Arizona. The day after I delivered my State of the Union Address to Congress, I took off to connect with ordinary Americans around the country, talk more about our Blueprint for an America Built to Last, and get some feedback.

That's why I'm writing you.

On Monday we're going to do something a little different. At 5:30 p.m. ET, I'll walk into the Roosevelt Room across the hall from the Oval Office, take a seat, and kick-off the first-ever completely virtual town hall from the White House.

All week, people have been voting on questions and submitting their own, and a few of them will join me for a live chat.

What do you want to ask me?

This is going to be an exciting way to talk about the steps that we need to take together at this make-or-break moment for the middle class.

We have to foster a new era for American manufacturing -- rewarding companies for keeping jobs here at home and eliminating tax breaks for those who ship jobs overseas. We have to invest in homegrown energy in the United States -- starting with an all-out, all-of-the-above energy strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs. We have to build an economy that works for everyone -- where every hard working American gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and the rules are the same from top to bottom.

I'm ready to get started, but I know you have questions and ideas for ways to help. So let's hear them:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sotu-questions

Thanks,

President Barack Obama