STATUS UPDATE

Obama Makes Debt Pitch at Facebook

Tells Zuckerberg he wants to raise his taxes.

Barack Obama is now friends with Mark Zuckerberg. The two powerful men sat down Wednesday at a town hall event at the headquarters of Zuckerberg’s company, where the president tackled questions about the recent wave of Arab revolutions, how to provide access to new technologies, and how to bring down the U.S. deficit. For the latter topic, Obama pitched the idea of raising taxes on the wealthy—meaning people like himself and Zuckerberg. “I’m cool with that,” Zuckerberg replied, to laughter. “I know you’re cool with that,” Obama replied. The president also vigorously defended health-care reform, citing the law as essential to bringing down future public debt. The forum was mostly comprised of young voters (Obama joked that they were “in diapers” during the Clinton years), which is seen by many as Obama’s attempt to start reconnecting with young voters for his re-election campaign.