By Khalida Sarwari and Janna Brancolini
Several demonstrations are planned in Palo Alto and San Francisco today in response to President Obama’s scheduled visits to Facebook headquarters and a fundraiser at the Nob Hill Masonic Center.
Dozens of people are expected to gather at 11 a.m. outside Palo Alto City Hall asking for a solution to the nation’s budget problems that preserves the social safety net, according to event organizers.
Among the groups participating is Sacred Heart Community Service, whose executive director Poncho Guevara is expected to make a speech.
Unemployed and low-wage workers will discuss how proposed cuts to federal programs would prevent them from being self-sufficient, event organizers said.
CODEPINK, a grassroots peace and social justice movement, will hold a rally at 11 a.m. in front of Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto to speak out against the Obama administration’s foreign policy and war funding, event organizers said.
The Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, or ANSWER, coalition, will hold a protest during the Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Nob Hill Masonic Center in San Francisco at 4 p.m. The group will protest the wars abroad and ask for an end to budget cuts.
The town hall meeting will begin at 1:45 p.m. and will stream on the White House’s Facebook page. The actual event with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will not be open to the public.
Obama will answer questions from the public and discuss his fiscal plan. Last week he said would reduce the nation’s deficit by a cumulative $4 trillion over 12 years, in part by cutting defense spending, reducing health care costs and eliminating tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
Questions for the town hall can be submitted up to and during the event at www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse or www.WhiteHouse.gov/facebooktownhall.