Obama news conference: What to expect tonight

We'll be live blogging President Obama's third prime-time news conference, due to begin at 5 p.m. Pacific time. (For those reading from overseas, that's about midnight GMT.)  He will make a short statement, followed by questions from pesky reporters.

Excerpts released early show that he'll acknowledge the swine flu situation, which he will call "the H1N1 flu virus."

He will also address the economy, naturally, and tout his successes so far: his Recovery Act, which he says has saved or created "over 150,000 jobs" as well as provided tax breaks to 95% of "all working families"; passage of a law that extends healthcare coverage to 11 million children of working parents; and a housing plan that has lead to a spike in mortgage refinances.

Echoing comments he made earlier today at a town hall meeting, above, at a high school in Arnold, Mo., he will blame the country's woes on an "economy that was built on a pile of sand -- on inflated home prices and maxed-out credit cards, on overleveraged banks and outdated regulations."

He will call for -- and this was capitalized in the excerpts sent out by the White House -- a "New Foundation ... that will strengthen our economy and help us compete in the 21st century."

He will close his prepared remarks with a stirring promise that might not go down so well with the anti-immigration crowd: "We will endure as a beacon for all those weary travelers beyond our shores who still dream that this is a place where all is possible."

And then he will ask for questions, which is when the fun will start.

-- Robin Abcarian 

Photo: President Obama today in Arnold, Mo. Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Click here to register for automatic Twitter alertsof each new Ticket item. Or follow us   @latimestot