West Wing Week: "The Men in Blue Jumpsuits"

Posted by White House

Thanks for checking out the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, walk step by step with the President as he fights for campaign finance reform, boosts small business, meets with Space Shuttle Atlantis astronauts, commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, welcomes the 2009 Softball World Series champions, makes an appearance on The View and much more.

Find more video, photos, and information on the events featured in this episode below:
Monday, July 26, 2010

• The President speaks about limiting special interests and the DISCLOSE Act
• The President thanks Space Shuttle Atlantic astronauts
• The President commemorates the 20'th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

• The President meets with bi-partisan leadership in Congress

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

• The President speaks about small businesses and apple pie in Edison, New Jersey

Thursday, July 29, 2010

• The President speaks about education 
 

The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010: A Step Forward for Native Women

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The President just signed the Tribal Law and Order Act -- an important step to help the Federal Government better address the unique public safety challenges that confront tribal communities.

According to a Department of Justice report, Native American women suffer from violent crime at a rate three and a half times greater than the national average. Astoundingly, one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetimes. At the White House Tribal Nations Conference in November 2009, President Obama stated that this shocking figure "is an assault on our national conscience that we can no longer ignore."

Last week, Congress took another important step to improve the lives of Native American women by passing the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010. The Act includes a strong emphasis on decreasing violence against women in Native communities, and is one of many steps this Administration strongly supports to address the challenges faced by Native women.

The stipulations in the Act that will benefit Native women reflect several Administration priorities. The Act will strengthen tribal law enforcement and the ability to prosecute and fight crime more effectively. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act will require that a standardized set of practices be put in place for victims of sexual assault in health facilities. Now, more women will get the care they need, both for healing and to aid in the prosecution of their perpetrators.

Victims of domestic violence and sexual assault will now more often encounter authorities who have been trained to handle such cases. The Act expands training of tribal enforcement officers on the best ways to interview victims of domestic and sexual violence and the importance of collecting evidence to improve rates of conviction. The Director of Indian Health Services will coordinate with the Department of Justice, Tribes, Tribal organizations and urban Indian organizations to develop standardized sexual assault policies and protocols.

Special Assistant US Attorneys will be deputized under the Act to prosecute reservation crimes in Federal courts, and tribes will be given greater authority to hold perpetrators accountable. These provisions help to increase communication between tribal law enforcement, Federal authorities and the court system. As numbers of convictions grow, more women may be willing to report the abuses against them so that their abusers may be prosecuted.

However, the Act focuses not only on prosecution but also on prevention. It reauthorizes and improves programs to prevent and treat alcohol and substance abuse, as well as programs that improve opportunities for at-risk Indian youth. Getting men and boys involved in stopping the violence against women and girls is an important step to ending it everywhere, giving youth a chance to change their own futures.

This Act, combined with the great work that Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice are doing to combat violence in American Indian/Alaska Native communities, is an important step towards our Administration’s priority of ending violence against women and girls, and making Native communities safer and more secure. One in three is a statistic that is intolerable, and the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 will help to change that.

President Obama on Education: “The Status Quo is Morally Inexcusable”

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Today, President Obama delivered an address on education at the Urban League’s 100th Anniversary Convention highlighting the steps his Administration has taken over the past eighteen months to improve the education system in America. The President stated that education reform is a top priority for his Administration because the “status quo is morally inexcusable, it’s economically indefensible, and all of us are going to have to roll up our sleeves to change it.”

The President began his remarks by discussing the importance of education for the success of our economy and our nation:

I know some argue that as we emerge from a recession, my administration should focus solely on economic issues. They said that during health care as if health care had nothing to do with economics; said it during financial reform as if financial reform had nothing to do with economics; and now they're saying it as we work on education issues. But education is an economic issue -- if not “the” economic issue of our time.
It’s an economic issue when the unemployment rate for folks who’ve never gone to college is almost double what it is for those who have gone to college. It’s an economic issue when eight in 10 new jobs will require workforce training or a higher education by the end of this decade. It’s an economic issue when countries that out-educate us today are going to out-compete us tomorrow.

Many of the jobs of the 21st century will require college degrees, and the President stressed the importance making higher education both accessible and affordable:

Now, because a higher education has never been more important –- or more expensive -– it’s absolutely essential that we put a college degree within reach for anyone who wants it. And that’s why we’re making higher education more affordable, so we can meet the goals I’ve set of producing a higher share of college graduates than any other nation by 2020. I want us to be back at number one instead of number 12.
And in pursuit of that goal, we eliminated taxpayer subsidies to big banks. We saved tens of billions of dollars, and we used those savings to open the door to additional financial aid -- to open the door for college to millions more students. This is something that a lot of you may not be aware of, but we have added tens of billions of dollars that were going to bank middlemen, so that that money is now going to students -- millions more students who are getting scholarships to go to college. That’s already been done.

The President also highlighted the Race to the Top program – an initiative to encourages states to reform their education laws and policies to compete for additional federal grand dollars:

And so far, the results have been promising and they have been powerful. In an effort to compete for this extra money, 32 states reformed their education laws before we even spent a dime. The competition leveraged change at the state level. And because the standards we set were high, only a couple of states actually won the grant in the first round, which meant that the states that didn’t get the money, they’ve now strengthened their applications, made additional reforms. Now 36 have applied in the second round, and 18 states plus the District of Columbia are in the running to get a second grant.

Some critics of Race to the Top have voiced concerns that the program doesn’t do enough to help minority children, a charge the President address head-on in his remarks:

Let me tell you, what’s not working for black kids and Hispanic kids and Native American kids across this country is the status quo. That's what’s not working. What’s not working is what we’ve been doing for decades now.
So the charge that Race to the Top isn’t targeted at those young people most in need is absolutely false because lifting up quality for all our children -- black, white, Hispanic -- that is the central premise of Race to the Top. And you can’t win one of these grants unless you’ve got a plan to deal with those schools that are failing and those young people who aren’t doing well. Every state and every school district is directly incentivized to deal with schools that have been forgotten, been given up on.

The President also addressed how the Race to the Top program helps teachers and students by providing the support teachers need to be successful while still holding them accountable for results in the classroom:

The whole premise of Race to the Top is that teachers are the single most important factor in a child’s education from the moment they step into the classroom. And I know firsthand that the vast majority of teachers are working tirelessly, are passionate about their students, are often digging into their own pockets for basic supplies, are going above and beyond the call of duty.
So I want teachers to have higher salaries. I want them to have more support. I want them to be trained like the professionals they are –- with rigorous residencies like the ones that doctors go through. I want to give them a career ladder so they’ve opportunities to advance, and earn real financial security. I don't want talented young people to say I’d love to teach but I can’t afford it.
…
So I am 110 percent behind our teachers. But all I’m asking in return -- as a President, as a parent, and as a citizen -- is some measure of accountability. So even as we applaud teachers for their hard work, we’ve got to make sure we’re seeing results in the classroom. If we’re not seeing results in the classroom, then let’s work with teachers to help them become more effective. If that doesn’t work, let’s find the right teacher for that classroom.

Finally, the President addressed the issue of raising standards for students, teachers and schools to help achieve better outcomes:

So here’s what Race to the Top says: Instead of Washington imposing standards from the top down, let’s challenge states to adopt common standards voluntarily, from the bottom up. That doesn’t mean more standards; it means higher standards, better standards, standards that clarify what our teachers are expected to teach and what our children are expected to learn -– so high school graduates are actually prepared for college and a career. I do not want to see young people get a diploma but they can’t read that diploma.
Now, so far, about 30 states have come together to embrace and develop common standards, high standards. More states are expected to do so in the coming weeks. And by the way, this is different from No Child Left Behind, because what that did was it gave the states the wrong incentives. A bunch of states watered down their standards so that school districts wouldn’t be penalized when their students fell short. And what’s happened now is, at least two states -– Illinois and Oklahoma –- that lowered standards in response to No Child Behind -- No Child Left Behind -- are now raising those standards back up, partly in response to Race to the Top.

The American Auto Industry: A Comeback Story

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Over the next week, the President will travel to Detroit and Chicago where he will meet with auto workers and tour plants of each of the big three auto makers. His trips offer an opportunity to take stock of where the industry stands this summer.

A little more than one year ago, the entire industry was on the edge of failure. Plants were being closed, jobs were being lost, and America’s future role as a leading producer of vehicles in the global marketplace was in question. We’re now starting to see real signs of recovery. While there is still a long way to go, the progress to date is far beyond what most observers thought possible a year ago. The industry is creating jobs and American auto companies are addressing past failures, restoring financial discipline and returning to profitability. Today, the White House released a new report cataloguing some of these early signs of success.

• Read the report (pdf).

In addition to stabilizing the industry and addressing the hardship faced by communities that lost auto plants and the jobs they provided, the Administration has been focused on making long-term investments across the country that will make the U.S. a home base for the design and production of the next generation of innovative vehicle technologies. This new interactive map shows where these key investments have been made and the types of projects that will ensure the vehicles of the future are made in America.

• View the interactive version of the map below.

A Common Sense Approach to Cranes, Derricks and the Safety of America's Construction Workers

Posted by White House

Each year, close to 100 workers are killed, and hundreds more are injured in workplace incidents involving cranes and derricks in construction. These incidents and their catastrophic impact on the lives of workers and families in America are preventable. For the first time in nearly forty years, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced new rules to do just that.

Yesterday, after years of extensive research, consultation and negotiation with industry experts, OSHA announced the publication of a new rule covering the use of cranes and derricks in construction. This long overdue rule addresses the key hazards related to cranes and derricks on construction worksites, including the four main causes of worker death and injury.

Applying standards created in 1971 to the construction sites of 2010 just didn’t make sense. The work has changed and the equipment has certainly changed. Stakeholders from the construction industry recognized the need to update the safety requirements, methods and practices for cranes and derricks, and to incorporate technological advances in order to provide improved protection for workers.

The new standards are designed to ensure that workers are properly trained and certified to operate equipment, and that employers make appropriate assessments and inspections on site before doing do. These common sense updates will lead to better safety for approximately 4.8 million workers employed at 267,000 construction, crane rental and crane certification establishments.

The new standards were developed with input from manufacturers, trade associations, unions, academic experts, and other stakeholders, and as a result everyone has something to gain. Compliance with the rule will prevent needless injuries and deaths, provide better protection to the publicand drive down the workers compensation rates for employers.

Additional information on the proposed new rule including links to OSHA fact sheets, the text of the rule in the Federal Register, and video testimonials are available online at www.osha.gov.

Biennial of the Americas Seeks Answers to Tough Energy, Climate Challenges

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Cross posted from the DOT blog.

Today was a great day to be in Colorado. First, I toured a Federal Railroad Administration facility--the work the FRA crew is doing there really deserves its own blog post, so stay tuned for that one next week.

Then, I learned about an exciting new municipal bike-sharing program in Denver with 43 bike stations and more than 400 bikes spread around the city. Mayor Hickenlooper and I even had a chance to test the system by checking out a pair of bicycles and riding them to another station.

But what really drew me to Denver was the Biennial of the Americas, a month-long celebration of the Western Hemisphere. I was there for the Americas Roundtable on Energy and Climate Change: Designing Answers for Today's Challenges and to discuss how DOT is working to manage those challenges.

Why is a Transportation Secretary at an energy and climate change roundtable? Because the transportation sector accounts for two-thirds of of US oil use and contributes about one-third of our greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, transportation professionals have a special obligation to take action. The good news is that transportation's pressure on these twin problems creates an obvious opportunity for our sector to help work toward solutions.

Now, we know that there's no silver bullet for ending our reliance on petroleum or solving the climate crisis overnight. But the Obama Administration is putting America on a new path toward sustainability and a cleaner environment. Best of all, we're doing that while building more vibrant, livable communities for American families. Communities that feature more--not fewer--transportation options.

Here's a sampling of the actions I shared:

• Raising fuel-economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks to 35.5 mpg by 2016
• Treating biking and walking as valid and valued elements of our transportation network
• Realigning the criteria for transit funds to re-emphasize making our lives and our commutes--better, not just faster
• Beginning to build a high speed passenger rail system
• Increasing fuel-efficiency in aviation through the NextGen air traffic control system
• Supporting development of renewable and alternative energy sources for transportation

I've logged thousands of miles in the past 18 months, and the fact is that Americans are excited about these changes. They're telling me everywhere I go that they want policies that bring affordable housing and transit closer together. They want investments in sidewalks and bike paths and light rail. They want more options--sustainable, efficient and affordable options--for getting from one place to another.

Americans are ready for change; our energy and climate challenges demand change; and the Obama Administration's DOT is bringing it.

The President on Small Businesses: "This is as American as Apple Pie"

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President Obama traveled to Edison, New Jersey today where he met with a group of small business owners at Tastee Sub Shop to discuss the economy and urge Congress to pass support for small businesses, the engines of private sector job growth. In his remarks following the meeting, the President spoke about the idea guiding the small business legislation that the Senate is expected to vote on this week.

The recession has meant that folks are spending less. It means that small businesses have had a tougher time getting credit and getting loans. And that’s why when I took office, we put in place an economic plan specifically to help small businesses. And we were guided by a simple idea: Government can’t guarantee success, but it can knock down barriers that keep entrepreneurs from opening or expanding.

The President explained how the small business legislation would help businesses grow and hire more workers:

If this bill becomes law, small businesses and start-ups will see the positive benefits right away. It eliminates capital gains taxes for key investments in small firms. It will increase the deductions that small businesses can take for new equipment and other expenses.

In closing, the President confronted the partisan political atmosphere in Washington, urging both Democrats and Republicans to come together behind the legislation for all of the small businesses in America.

Now, let me just make one last point. I know it’s no secret that we’ve confronted a lot of partisan politics over the past year and a half. We’ve seen a fair amount of obstruction that’s had more to do with gaining political advantage than helping the country. But surely, Democrats and Republicans ought to be able to agree on this bill. When I had a conversation with Mitch McConnell and John Boehner yesterday, I told them that the provisions of this bill are things that the Republican Party has said it’s supported for years: helping small businesses, cutting taxes, making credit available. This is as American as apple pie. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are central to our identity as a nation. They are going to lead this recovery. The folks standing beside me are going to lead this recovery.

Summertime Means Construction, Jobs for Ohioans

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Cross-posted from the U.S. Department of Transportation blog

Few things say summer like a state fair. And, as a graduate from the nearby University of Dayton, I was thrilled to take part in today's opening of the 157th Ohio State Fair with Governor Ted Strickland.

A proud Buckeye tradition, the Ohio State Fair has delighted locals and visitors since 1850. Last year alone, over 800,000 people turned out to take part in the livestock competitions, concerts, rides, and butter sculptures that make up a true state fair experience.

But, summertime doesn't just mean fun times on the fairgrounds -- it's also construction season. Just last month, President Obama and Secretary LaHood were only a few miles from the Ohio Expo Center to break ground on the Recovery Act's 10,000th road project.

While he was there, the President said: "If we're going to rebuild America's economy, we have to rebuild America, period." Work crews across Ohio and across America are doing just that.

The Summer of Recovery is in full swing.

For Ohio, this means more than $1.1 billion for 470 road, bridge, transit and airport projects that will move people and goods across the state more safely and efficiently than ever before.

The Obama Administration's $8 billion Recovery Act investment in high speed rail also promises big changes for Ohio, with $400 million for 250 miles of new track along the "3C Corridor" between Cleveland and Cincinnati.

To date, more than 30 foreign and domestic rail manufacturers and suppliers have agreed to establish or expand their operations in states like Ohio, where there's a willing work force and plenty of factory space. So high speed rail lines in Ohio and elsewhere will create jobs right here at home.

We also know that investing in our rural areas is important. And the Recovery Act is enabling us to:

• Make hundreds of loan guarantees to help rural businesses get back on their feet;
• Improve access to the Appalachian region through new highway constructions that support current and future commerce;
• Invest in broadband projects that will finally connect rural households, hospitals, and schools to the internet;
• Purchase buses and expand transit services in rural communities; and
• Provide over $1 billion for renewable energy projects that put rural America on the cutting-edge of research into bio-fuels and create green jobs.

The Recovery Act has already saved or created over 117,000 jobs in Ohio. And that's just a snapshot from one state. Similar stories are playing out across the country, and there's much more to come.

As the Summer of Recovery continues, the Obama Administration and DOT are committed to making it a little easier for families everywhere to enjoy all of the fun this season has to offer.

Democratic and Republican Economists Agree: Intervention Was Imperative to Avert Depression

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The New York Times ran a compelling piece today on a report written by Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi which found that the policy response to the economic downturn was “highly effective” and that without the fiscal stimulus and the financial measures the Administration and the Federal Reserve took last year there would be 8.5 million fewer jobs.

With the hard-fought passage of Wall Street Reform last week, the President ensured that Wall Street will be held accountable, and that the American taxpayer will never again be on the hook for their actions. As the President had said repeatedly, he was just as angry with having to take steps to shore up our financial system as all Americans were. But when the President came into office, the economy was falling off a cliff, and this report demonstrates just how deep and disastrous the valley below truly was had he not done everything possible to pull it back. The report particularly emphasizes the effectiveness of financial stability measures including the bank stress tests, the actions of the Fed and the TARP program and it highlights the potential cost to the taxpayers had policy makers not acted at all.

• Read the full story.

The depth of the crisis required decisive and historic action. While the steps we took were not always politically popular the results become more indisputable each day. We went from losing 3.7 million jobs in the first six months of 2009 to gaining more than 600,000 jobs in the first six months of this year, and as this report demonstrates, it could have been much, much worse.

But the President needs no reminder that there is far more work to be done. That’s why he was in Edison, New Jersey this afternoon meeting with local small business owners about the importance of lending assistance for small businesses. The Senate is expected to move forward in the coming days on a vote on the small business bill that strengthen the capacity of small businesses to create jobs and lead economic recovery. The legislation includes several key Administration initiatives – including the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF), the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), extension and expansion of key SBA loan programs, and small business tax cuts including zero capital gains for key small business investments.

In addition, we can’t let the recovery of the financial sector distract from what led to this crisis which is why we are focused on protecting consumers, reining in Wall Street, ending bailouts and too big to fail through the implementation of the Wall Street reform bill the President signed into law last week.

The Vice President & the Recovery Act Go to Yellowstone

Posted by White House

Ed. Note: Also watch a video of President Obama and his family's visit to Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 2009 along with some historical context.

On Monday, I joined Vice President Biden at Yellowstone National Park as he continued his Recovery Summer tour. Under overcast skies, we walked up a new gravel road to see the construction of the new Madison wastewater treatment plant, a $4.6 million project that will service the campground in this beautiful part of the park. This project replaces the weary wastewater plant, constructed in 1959, which was not built to meet today’s wastewater treatment needs or function throughout the year. The new design will be less visible from the main road and with its new treatment technology (better bugs as the project manager told us) no longer waft offensive odors over the campers. The work at Madison is being done by Dick Anderson Construction – a contractor based out of Bozeman, Montana. Ed Venetz, VP for the company spoke about how the ARRA funds have really helped keep his workers employed and how much he likes projects like this one in the National Parks. Ed later introduced the Vice President to a back drop of the Madison Valley and National Park Peak, the site of the legendary campfire where the idea of National Parks was born.

Vice President Biden’s remarks invoked fond memories of his family trips to Yellowstone and what wonderful places these are, quoting John Muir’s comment about National Parks that “we need beauty as well as bread.” He also spoke of how the Recovery Act, and projects like this one at Madison, not only bring jobs to the area and help the economy, but they make the parks more accessible while reducing the human footprint. As Director, I greatly appreciated the Vice President’s obvious knowledge of the national parks, and his desire to improve them for all visitors.

In total, we are investing $11.4 million in six Recovery projects at Yellowstone, including repaving roads, improving employee housing, and installing a small hydroelectric facility to reduce the park’s consumption of coal fired power. These are just a few of the 800 Recovery Act projects underway at National Parks this summer – eight times as many as there were last summer. Overall, the National Park Service received $750 million from Recovery Act to help upgrade facilities, improve the visitor’s experience, and preserve this country’s national treasures for generations to come. The National Park Service’s funds are part of the $3 billion that the Department of the Interior, under Secretary Salazar’s leadership, is investing in protecting America’s great outdoors.

Extending High-Income Tax Cuts is the Wrong Answer for the Recovery

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President Obama has made it clear that he favors extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for middle-income families, but letting those for high-income earners expire as called for in current law. Recently, some have argued that extending the high-income cuts is necessary for the economy. This is simply wrong.

First, extending the high-income tax cuts would provide very little job creation in 2011. There is widespread agreement that the short-run economic benefits of high-income tax cuts are small. The Congressional Budget Office lists a tax cut for high-income earners as a particularly ineffective job creation measure. Private sector forecasters have reached the same judgment.¹ The vast majority of economic research shows that higher-income earners spend less of a tax cut and so tax cuts to those earners create fewer jobs throughout the economy.²

That doesn’t mean that all tax cuts are ineffective in creating growth. In fact, tax cuts designed in the right way can be highly effective. That is why the President supported numerous tax cuts in the Recovery Act and why continuing the middle-class tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 is so important. The view that tax cuts focused on the middle class can be important to the recovery is consistent with a wide range of research, including a paper that I wrote with David Romer before coming to government and that was recently published. This paper showed that tax changes in the postwar United States had larger short-run impacts on output growth than previously believed. Since most postwar tax changes have been broad-based, our evidence indicates that broad-based tax cuts have large effects. But it’s important to note that our study did not distinguish among tax cuts for different groups and did not focus on high-income earners. Thus, it provides no basis for doubting the compelling evidence that tax cuts for high-income earners are less effective than broad-based tax cuts focused on the middle class.

If lawmakers are truly concerned about job creation, as they should be given the painfully high rate of unemployment, many approaches would be more cost effective than extending the Bush tax cuts for high-income earners. For example, a private sector study recently concluded that a third year of the Making Work Pay tax credit would be far more stimulative.1 Likewise, estimates by the Council of Economic Advisers suggest that spending $10 billion to prevent the layoffs of teachers, firefighters, and police would lead to nearly twice as many jobs as the estimated $30 billion of high-income tax cuts—that’s twice as many jobs for one-third the cost. The small business jobs bill currently before the Senate, which contains both targeted tax cuts for small businesses and measures to improve their access to credit, would also be a far more powerful and cost-effective way to stimulate economic growth and job creation.

It is ironic that many who are now arguing that the high-income tax cuts must be extended on stimulus grounds opposed the Making Work Pay tax credit in the Recovery Act. That tax cut, which totaled $110 billion (spread over tax years 2009 and 2010), went to 95% of working families and by all accounts has made an important difference to the trajectory of the economy. In its third quarterly report to Congress on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Council of Economic Advisers estimated that the tax cuts and other income support provisions in the Recovery Act saved or created more than a million jobs just through the first quarter of 2010. The evidence from my work with David Romer implies that the Making Work Pay tax credit may have been even more effective than conventional estimates indicate.

Finally, near-term stimulus measures must be taken in the context of developing a credible plan to address our Nation’s long-run fiscal challenges. A benefit of all three of the alternatives mentioned above is that they are clearly temporary measures aimed at jumpstarting job creation. In contrast, extending the high-income tax cuts would increase pressure to make them permanent. While the Office of Management and Budget estimates the high-income tax cuts would cost about $30 billion in 2011, the yearly cost is expected to grow as the economy recovers. Extending them permanently would add about $700 billion to the ten-year deficit. That is a cost that we simply cannot afford, particularly for something that does so little to aid our recovery.

Christina Romer is the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers

---

¹ See Goldman Sachs Global ECS US Research, “US Daily: Extending the Expiring Tax Cuts: What, How, When and Why (Phillips),” July 26, 2010.

² Economic studies in the 1940s and 1950s provided the first statistical evidence for the widely-believed proposition that lower-income households tend to spend more out of an additional dollar of income than do richer households, and subsequent research has repeatedly confirmed the proposition. For an excellent summary of this literature, see Thomas Mayer, Permanent Income, Wealth, and Consumption (University of California Press, 1972). These differences across groups emerge in a host of ways in more recent studies. For example, Parker, Souleles, Johnson, and McClelland studied households’ spending responses to the 2008 Economic Stimulus Payments and found substantially larger spending responses among low-income than among high-income households. See Jonathan A. Parker, Nicholas S. Souleles, David S. Johnson, and Robert McClelland, “Consumer Spending and the Economic Stimulus Payments of 2008,” Manuscript, Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern University, February 2010.

Not Your Ordinary Website Demo

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It’s not every day that the President takes time out of his schedule to record a video about a website. But that’s just what happened with HealthCare.gov, the new consumer-oriented website from the Department of Health and Human Services. In the video, he shows how anyone can learn about new rights and benefits available to them as a result of health reform law, and, for the first time ever, see all their insurance coverage options in one place. Check it out:

Making useful, easy-to-use information available online is a priority for this Administration. And putting power back into the hands of Americans is a primary focus for the President. HealthCare.gov accomplishes both. So, take a moment and check it out.

And don’t forget to leave your feedback in the yellow boxes throughout the site. The team at HHS is reviewing them on a regular basis and it’s a great way to help make HealthCare.gov a better resource for all of us.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with Substance

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"Celebrating with substance" is my own phrase, but others might say "partying with a purpose." No matter whether you use one of these classic phrases (yes, I’ve claimed my phrase as a classic), we did just that on Monday at the White House with our celebration to mark the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As President Obama culminated the celebration of this historic and landmark civil rights law, and in the weeks leading to the day, we’ve had a series of announcements and information about the ADA.

President Obama, as only he can, delivered an eloquent, passionate and memorable speech that summed up this historic anniversary. Read the complete remarks here.

President Obama announced the signing of an Executive Order that will make the government a model employer for people with disabilities. He also announced the release of two new rules on the ADA that had not been updated since 1991, explaining that the rules will cover “more than 80,000 state and local government entities, and 7 million private businesses.” The President’s message about this law and our movement resonated with the audience, closing by stating, “[T]hat’s what we did with the ADA. That is what we do today. And that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow -- together.”

Notably, however, other observance activities were taking place elsewhere. The Department of Justice released the new regulations on its website. FEMA Administrator Fugate wrote a wonderful op-ed for CNN on the importance of emergency preparedness for people with disabilities. Education Secretary Duncan joined so many others throughout the administration by releasing a statement noting that this anniversary is a “cause for celebration and rededication to equal education opportunity for students with disabilities.” On a personal level, I discussed the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on Yahoo! Accessibility.

Also on Monday, the Ad Council launched a Public Service Announcement featuring a message from the President. The President also released a proclamation in commemoration of the 20th anniversary.

All and all, it was a truly historic day, once again illustrating it’s a new day for people with disabilities and the President is leading the way forward. I urge all to take time to remember those like Senator Kennedy, Justin Dart and so many more who made the ADA possible. Then reflect on the numerous steps forward we’ve taken and get ready for the work ahead because more remains to be done.

Take a Break: Behind-the-Scenes Video with the Jonas Brothers

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Last month, President Obama awarded Paul McCartney the annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Artists from all the genres and backgrounds paid tribute to the music legend with a concert hosted by the President and First Lady at the White House. Take a break and go behind-the-scenes with the Jonas Brothers as they prepare for and perform the Beatles classic “Drive My Car” for President Obama and Sir Paul.

Don’t miss the “In Performance at the White House" music special with performances by McCartney himself, Jonas Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, Corinne Bailey Rae, Dave Grohl, Faith Hill, Emmylou Harris, Lang Lang and Jack White, with remarks by Jerry Seinfeld on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 8:00 PM EDT on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings here.

Another Bipartisan Meeting: Help for Small Business & Energy Reform

Posted by White House

In his latest meeting with Congressional leaders of both parties – a new tradition promised by the President in his State of the Union Address – the conversation was focused primarily on two topics. The first was help for small businesses, one of the most straightforward things government can do to spur job creation; the second was the need for energy reform.

In remarks afterwards, the President touched briefly on the need to pass funding for our troops in Afghanistan, saying that documents recently leaked “don’t reveal any issues that haven’t already informed our public debate on Afghanistan,” and that they were precisely the issues that led to the review at the beginning of his presidency along with the new way forward that came out of it. He also relayed the frustration he expressed to the Republican Leader in the Senate about the gratuitous delays of judicial nominations despite broad bipartisan support , which has left many courts nationwide short-handed.

On small business as the engine of our economy:

[W]e know that many of these businesses still can’t get the loans and the capital they need to keep their doors open and hire new workers.
That’s why we’ve proposed steps to get them that help -- eliminating capital gains taxes on investments, making it easier for small lenders to support small businesses, expanding successful SBA programs to help these businesses access the capital that they need.
This is how we create jobs -- by investing in the innovators and entrepreneurs that have always driven our prosperity.
These are the kind of common-sense steps that folks from both parties have supported in the past -- steps to cut taxes and spur private sector growth and investment. And I hope that in the coming days, we’ll once again find common ground and get this legislation passed. We shouldn’t let America’s small businesses be held hostage to partisan politics -- and certainly not at this critical time.

On energy reform:

The Senate is now poised to act before the August recess, advancing legislation to respond to the BP oil spill and create new clean energy jobs.

That legislation is an important step in the right direction. But I want to emphasize it’s only the first step. And I intend to keep pushing for broader reform, including climate legislation, because if we’ve learned anything from the tragedy in the Gulf, it’s that our current energy policy is unsustainable.

And we can’t afford to stand by as our dependence on foreign oil deepens, as we keep on pumping out the deadly pollutants that threaten our air and our water and the lives and livelihoods of our people. And we can’t stand by as we let China race ahead to create the clean energy jobs and industries of the future. We should be developing those renewable energy sources, and creating those high-wage, high-skill jobs right here in the United States of America.

The Daily Snapshot

Posted by White House

Want to get the inside scoop on what’s going on at the White House delivered to your inbox each morning? The Daily Snapshot is a quick look at what’s happening each day at the White House. It includes the President and Vice President’s daily schedules, a look at what’s hot on the White House blog, the Photo of the Day and other important updates.

Take a look at our first edition of the Daily Snapshot below, then sign up to get updates. You can also sign up to get periodic updates from President Obama and other senior Administration officials as well as our weekly newsletters - the Energy and Climate Agenda and the Economy and Jobs Agenda.

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Today's Schedule

Starting this week, the President and Vice President's daily public schedules will be published on WhiteHouse.gov. Check out the schedule here. You can subscribe to the schedule via RSS feed or add it to your calendar using iCal.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time.

9:30 AM: The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

10:00 AM: The President receives the Economic Daily Briefing

11:00 AM: The President meets with bipartisan members of Congress

12:00 PM: The President delivers a statement to the press

1:30 PM: The Vice President delivers remarks at Grand Canyon National Park

1:30 PM: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

2:00 PM: Clean Energy Economy Forum - Energy Security

3:05 PM: The President congratulates the Warner Robins Softball World Series Champions

4:00 PM: The President meets with Secretary of the Treasury Geithner

4:30 PM: The President meets with Secretary of Defense Gates

7:00 PM: The President attends a DNC Fundraising Dinner

Indicates events that will be live streamed on WhiteHouse.gov/live

In Case You Missed It

President Obama on Citizens United: "Imagine the Power This Will Give Special Interests Over Politicians" (includes video)

President Obama and Vice President Biden’s Daily Public Schedules Now Online

Reaching Out to Rural America: Meeting with Students at the Delaware State Fair

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"Why, 17 Months After Passage of the Recovery Act, Aren’t all the Funds Out the Door?"

Posted by White House

Nearly a year and a half after the Recovery Act’s enactment, virtually all of the funds have been allocated: how they will be spent has been identified, and they are at work providing relief, creating jobs, or funding projects underway or coming soon. So why do some critics still talk about billions in “unspent” Recovery Act funds? The answer lies in how the Recovery Act works.

Two-thirds of Recovery Act funds are in tax cuts and relief payments. These funds were designed to be spent over time, generally over a two year period. Recovery Act tax cuts show up in each paycheck, people on extended unemployment get their benefits weekly, and so on. In reports and on Recovery.gov, the tax cuts and relief funds not yet paid out appear to be “unspent,” creating some confusion. But these tax cuts and relief checks are moving out as planned, on time, and on track. They aren’t “unspent” – people are expecting to get their tax cuts or their unemployment checks – they just haven’t been paid out yet.

The other one-third is the $265 billion for projects. When people talk about “unspent” Recovery Act funds, this is usually where they focus. But here too, the critics are missing the point.

• About $215 billion is under contract and agreement (“under contract”). For over 80% of the project funds, our Recovery Act team in Washington has done everything we need to do in order to allow work to begin – projects are approved, plans are final, contracts are signed. In this category, the vast majority of these projects are underway (some are even finished already). For example, all $27 billion in highway funds have been obligated and already, almost 40,000 miles of roadways are being improved.
• Another approximately $25 billion has been awarded, but isn’t under contract yet: In this category, covering about 10% of project funds, the recipients already know they are getting funding -- often after winning in a competitive application process -- but final legal contracts aren’t yet done. This is often the case for parts of the Recovery Act designed to fuel long-term economic growth. High Speed Rail is an example: all $8 billion of these funds are awarded, meaning that states are working with freight railways and others, but until these plans are finalized, contracts aren’t signed.
• The final $25 billion is in the process of being awarded. One of the great things about the Recovery Act is that it is free from earmarks and many of its programs are competitive – meaning we pick the best projects to get funded. Picking good projects takes time, but even this is nearly complete. Take broadband as an example: approximately half of these funds have been already awarded, and the remainder will be within the next 60 days from applications that have already been received. Selections are still ongoing for our “Race to the Top” education reform funding, and for research grants at the National Institutes of Health. These funds are “unspent,” but all around America the businesses, researchers, and schools that have applied for this job-creating support are certainly expecting it to be there.

To summarize, of the $787 billion in the Recovery Act, about 94% is either in tax cuts, payments, or projects under contract. Of the remaining 6%, half has been awarded and contracts are being finalized -- and half is in the final stages of the award process. If you want to learn more about this breakdown and the specific programs it includes, check out this document (pdf) which provides more details.

What about reports that say that the amount “outlayed” is much smaller? “Outlays” measure when the government actually writes checks to recipients, and they do indeed move along more slowly. That, however, is as it should be: taxpayers should be pleased to know that we don’t write the checks on projects until the work is actually done (or until agreed upon progress goals are met). That is why the pace of outlays is not the best measure of whether the Recovery Act is working: what taxpayers want to know is whether projects are moving forward, workers are being hired, and work is getting done. Projects under contract (“obligations”) measure that; “outlays” come later. That’s a good thing. And even by this measure, we are on track to hit the goal set when the Recovery Act passed: that 70% of the $787 billion in funds would be “outlayed” or provided in tax benefits by September 30, 2010.

The bottom line: the Recovery Act is on track to meet its goal of saving or creating 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010 (a recent report said that it was in the range of 3 million jobs as of June 30^th) – with funds moving out promptly, but carefully.

Moving Forward on Housing Finance Reform

Posted by White House

The housing industry is of vital importance to our country’s future. It is a key sector of our economy, supporting millions of jobs in construction, manufacturing, real estate, finance, and other industries. Moreover, for many Americans, their home is their largest financial investment.

That is why the Obama Administration is strongly committed to responsibly reforming our nation’s broken system of housing finance, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And that is why it is so important that we get the reforms right.

Work on this issue is well under way, as the Obama Administration continues to develop a comprehensive reform proposal for delivery to Congress by January 2011. Earlier this year, Secretaries Geithner and Donovan testified before Congress, outlining the principles that will guide the Administration’s housing finance reform efforts. In April, the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued related questions for public comment, which have received over 300 responses from a broad cross-section of stakeholders. (To view these responses, please visit: here and here.)

That commitment to public engagement will continue. Today, the Administration is announcing that it will hold on August 17 a Conference on the Future of Housing Finance at the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. This event will bring together leading academic experts, consumer and community organizations, industry groups, market participants, and other stakeholders for an open discussion about housing finance reform.

As we continue moving forward, it is critical to maintain an open, productive public dialogue about how best to address a housing finance system that everyone – across both sides of the aisle – agrees is in clear need of reform. To help inform this debate, it is useful to offer some context about the Administration’s efforts to date in this area and the current state of our nation’s housing finance system.

Stabilizing the Housing Market

In September 2008, the Bush Administration put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and began injecting taxpayer funds into those firms in order to keep them afloat. When President Obama took office in January 2009, he inherited not only this conservatorship arrangement, but also a mortgage market and economy in free-fall.

From the beginning, the Obama Administration has made clear that the current structure of the government’s role in the housing finance market is unsustainable and unacceptable. Fundamental reform was clearly needed. But abrupt change or an uncertain reform process in the midst of the financial crisis could have destabilized an already fragile housing industry and made it even more difficult for Americans to buy a home or refinance a mortgage. Continuing to provide financial support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was the right decision then for the mortgage market and for our economic recovery – and it has played a critical role in stabilizing the housing industry during a period of crisis. Even today, private capital has not yet fully returned to this market. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other government entities guarantee more than 90 percent of newly originated mortgages. They are practically the only game in town.

Fannie and Freddie under Conservatorship

During their two years in conservatorship, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been tightly supervised and regulated. Fannie and Freddie have made significant progress in improving the credit quality of their new obligations. Since 2008, FICO scores and loan-to-value ratios – both of which are key measures of how likely a borrower is to default – are meaningfully better on new mortgages. Fannie and Freddie have also increased their guarantee fees and risk-adjusted their pricing.

The losses that the federal government has had to backstop are virtually all attributable to bad loans that Fannie and Freddie took on between 2005 and 2007 – during the height of the housing bubble. Unfortunately, we still need to manage the continuing consequences of those poor credit choices.

Of course, none of these facts eliminate the need to take a hard and comprehensive look at long-term solutions for our nation’s system of housing finance. But they do offer important context about the numbers behind the headlines on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Responsible Reform

The size, importance, and complexity of the housing finance market all compel us to craft its reform with great care:

• The U.S. mortgage market is the second largest securities market in the world, after U.S. Treasuries.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac currently guarantee more than $5 trillion in mortgages and hold a total of $1.6 trillion in agency loans and other securities in their portfolios.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are only one part of a broader housing finance system that includes the Federal Housing Administration, Ginnie Mae, the FHLBanks, other government programs, and a significant private sector role in originating, funding, and servicing mortgage loans.
• For decades, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac privatized their profits while ultimately putting taxpayers at risk for losses. This type of “heads private shareholders win, tails taxpayers lose” system of misaligned incentives makes no sense for the nation.

Housing finance reform needs to address these and other complex issues responsibly. That is why the Obama Administration is committed to an open and inclusive public dialogue about the future of U.S. housing finance. Given the importance of this task, we want to hear the best ideas from all sides of the debate. Working together with our colleagues in Congress, we believe that this is the right path forward to achieve responsible reform.

President Obama and the Atlantis

Posted by White House

Today the President took a moment out of his day to greet crew members from the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station in the Oval Office -- a glance behind the scenes from Pete Souza:

President Obama on Citizens United: "Imagine the Power This Will Give Special Interests Over Politicians"

Posted by White House

With a Senate vote tomorrow on legislation to undo some of the damage from the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the President laid out the stakes in no uncertain terms:

A vote to oppose these reforms is nothing less than a vote to allow corporate and special interest takeovers of our elections. It is damaging to our democracy. It is precisely what led a Republican President named Theodore Roosevelt to tackle this issue a century ago.

As the President discussed in his State of the Union address months ago, this decision essentially opened the floodgates for the influence of huge corporations, including foreign-owned corporations, on our elections. Speaking in the Rose Garden, the President explained what this new limitless flow of undisclosed money will mean:

They can buy millions of dollars worth of TV ads –- and worst of all, they don’t even have to reveal who’s actually paying for the ads. Instead, a group can hide behind a name like “Citizens for a Better Future,” even if a more accurate name would be “Companies for Weaker Oversight.” These shadow groups are already forming and building war chests of tens of millions of dollars to influence the fall elections.
Now, imagine the power this will give special interests over politicians. Corporate lobbyists will be able to tell members of Congress if they don’t vote the right way, they will face an onslaught of negative ads in their next campaign. And all too often, no one will actually know who’s really behind those ads.

Once again, with a solution at hand, Republican leadership in the Senate stands in the way, hoping to deny an up-or-down vote:

So the House has already passed a bipartisan bill that would change all this before the next election. The DISCLOSE Act would simply require corporate political advertisers to reveal who’s funding their activities. So when special interests take to the airwaves, whoever is running and funding the ad would have to appear in the advertisement and claim responsibility for it -– like a company’s CEO or the organization’s biggest contributor. And foreign-controlled corporations and entities would be restricted from spending money to influence American elections -- just as they were in the past.

Pounding his hand on his pedestal, the President emphasized again that simple bringing transparency to this kind of spending is about as common-sense as you can get:

And you’d think that reducing corporate and even foreign influence over our elections would not be a partisan issue. But of course, this is Washington in 2010. And the Republican leadership in the Senate is once again using every tactic and every maneuver they can to prevent the DISCLOSE Act from even coming up for an up or down vote. Just like they did with unemployment insurance for Americans who’d lost their jobs in this recession. Just like they’re doing by blocking tax credits and lending assistance for small business owners. On issue after issue, we are trying to move America forward, and they keep on trying to take us back.
At a time of such challenge for America, we can’t afford these political games. Millions of Americans are struggling to get by, and their voices shouldn’t be drowned out by millions of dollars in secret, special interest advertising. The American people’s voices should be heard.