At Long Last, Help for Our Neighbors and a Boost for the Economy with Extended Unemployment Insurance

Posted by White House

Yesterday, at long last the Senate passed an extension of unemployment insurance, not only the decent thing to do but one of the most effective ways to boost our economy, as Lawrence Summers, Chair of the National Economic Council, explained. The President has pressured the partisan minority holding it up relentlessly on behalf of those who desperately needed the helping hand, and applauded Congress for overcoming that obstruction in the statement below and today sign he signed the legislation in the Oval Office. This was the President’s statement:

Today, I signed the unemployment insurance extension to restore desperately needed assistance to two and a half million Americans who lost their jobs in the recession. After a partisan minority used procedural tactics to block the authorization of this assistance three separate times over the past weeks, Americans who are fighting to find a good job and support their families will finally get the support they need to get back on their feet during these tough economic times. Now it’s time for Congress to act on more proposals that support our economic recovery, including passing critical aid to our states and support to small businesses. Small businesses are the engine of job growth, and measures to cut their taxes and make lending available should not be held hostage to partisan tactics like those that unconscionably held up unemployment insurance.

Ed. Note: This post has been updated.

You’re busy. We get it!

Posted by White House

Don’t have time to check WH.gov everyday? That’s ok – we’ve got a new feature to make staying current even easier. Starting today, the White House will offer a brand new weekly email with updates and latest news on the economy and job creation in America. Each week, we’ll send you the latest economy and jobs related posts from the White House blog as well as a look ahead to what’s on tap for next week.

You can check out the first edition of the Economy and Jobs Agenda below and sign up to get the weekly updates in your inbox here. We'll also launch a Energy and Climate Agenda later this week - sign up now. Look for more topics coming soon.

The Week in Economy and Jobs

On Thursday, the Senate passed the historic Wall Street reform bill. The bill includes provisions to protect taxpayers from having to bail out big banks and provides for a number of common sense consumer protections. The President is expected to sign this bill into law on Wednesday.

In his Weekly Address, President Obama called on Congress to pass measures to provide additional credit to small businesses and extend unemployment insurance – a measure that has come up in the Senate on three prior occasions. Earlier in last week, NEC Director Lawrence Summers made the economic case for extending unemployment insurance in a blog post on WhiteHouse.gov. The CEA also released their fourth quarterly report on the economic impact of the Recovery Act.

Highlights

Weekly Address: Filibustering Recovery and Obstructing Progress
July 17, 2010
The President blasts Republicans in the Senate who are blocking unemployment insurance and small business tax breaks to create jobs -- even as they push for permanent, massive tax cuts for the richest Americans.

President Obama on Final Passage of Wall Street Reform: An End to Bailouts, a Beginning for Accountability
July 15, 2010
The President commends those in Congress who stood strong to pass Wall Street Reform against seemingly endless opposition from lobbyists and partisans.

President Obama on Advanced Batteries in Michigan: "A Symbol of Where America is Going"
July 15, 2010
The President speaks at the groundbreaking of an advanced electric vehicle battery plant in Holland, Michigan.

Electric Vehicles, Advanced Batteries, and American Jobs: Another Piece of the Puzzle in Holland, Michigan
July 15, 2010
Read the report from the Department of Energy on the economic impact of Recovery Act investments in advanced batteries and vehicles to understand the importance of the plants the

CEA Releases Fourth Quarterly Report on the Economic Impact of the Recovery Act
July 14, 2010
New report finds that the Act has had a substantial effect on output and employment, is leveraging private capital, and making important investments in the future productivity of the country.

The Economic Case for Extending Unemployment Insurance
July 14, 2010
NEC Director Lawrence Summers explains why extending unemployment insurance for those struggling to find work is not just a moral issue, but an economic one.

If It’s Working, Keep it Going!
July 12, 2010
Jared Bernstein, Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President, writes on the need for Congress to renew a successful program that lets states use Recovery Act dollars to pay for part of a new employee’s wages, giving employers a strong incentive to hire unemployed workers.

Your Questions

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What's Ahead

• July 21 - President Obama signs the Wall Street Reform bill.

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The President's Plan to Increase Spectrum - Technology & the Economy

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Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, spoke today on technology policy, job creation, and economic growth – in particular the President’s move to dramatically increase the amount of federal and commercial spectrum available for smartphones and wireless Internet devices. As our fact sheet explained, "In recent years, the amount of information flowing over some wireless networks has grown at over 250 percent per year,
with some estimates indicating that the next five years will see an increase in wireless data of between 20 and 45 times 2009 levels, reflecting the increasing use of smartphones, netbooks, and other wireless devices. As the revolution in mobile broadband and related technologies unfolds, the demand for spectrum will continue to increase – leading to increasing fears of a 'spectrum crunch.'"

• Read the Presidential Memorandum: "Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution"
• Read the White House fact sheet

Summers put the move into historical perspective:

The most important innovations are those that create possibilities that could not have previously been imagined, and with them create the industries of the future and millions of new jobs. The steam engine, electricity, the automobile – these were technologies that did not just permit existing products to be produced better or more cheaply, but opened whole new economic vistas. We are in the middle of another one of those revolutions right now. The information technology revolution is redefining infrastructure. For millennia, progress in infrastructure came from the more effective movement of the commerce in goods and services. But in the digital world, we are concerned with the movements of images and ideas, bits rather than mass. We are now in the midst of the third wave of the Internet’s development: mobile broadband. And we have only begun to glimpse the benefits of that revolution, exemplified by smartphones, netbooks, and the applications that run on them.

He identified the four key parts of the President’s plan – read the full speech or the fact sheet for all the details:

1. "First, identify and plan for the release of 500 MHz of spectrum."

2. "The second part of the President’s plan is to provide new tools and new incentives to free up spectrum."

3. "Third, redeploy the spectrum to high-value uses."

4. "Fourth and finally, use the auction proceeds to promote public safety and job-creating infrastructure investment."