President Obama to Business: "Now is the Time to Invest in America"

Posted by White House

The President walked across the park today to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – a hub of big business that has supported the President on the Recovery Act and further infrastructure rebuilding while also giving voice to industries opposed to the health reform law – to deliver a stark message of shared responsibility for winning America’s future:

But I want to be clear: even as we make America the best place on earth to do business, businesses also have a responsibility to America.

As he laid out in his State of the Union Address, he will be focusing on the first half of that pact – by having government rebuild America’s infrastructure for communications and transport, by helping gear education toward equipping students for today’s businesses, and by streamlining regulations to make sure there’s aren’t unnecessary burdens on job creation – a mission elaborated on this morning by OIRA Administrator Cass Sunstein.

But as the President explained, businesses must look toward the greater good as well, and realize that a prosperous middle class is good for the bottom line:

So if I’ve got one message, my message is now is the time to invest in America. Now is the time to invest in America. (Applause.) Today, American companies have nearly $2 trillion sitting on their balance sheets. And I know that many of you have told me that you’re waiting for demand to rise before you get off the sidelines and expand, and that with millions of Americans out of work, demand has risen more slowly than any of us would like.

We’re in this together, but many of your own economists and salespeople are now forecasting a healthy increase in demand. So I just want to encourage you to get in the game. As part of the bipartisan tax deal we negotiated, with the support of the Chamber, businesses can immediately expense 100 percent of their capital investments. And as all of you know, it’s investments made now that will pay off as the economy rebounds. And as you hire, you know that more Americans working will mean more sales for your companies. It will mean more demand for your products and services. It will mean higher profits for your companies. We can create a virtuous circle.

Not Business as Usual

Posted by White House

President Obama and Vice President Biden have been clear since they took office that this Administration will not put up with business as usual when it comes to transparency and accountability. They fundamentally believe that the American people have the right no know how their hard-earned tax dollars are being put to work.

That’s why, when the Recovery Act was passed and signed into law, it required tens of thousands of recipients of Recovery Act funds to report in every quarter on what exactly they are doing with the money -- and those reports are posted in full view on Recovery.gov.

This is unprecedented – never before has this level of transparency been available by the federal government. When the Recovery Act was passed, the President and Vice President were adamant that we didn’t just take the necessary steps to begin to repair the economy by passing the largest economic recovery package in history – but that, while implementing that package, we made sure every dollar was accounted for and every official was held accountable.

And this was no small undertaking with $787 billion to distribute over just 2 years. There has been repeated skepticism on whether this could be done effectively and efficiently.

Despite that skepticism, this effort proved to be extremely successful. Of the 95,483 prime recipients required to file thus far, just 1 percent failed to file a report this quarter, the vast majority of which were first-time non-reporters. The remaining non-reporters – those that have failed to report repeatedly -- account for only 0.002% of Recovery Act funds awarded.

That said, non-compliance in any form is not acceptable. We take these cases seriously. For each recipient of Recovery Act funds that repeatedly fails to report, the maximum penalty possible is being pursued, with action ranging from withholding or rescinding funds to litigation, if necessary.

As noted in today’s story in USA Today, this tough action marks “the first time the government has taken action to enforce reporting requirements.”

When we said we would provide unprecedented transparency of Recovery Act spending, we meant business.

What You Missed: Open for Questions with Secretary Locke

Posted by White House

Last week, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Fast Company hosted a special live chat to answer your questions about this Administration's role in promoting innovation-based, high-growth entrepreneurship.

You can check out the full video of the chat or use the links below to jump directly to the questions you're interested in.

Questions are paraphrased.

• What plans are in place to increase the privacy protection for consumers in the electronic marketplace?
• What steps are being put into place to encourage corporations to keep research jobs here in the US?
• What mechanisms are in place to keep universities from competing head to head with small businesses in terms of research?
• Do you contemplate any special investments made directly to Minority communities?
• What role do you envision broadband playing in increasing entrepreneurship?
• Where does the Government stand in promoting small businesses in burgeoning technology industries?
• Are you working on any new initiatives resulting from the recent trip to India?
• What steps are you taking to help small businesses?
• How will councils help companies bringing new technologies to markets survive the endless Federal approval process?
• Follow-up: How is access to capital for small businesses being expanded?
• What sort of pressure is the Department of Commerce putting on banks to give loans to businesses?
• What projects are you undertaking to address the patent process?
• What is the time frame for reforming the patent process?
• How can the incentive to move manufacturing offshore be reduced?
• What are some of the ways that you are increasing access to capital for small businesses other than the Recovery Act?
• Why do you think that small business owners are not aware of some of the tax cuts available to their companies?

Entrepreneurs Fueling Innovation

Posted by White House

Earlier this week, I witnessed the next chapter of America’s love affair with the automobile here in the nation’s capital. I took part in a ribbon cutting at the first public curbside electric vehicle (EV) charging station, made possible by Coulomb Technologies. It looks like a parking meter that Steve Jobs might design. And plugging in for a charge is simple – easier than even pumping gas. Soon brand new EVs – like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt – will be able to power up at stations like this one whenever they need it.

As President Obama says, “The nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy.” The Recovery Act is the largest clean energy investment in American history, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Entrepreneurs, just like Richard Lowenthal and Praveen Mandal whose Coulomb Technologies manufactured the charging station in DC, are making the cutting edge stuff that will power the cars of tomorrow. Soon, more than 20,000 stations will be popping up nationally to charge new EVs. Coulomb Technologies’ $15 million Recovery Act award will deploy 4,600 charging stations as part of this effort.

And entrepreneurs like Jonathan Wolfson of start-up Solazyme are developing technologies that will revolutionize the liquid fuels sector. With support from a $21 million Recovery Act grant, Wolfson’s company is pioneering next generation algal biofuels. The Navy has taken notice with plans to purchase 150,000 gallons of algae-based biofuel from Solazyme, helping the company scale-up production and reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil.

Here’s another one: Ely Sachs, co-founder of 1366 Technologies, helped land a $4 million ARPA-E award to advance a novel solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing process. Funded by the Recovery Act, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) solicits high-risk, high-reward ideas and funds a handful of potential game-changers. The new 1366 Technologies process could reduce PV manufacturing capital costs by 90 percent and cut the cost of PV systems in half, making solar panels more affordable for homes and businesses.

As we celebrate National Entrepreneurship Week, let’s celebrate the innovative spirit of America and its inventors and entrepreneurs. Their imagination, smarts, and hard work will transform our energy system and ensure that America leads the 21^st century global economy. And these transformative changes are not years away, they’re already here.

Entrepreneurs: Building Businesses, Creating Jobs, Strengthening Our Economy

Posted by White House

Ed. Note: This week the Obama Administration celebrating America’s entrepreneurs and small businesses as part of National Entrepreneurship Week.

I’m thrilled that we’re taking time this week – as a nation – to support and celebrate America’s entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs and small business owners continue to drive innovation, strengthen our competitive edge, and create good jobs here at home.

These entrepreneurs need access to capital in order to start and grow their small businesses. When a small business loan gets approved, they get the lines of credit to buy space and equipment and to hire more workers. It’s an exciting moment.

Because of the Recovery Act, the SBA was able to work with its lending partners to provide nearly 70,000 SBA loans to entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them do just that. And now, under the new Small Business Jobs Act, the SBA has already approved 7,000 more SBA loans in just two months.

Noel and Glen Mouritzen are a good example. They attended the event where the President signed the Jobs Act. They’re using their new Jobs Act loan to set up a repair shop for helicopter fuel systems near an airport in Virginia. As a result, they’re planning to hire four or five new workers.

In addition, by strengthening a network of growth capital firms – called Small Business Investment Companies – we’ve reached a 50-year record high of nearly $1.6 billion in overall financing to high-growth small firms in Fiscal Year 2010.

And it’s not just SBA that is playing an active role in the success stories of America’s entrepreneurs. Other federal agencies have unique lending programs, too.

• The Export-Import Bank, like the SBA, has loans that can help small businesses who are looking to export their goods and services.
• The USDA offers loans to farmers and rural businesses.
• The Department of Transportation helps small businesses who need working capital to finance a contract they’ve won from that agency.

All of us throughout the Administration know that it’s more important than ever to help entrepreneurs and small business owners get the capital they need to grow and create jobs.

If you want to find out more about SBA loans – as well as other help we can provide through opportunities in federal contracting and one-on-one counseling for small businesses – I’d encourage you to visit www.sba.gov.

And our commitment throughout the Administration is this. We will continue to help America’s entrepreneurs find the tools they need to do what they do best: build their businesses, create jobs, and strengthen our economy.

More Small Business Community Questions Answered

Posted by White House

On September 29th, I had the opportunity to sit down with Scott Roen from American Express OPEN to answer questions about The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and opportunities available for small businesses under the Recovery Act and Affordable Care Act.

There were a number of great questions we weren't able to get to during the Open for Questions chat, so we thought we'd address a few more here:

1. Ira in Florida asked:
   Now that many of those banks have stabilized, what incentive do they have to lend to small businesses, as credit has been impossible to get for the past 24-36 months in the small business sector?

Here at the SBA, we know that too many small businesses have still been having trouble getting the loans they need. That’s why we’re working hard to increase businesses’ access to capital. The Recovery Act, which raised our loan guarantees and reduced our fees, helped put nearly $30 billion in the hands of small businesses. 1,300 lenders who hadn’t made an SBA loan since 2007 returned to SBA lending.

The Small Business Jobs Act, signed by the President last month, includes a number of provisions that will help put capital in the hands of small businesses. These include the Small Business Lending Fund, which will provide capital to smaller, community banks so they can increase their own small business lending. We know these small lenders are some of the strongest partners for small businesses in their communities. The Jobs Act also increases the maximum size of SBA’s microloans, and strengthens our loans for working capital, mortgage financing and other needs.

SBA has already begun funding Jobs Act loans with the increased guarantee and raised fees that were so successful under the Recovery Act. When the Jobs Act was signed, there were nearly 2,000 small businesses in our loan queue, waiting for loans with these enhancements. SBA has already cleared out the queue, approving nearly a billion dollars in loans to small businesses.

2. Neena in Virginia asked:
   We would like to know how the US government plans to create an environment that is pro small business. Today, although much is mentioned about the importance of small business, very little financial/tax-based support is provided to the small business owner.

Small businesses are the engine of our economy. We’re counting on small businesses to grow our economy, create jobs, and pull us towards a full recovery. That’s why this Administration has been dedicated to supporting small businesses. In the past two years, the President has cut taxes for small businesses eight times, and the Small Business Jobs Act contains eight more tax breaks. This includes zero taxes on capital gains from key small business investments, an increase in the deduction for start-up expenses, deductions for providing cell phones to employees, accelerated “bonus” depreciation, and more.

3. Bill in Arizona asked:
   Administrator Mills, How long do you expect it to take the SBA to generate and distribute the rules for handling the larger 7(a) and 504 loan limits?

The Small Business Jobs Act permanently increases the maximum loan sizes in our top two programs, 7(a) and 504, from $2 million to $5 million. Increased loan sizes will help many small businesses who need more capital, such as manufacturers, exporters, contractors and franchisers.

SBA has already begun funding these larger loans, and we are looking forward to implementing more pieces of the Jobs Act in the weeks and months ahead.

4. Shante in New York asked:
   As a women owned minority business owner, I find that only 5% of the loans are being granted to my population. I am in need of working capital and want to apply for a 7(a) to expand my company. However, with the current trends, the odds are not in my favor of being granted. Is the SBA looking into the lending institutions and/or their own agency to further probe why such a huge imbalance exist?

SBA is committed to helping women and minority entrepreneurs and small business owners get the capital they need. In fact, women and minorities are 3 to 5 times more likely to receive a loan if it’s guaranteed by the SBA. 18% of our Recovery loans, worth more than $3 billion, went to women-owned businesses, and billions more went to minority-owned businesses.

The Small Business Jobs Act enhances our ability to get working capital in the hands of small businesses by increasing our guarantee on 7(a) loans, reducing our fees, and raising the size limit of many of our loans. We’ve heard time and again from business owners that these provisions will help them secure the capital they need.

In addition, SBA’s resource partners, including 110 Women’s Business Centers, nearly 900 Small Business Development Centers, and 350 chapters of SCORE, can help you write a plan for growth and prepare your loan application. We want women and minority business owners to get the loans they need, but at SBA, we’re also there to help you along the way.

Celebrating National Weatherization Day

Posted by White House

Ed. Note: Cross posted from the Energy Blog.

This weekend, communities across the country celebrated National Weatherization Day, highlighting the important work happening nationwide to save money for America’s homeowners by investing in energy efficiency. As a result of the Recovery Act weatherization program, more than 245,000 low-income families have had their homes upgraded, which means these families are paying lower energy bills every month. The program has also helped to put thousands of workers on the job every day, helping to grow America’s clean energy economy while improving our energy independence and reducing pollution. To all those involved in the success of this program, congratulations and we look forward to your continued good work in the months and years ahead.

Watch the video to get a firsthand look at the work happening in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania under the weatherization program.

Latest Reports from Recovery Act Recipients on Recovery.gov

Posted by White House

The independent Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board just posted the latest round of reports from recipients of Recovery Act dollars on Recovery.gov. These reports provide an up-close snapshot of how a portion of Recovery Act spending was put to work creating jobs and driving economic growth last quarter. Thanks to these reports, you can see when certain projects started, where they’re taking place and how many people are being directly paid to work on them with Recovery Act dollars.

But when looking at these reports, it’s important to know what you are seeing – especially when it comes to the roughly 670,000 jobs recipients reported last quarter as part of this process.

Just 20 Percent of Spending

While there is already an unprecedented amount of public information available on Recovery.gov, Congress asked that for a portion of spending - specifically in areas like infrastructure projects and education spending – we go a layer deeper and collect these reports directly from recipients on how they are putting Recovery Act dollars to work. So while these new reports posted today offer an extraordinary level of detail, they only cover about 20 percent of Recovery Act spendingto-date. That means the job counts that come with the reports don’t include things like:

• jobs from Recovery Act tax relief, including significant business tax grants being used to fund clean energy manufacturing projects across the country
• jobs from Recovery Act aid like Pell Grantsand food assistance (some of the biggest and most direct job creators because the money is quickly put back into the economy)
• jobs from Recovery Act small business loans

Only Salaries Directly Paid with Recovery Dollars

Second, keep in mind that recipients are only required to report on the jobs where salaries are being directly paid using Recovery Act dollars – not the overall job impact of their project. So that means the job counts don’t include things like:

• jobs created further down the supply chain by a Recovery Act project. For example, new hires at a plant supplying asphalt for Recovery Act road projects or new hires at a wind blade manufacturing plant supplying a Recovery Act wind farm.
• jobs created at businesses benefiting from Recovery Act projects. For example, the fast food worker hired because of the growing lunch rush due to a Recovery Act project underway across the street.

Doesn’t Include Jobs from New Education Funding

Third, while it’s clear from these reports that the Recovery Act is still supporting hundreds of thousands of education jobs nationwide, it’s no longer the only initiative funding education jobs. This summer, as states continued to deal with ongoing budget shortfalls, the Administration worked with Congress to secure additional education funding through the Education Jobs Bill. States are just beginning to put those new funds to work as their Recovery Act education funding winds down and we expect to see a ramp-up in jobs reported as a result of the Bill in the months ahead – but the jobs created or saved from the Education Jobs Bill are not included in these reports.

Honest Efforts, But Not Perfect

And finally, keep in mind that these are no ordinary government-released reports. They come directly from the recipients of Recovery dollars themselves -- people like local government employees, community organization administrators and small business owners who don’t count jobs for a living. While these are honest efforts to be as accurate as possible, we know they’re not perfect. But they are an important part of our continued commitment to providing unprecedented accountability and transparency of the Recovery Act at work.

So with all of that said, just how many jobs is the Recovery Act responsible for? According to leading independent economists, when you account for the full job impact of the Recovery Act – including direct, indirect and induced jobs – and factor in every dollar of spending – including tax relief and aid to individuals, the Recovery Act is actually responsible for about 3 million jobs nationwide. (To see what that means for your state, check out page 49 of this report.)

We’re continuing to work every day to create even more jobs - but it’s clear from these new reports that Recovery Act investments are having a meaningful impact for families and communities across the country.

DOT Awards $2.4 Billion to Continue Developing 21st Century High-speed Passenger Rail Corridors

Posted by White House

Cross posted from the Department of Transportation's blog.

Today, the Obama Administration and the Department of Transportation are awarding $2.4 billion for planning and construction of intercity passenger rail service. With these 54 projects in 23 states, we're moving full-speed ahead toward a nationwide high-speed rail system.

President Obama signed the Recovery Act to build bridges between the Americans who needed jobs and the infrastructure jobs that needed doing. One of those jobs was creating a 21st century rail system in the United States.

The $8 billion in the Recovery Act for high-speed rail was step one, a down payment on a national network that, within 25 years, will give 80% of Americans the choice of traveling from downtown to downtown by high speed passenger train.

With today's awards, we take a second step toward that future. A future that envisions riding from downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco in two hours and forty minutes. Or Chicago to St. Louis in two hours. Or Tampa to Orlando in 55 minutes.

The intense demand for high-speed rail dollars demonstrates just how important this historic initiative is. We received 132 applications for $8.8 billion, more than three times the funding Congress made available. Across the country, states are seeing the future and clamoring for passenger rail routes. That's why we've already expanded to include a route from Iowa City to Chicago--running through the Quad Cities--and a route in Michigan connecting Detroit to Chicago via Kalamazoo.

States understand that high-speed rail represents a unique opportunity to revitalize our manufacturing base, spur economic development, and create jobs.

Workers will be needed to lay track and manufacture rail cars. And more than 30 rail manufacturers and suppliers, both domestic and foreign, have agreed to establish or expand bases of operations in the US if they are hired to build America's next generation high-speed lines. The Obama Administration secured this commitment to ensure that new jobs are created here at home.

And, because proximity to rail stations will be increasingly valuable, growing rail lines will also stimulate economic development.

There are other benefits beyond jobs, economic growth, and greater mobility. Rail routes will alleviate congestion on crowded highways and allow freight to flow more freely by truck. Train passengers will forego crowded airports often located more than an hour outside of a city's central business district.

And all of these intercity routes will be cleaner and greener than our current options, easing our reliance on imported oil and mitigating carbon emissions on our environment.

Every vision this nation ever realized began with a few courageous steps. If we put off high-speed rail by saying it will take too long to build, then it will never happen. President Eisenhower took a step forward at the birth of the US Interstate Highway network in the 1950s, and today that system is the life-blood of American commerce and mobility.

Now it's time for another bold step. The America I grew up in didn't just happen. Our nation's progress was only made possible through the imagination, investment, and hard work of those who came before. And I’m proud that, today, we’re adding to that legacy with President Obama's commitment to high speed rail.

More Than 5,000 SBA Jobs Act Loans Approved in First Month

Posted by White House

Just one month after the President signed the Small Business Jobs Act, SBA has supported nearly $3 billion in loans to more than 5,000 small businesses across the country. That’s more than 5,000 small business owners who’ve felt first-hand, within one month, the impact this new law is having on our economy: from Peabody Engineering, a tank and fiberglass manufacturer in Southern California that is using a Jobs Act loan to hire 10 more workers, to Caudill Web Design here in our nation’s capital, who will use their Jobs Act loan to hire more programmers to meet increased demand.

So, how did we do it? With the Recovery Act, we learned that raising the guarantee and waiving the fees in SBA’s top two loan programs was a formula for success. With the Recovery Act funding and extensions of funding from Congress, we turned just $680 million in taxpayer dollars into nearly $30 billion in lending support through our lending partners.

That’s a big bang for the taxpayer buck. The Jobs Act builds on that success by extending those same loan enhancements.

This is a critical investment in America’s biggest job creators and in the strongest engine of economic recovery: entrepreneurs and small business owners. By unlocking loans for these small businesses, we are providing them with the tools they need to grow their business and create new jobs in their local communities.

In all, we estimate the $505 million provided in the Jobs Act for these loan enhancements will support about $14 billion in small business loans. That’s a $14-billion boost for America’s small businesses and just one of the reasons that the passage of this new law was a top priority for President Obama. The Jobs Act also includes $12 billion in tax credits targeted specifically to small businesses and a $30-billion lending fund that will help small, community banks increase their lending to local small business owners and entrepreneurs.

As the President has said, government can’t guarantee the success of a small business, but it can knock down some of the barriers that stand in the way and help create the conditions where small businesses can grow and hire. The Small Business Jobs Act is a critical tool to help us do just that, and we are already seeing its impact with the loans SBA approves every day.

Learn more facts about how small businesses are benefiting from the Small Business Jobs Act at www.sba.gov/jobsact.

USDA Recovery Act Loan Guarantees Spur Job Growth and Business Development

Posted by White House

The estimated number of jobs created or saved through USDA Recovery Act investments in rural America continues to grow. Today, I am in Ohio, where USDA has provided over $59.5 million in loan guarantees to help rural businesses grow, innovate and create jobs. You can see economic activity everywhere.

For example, consider Pride of the Hills Manufacturing, Inc., a company that supports the natural gas industry. Pride of the Hills was awarded $1,940,000 in financing through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), directed through USDA Rural Development’s Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. The company will use the money to modernize equipment, improve operational efficiency and add 49 new jobs.

Earlier today I announced that 15 businesses in 10 states will receive over $60 million in USDA Recovery Act loan guarantees to create and save jobs. These represent just a small part of the $1.6 billion in guaranteed USDA business loan funding that will create or save an estimated 33,000 jobs across the nation.

Another business that will benefit is JBT Grain Company in Middleton, Michigan. Using a loan guaranteed by USDA, the firm will build a new feed mill and pellet plant, creating 16 new jobs. A Manchester, Tennessee firm was selected to receive funding to build a 48 unit assisted living facility. Not only will the development benefit residents, it has already generated 22 new health-care related jobs.

A host of success stories like these are included in a report that USDA issued last week highlighting some of the 2,000 businesses nationwide that are benefiting from guaranteed loans provided through the Recovery Act. When you read the report, you’ll see that the Recovery Act is continuing to provide jobs and stimulate economic activity in rural America.

President Obama in Rhode Island: "When You Vote Against Small Business Tax Relief..."

Posted by White House

This afternoon the President toured American Cord & Webbing in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was the kind of business the President thought about as he was cutting taxes for small business 16 times, and making sure health reform made it easier and more affordable to cover their employees. Most recently, it was the kind of business he was thinking of when he signed the Small Business Jobs Act, which he discussed with workers afterwards:

And last month, after plenty of political obstacles, after months in which thousands of small business owners across America were waiting for the loans and tax cuts they badly needed to grow their business and hire new employees, I signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act.

Now, that act extended provisions that helped support tens of thousands of new SBA loans under the Recovery Act, and it waived fees on those loans to save owners money on their payments -– something that saved this particular company more than $9,000.

In less than a month since that new law took effect, more than 3,600 small business owners have already received more than $1.4 billion worth of new loans, with more to come -- and the SBA has already begun offering larger loans for small business owners who need them.

The law also accelerates $55 billion in new tax cuts for businesses both large and small that make job-creating investments over the next year. It eliminates capital gains taxes on key new investments made in small businesses until the end of this year. It dramatically increases the amount small businesses can write off on new equipment investments -- and we want to do more, so that you can write it all off. These are tax cuts that can help America -- help businesses like American Cord and Webbing that are making new investments right now. And it can help create jobs.

Finally, the law that we signed creates new initiatives to increase lending to small businesses. It strengthens state programs that spur private sector lending, and that’s a step that will support $15 billion in new small business loans across the country. And it sets up a new Small Business Lending Fund that will support Main Street banks that lend to Main Street businesses.

The President also explained why it was so tough to get through:

Now, I will confess I wish that Republican leaders in Congress had agreed earlier. They voted against these ideas again and again. They talk a good game about tax cuts and giving entrepreneurs the freedom to succeed when, in fact, they also ended up voting against tax cuts for the middle class; they voted against tax breaks for companies creating jobs here in the United States.

When you vote against small business tax relief and you hold up a small business jobs bill for months, that doesn’t do anything to support small businesses like this one. It doesn’t do anything to support the outstanding workers at this company. It’s just playing politics. If you’re going to talk a big game, then you need to deliver.

So I hope that my friends on the other side of the aisle are going to change their minds going forward, because putting the American people back to work, boosting our small businesses, rebuilding the economic security of the middle class, these are big national challenges. And we’ve all got a stake in solving them. And it’s not going to be enough just to play politics. You can’t just focus on the next election. You’ve got to focus on the next generation.

That’s how Mark’s company has succeeded by focusing on the next generation. And that’s how we have to think about our work in Washington. (Applause.)

President Obama Talks to American Women on the Economy: The People Behind the Report

Posted by White House

The report out this morning on how the Administration has worked to ensure economic stability for women as part of our economic recovery and America’s new economic foundation was well worth a read. So was the blog post discussing it from Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett. But as powerful as the statistics are, there’s nothing like hearing it first-hand.

That’s why the President took some time in a backyard in Seattle, Washington to talk with women who are moving forward in every sector of our economy. From teachers who have been able to give their students just a little more because of the President’s investments in education, to clean energy entrepreneurs who got a boost from the Recovery Act to help them get going, to a woman who was making money the old fashioned way – cupcakes:

THE PRESIDENT: ...Now, next we’ve got Jody Hall, who is the owner of Cupcake Royale. I don’t know if she brought any samples. (Laughter.) But just in case any of you are hungry, you might want to pay attention here.

MS. HALL: Well, thank you so much. It’s such an honor to be here. My business is called Cupcake Royale, and I did bring some samples. But you have some fierce security, so somebody might be enjoying them --

THE PRESIDENT: I suspect Secret Service confiscated them and are now eating them as we speak. (Laughter.)

MS. HALL: I see Duncan with a little bit of frosting on his -- (laughter.) So, yes, I did bring you some treats for the First Family as well, because everybody loves cupcakes.

But -- so I started my business in 2003. We were actually the first cupcake bakery that I know of that opened outside of Manhattan. And so it was a risky move. I came from corporate America and grew up there and decided to kind of spread my wings and give it a try. And we did really well.

We now have five retail locations in the Puget Sound area. We have a thriving wholesale business. We employ 85 people. And we provide health care for people who work 30 hours or more. And I’m also a mother as well as being a business owner, and my partner, Kelly, and I have a son named Truman, and he’s a year -- I’m sorry, 18 months. Nervous sitting here, you guys. (Laughter.)

So I guess the first thing I want to say is, just very quickly, I worked very hard with Senator Murray to pass and fight for small businesses for health care legislation reform, and you guys passed that, and I just have great respect for that. There is not one small business owner that I know in the city of Seattle that I connect with that isn’t looking forward to the implementation of the exchanges to reduce costs and bring higher-quality insurance to small businesses. We need that. So thank you. Just have to say that.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s great. Good job, Patty. (Applause.)

MS. HALL: Patty was a great leader and took a very early start in the Senate, and obviously Congressman McDermott as well. So that said, I also worked with the government to help me with my business. A year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to buy our fourth retail location in Capitol Hill. We were able to open a bakery and a café there. And it allowed us to really grow our business. I did this through the SBA 504 loan, so I was able to purchase a building in Capitol Hill in one of the hottest spots in the city. I was only -- I only had to put down 10 percent versus if I walked into a bank probably 25 or 30 percent for somebody in my position and length of business and that kind of thing.

So I put 10 percent down. I was able to lock in a rate for 20 years that’s really favorable, and grow a business that added 15 jobs when we did that. As well, we had this huge new bakery, so we could grow a thriving wholesale business. In fact, we just added University of Washington to our wholesale accounts along with a few other strategic players like Metropolitan Market and things like that. So we started growing -- with the momentum of this loan, grew this wholesale business. And then beyond that, just a month ago, we opened our fifth retail location, which is crazy, over the lake in Bellevue, and with that, we added another 15 jobs. So in the last 18 months, starting with this loan, we’ve been able to add 30 jobs. And I’m very proud of that.

And that, plus adding the Salted Caramel the day you were inaugurated, has really helped our business to thrive. (Laughter.) I hear you’re a big fan of salted caramel.

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. (Laughter.)

MS. HALL: And that’s what I brought you. So --

THE PRESIDENT: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much. This is a wonderful story, Jody. And I just wanted to underscore something: Women-owned businesses have grown significantly faster than small businesses overall. But one of the challenges still ends up being financing.

And one of the things that the Small Business Administration has done really well is that they are three times more likely to provide loans to women-owned businesses than regular banks have been. And so the story that you told about being able to access financing, for what obviously is a great product and a great business model, is something that we want to continue to emphasize.

We had a big fight, some of you may remember, about a month, month and a half ago, where for six months we’d been advocating getting more financing to small businesses through the SBA and other mechanisms, as well as cutting taxes on small businesses. We finally were able to get that through the Senate thanks to the hard work of folks like Patty. And that means that there are going to be companies like yours all across the country that are really going to be able to benefit.

And I’m really looking forward to trying your cupcakes. (Laughter.)

Report Shows The Recovery Act Creates Jobs and Changes Lives for the Better

Posted by White House

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a driving force in job creation and economic renewal in rural America.

Earlier today, I released a report (pdf) outlining how funds allocated to seven programs administered by USDA Rural Development have sparked economic growth, created or saved over 300,000 jobs, and funded projects in almost 3,000 counties. USDA staff approved 95,000 loans, made 2,500 grants and assisted 2,000 rural businesses with loan guarantees. We also assisted 93,000 American families close home loans, either by guaranteeing a loan from a lending institution or making a loan through our direct program. We approved Internet projects that will provide an estimated 7 million people, many of them in remote areas including Tribal lands, access to improved state-of-the-art broadband service.

Those are significant numbers, but as I travel the country, I am most impressed by the individuals who tell me how their lives are being changed, directly or indirectly, because of the Act. In Port Angeles, Washington, 147 workers have jobs because a Business Loan guarantee allowed a plywood plant to reopen after a three year shutdown. Older job seekers in Tennessee are receiving computer training and developing new work skills thanks to a computer lab funded with a Rural Business Enterprise Grant. A firm in Gering, Nebraska, saw demand for its homes rebound after USDA partnered with lending institutions, the city and a development firm to provide local residents with quality homes.

Through the Recovery Act, USDA has funded over 850 water projects to improve public health and environmental quality; over 560 public safety facilities; 312 cultural and educational facilities including 196 library projects; and over 180 healthcare facilities.

These efforts will continue to drive job creation for the next several years, but as importantly, the buildings, broadband and water systems, taken together, supply the economic fabric for business expansion by private companies. The Recovery Act is a continuing success, and today’s report confirms that.

Read the report (pdf).

Setting the Spending Record Straight

Posted by White House

The Wall Street Journal today ran an editorial bemoaning the increase in federal spending between FY 2008 and FY 2010.

What it doesn’t factor in, or provide context for, is the chain of events that led to these increases.

First, a large driver of federal spending was the onset of the economic collapse in late 2008 as automatic aid to people hit hard by the downturn, such as unemployment insurance and food stamps, kicked in. With more people temporarily eligible for these mandatory programs and less revenue coming in, the deficit increased substantially in FY 2009, which began on October 1, 2008. In fact, on January 7, 2009 -- before President Obama was sworn in -- the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its Economic and Budget Outlook for Fiscal Years 2009-2019. In that document, CBO projected that government spending would rise from 20.9 percent of GDP in FY 2008 to 24.9 percent of GDP in FY 2009. In reality, government spending in FY 2009 turned out to be roughly what had been predicted a year earlier (24.7 percent). That is to say, this big increase of government spending occurred because of the economic meltdown the Administration inherited and the accompanying automatic increase in programs that assist those most hurt by it -- and this was already fully baked into the fiscal cake when the President took office.

Second, also in response to the recession, we needed to help close the huge gap between what the economy could produce and what it was producing in order to prevent a second Great Depression and even more devastating job losses. That’s why economists from across the spectrum supported a significant stimulus measure, and why the President signed into law the Recovery Act.

While the Recovery Act has become a subject of intense debate, it clearly has brought our economy back from the brink. Instead of four quarters of economic contraction, we now have had four quarters of economic growth. Instead of losing 750,000 jobs a month, we’ve now had nine months of private sector job growth. Recovery Act investments not only saved the jobs of thousands of teachers, firefighters, and police officers, but are also laying the foundation for economic growth in years to come as new roads, bridges, power plants, and rail are built. The Recovery Act added to government spending, but it was essential and beneficial to the nation’s economy.

While measures like these were needed to stave off recession and strengthen the economy, we also must restore fiscal sustainability over the medium- and long-term. However, doing so is made much more difficult because of past fiscal irresponsibility -- the previous Administration’s failure to pay for two large tax cuts and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

What is required of us now is to make the tough choices to put our fiscal house in order.

The President has put forward a budget that contains more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction. He has put in place a three-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending -- in nominal terms based on levels that do not include any Recovery Act funding -- and vowed to enforce it with his veto pen. He convened a bipartisan fiscal commission to devise a plan to get our budget in primary balance and our country on a long-term, sustainable course, and looks forward to hearing back from them in December. Looking to the long term where the growth of health care costs is the single biggest driver of increased spending, the President signed into law the Affordable Care Act, which will reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion in its first decade and more than $1 trillion in the second.

The other side’s response to our fiscal imbalance is to make it worse by supporting tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of households -- cuts that will increase our deficits by nearly $700 billion and do nothing at all to stimulate economic growth.

What should worry those concerned about government spending and our fiscal situation are not slanted arguments about how we got here, but plans like these that will put us deeper into a hole.

The President on Infrastructure Investment: "This is Work That Needs to Be Done. There Are Workers Who Are Ready to Do It."

Posted by White House

During tough economic times, one of the toughest jobs to hold is as a construction worker. In almost any city or town in America, you're likely to see buildings, projects, or roads left half-done after investments made by private enterprise or state and local governments based on expectations of a brighter economic future dried up.

Meanwhile, there is a near-universal consensus that America's infrastructure is both falling apart and lagging behind as our competitors move forward on the next generation of transportation. That's part of why a new report from the Council of Economic Advisers and the Treasury Department (pdf) encourages a bold new plan to invest, finding that infrastructure projects have a high bang for the buck because construction costs are low due to underutilized resources, and that these investments would create jobs in sectors of the economy suffering from some of the highest levels of unemployment. The Recovery Act already created hundreds of thousands of jobs this way, but there is more than enough left to do.

After meeting with some of his Cabinet secretaries, along with a bipartisan group of former secretaries of Transportation, mayors and governors who have come together in support of infrastructure investment, the President spoke both on the depth of the problem and value of the solution.

On the problem:

For years, we have deferred tough decisions, and today, our aging system of highways and byways, air routes and rail lines hinder our economic growth. Today, the average American household is forced to spend more on transportation each year than food. Our roads, clogged with traffic, cost us $80 billion a year in lost productivity and wasted fuel. Our airports, choked with passengers, cost nearly $10 billion a year in productivity losses from flight delays. And in some cases, our crumbling infrastructure costs American lives. It should not take another collapsing bridge or failing levee to shock us into action.

So we’re already paying for our failure to act. And what’s more, the longer our infrastructure erodes, the deeper our competitive edge erodes. Other nations understand this. They are going all-in. Today, as a percentage of GDP, we invest less than half of what Russia does in their infrastructure, less than one-third of what Western Europe does. Right now, China’s building hundreds of thousands of miles of new roads. Over the next 10 years, it plans to build dozens of new airports. Over the next 20, it could build as many as 170 new mass transit systems. Everywhere else, they’re thinking big. They’re creating jobs today, but they’re also playing to win tomorrow. So the bottom line is our shortsightedness has come due. We can no longer afford to sit still.

On the solution:

By investing in these projects, we’ve already created hundreds of thousands of jobs. But the fact remains that nearly one in five construction workers is still unemployed and needs a job. And that makes absolutely no sense at a time when there is so much of America that needs rebuilding.

So that’s why, last month, I announced a new plan for upgrading America’s roads, rails and runways for the long-term. Over the next six years, we will rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads -- enough to circle the world six times. We will lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways -- enough to stretch from coast to coast. And we will restore 150 miles of runways and advance a next generation air-traffic control system that reduces delays for the American people.

This plan will be fully paid for. It will not add to our deficit over time. And we are going to work with Congress to see to that. It will establish an infrastructure bank to leverage federal dollars and focus on the smartest investments. We want to cut waste and bureaucracy by consolidating and collapsing more than 100 different, often duplicative programs. And it will change the way Washington works by reforming the federal government’s patchwork approach of funding and maintaining our infrastructure. We’ve got to focus less on wasteful earmarks, outdated formulas. We’ve got to focus more on competition and innovation; less on shortsighted political priorities, and more on our national economic priorities.

So investing in our infrastructure is something that members of both political parties have always supported. It’s something that groups ranging from the Chamber of Commerce to the AFL-CIO support today. And by making these investments across the country, we won’t just make our economy run better over the long haul -- we will create good, middle-class jobs right now.

Figure 1 from the CEA/ Treasury report, "Average Household Expenditures, 2008," is below. It speaks volumes:

DOT Online Map Collects Voices of the Recovery Act; Workers Encouraged to Upload Their Own Video Stories

Posted by White House

Cross posted from the Department of Transportation's blog.

I'm really pleased today to present a web experience honoring the men and women who are doing the heavy lifting to renew America's transportation infrastructure. With our interactive map, viewers can see all of the "Voices of the Recovery Act" videos from our YouTube channel on a single screen.

Each of these videos features a worker whose job was saved or created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In their own words, they talk about their Recovery Act projects and how they've built or repaired infrastructure, and how their projects jump-started economic activity in their communities.

From John Tracey in Maine to Alison Barber in Colorado to Bill Montgomery in California, tens of thousands of workers have put Recovery Act dollars to good use on more than 14,600

highway, road, transit, bridge, airport, and small shipyard projects nationwide.

Thanks to the Recovery Act, these good people, who would have been unemployed otherwise, are at work today on more than 13,900 needed projects currently underway. And in our video series you can hear them share what that has meant to them in tough economic times for the construction industry.

As Vice President Joe Biden said, "'Voices of the Recovery Act' is one more way in which the American people will be able to see their tax dollars at work helping to turn the economy around and put the country back to work.”

I encourage you to visit our online map, and listen as these workers tell their stories.

And, if you have a story to tell about how a Recovery Act transportation project has helped you find or keep a job, upload your video to YouTube and email us a link at recoveryvids@dot.gov.

One Week Later, Nearly 2,000 Small Businesses Approved for SBA Loans Due to Jobs Act

Posted by White House

Late yesterday, just a week after President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, nearly 2,000 small business owners who had been waiting for SBA-backed loans had been approved and will soon have those loan funds – totaling nearly $1 billion – in hand. That’s a quick turnaround, and it’s an example of this Administration’s deep commitment to giving entrepreneurs and small business owners the support they need to grow and create jobs.

Here’s how we made it happen.

After the Recovery Act passed last year, SBA increased the guarantee and reduced the fees in our top two loan programs. That two-part formula worked. We saw a significant rebound in SBA lending, helping unlock much-needed capital for small businesses. All told, SBA took just $680 million in taxpayer dollars and turned it into nearly $30 billion in lending support to about 70,000 small businesses. That’s a strong bang for the taxpayer buck.

Even though Congress renewed funding for the increased guarantee and waived fees several times, SBA had to stop making these loans in May when the agency’s authority for the higher guarantees ended. Shortly thereafter, the funds for fee waivers were used up. As a result, we had to start putting applicants on a stand-by waiting list – a “queue” – hoping that these successful loan enhancements would once again be available.

Over the summer, that queue grew to include more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners. The Administration continued to push for Congress to pass a small business jobs bill, knowing that these small businesses – and many more – were ready to start growing and creating jobs as soon as they got their SBA loan.

Finally, last week, with the stroke of the President’s pen, the SBA got $505 million more for these effective and proven enhancements, which will support an estimated $14 billion in new lending.

As of late yesterday, just one week later, we had pushed out nearly 2,000 loans – clearing out all the loans in the queue. And, today we’re moving ahead with approving thousands more SBA Jobs Act loans. With each loan, we’re putting capital in the hands of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners so they can continue to drive economic growth and create jobs in communities all across the country. And this is just one of the many benefits in the Small Business Jobs Act, which can now deliver $55 billion in tax cuts and additional assistance for businesses that need loans.

If We’re Serious about Jobs, Don’t Stop Job Creation

Posted by White House

Today, the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund will expire because a minority in Congress blocked the extension proposed by the President. This will put up to 100,000 jobs in jeopardy, raising unemployment and potentially even cost the government more money in additional public assistance funds. A strong commitment that the program will be restored when Congress returns could still save some of these jobs, and provide crucial help to workers, businesses and communities.

The TANF Emergency Contingency Fund lets states use Recovery Act dollars to help employers pay for the cost of hiring low-income unemployed workers. Since the inception of the program, states have provided jobs to more than 250,000 jobless parents and disadvantaged youth according to a recent analysis. In September alone, up to 100,000 Americans were employed in subsidized jobs funded through the Emergency Fund - jobs that are in jeopardy given the expiration of this successful initiative. We certainly shouldn’t let effective programs expire, especially when they’re still very much needed to help these low-income workers earn the paychecks they need to support their families.

Small businesses are hiring many of the workers supported by this program and these businesses have been able to grow as a result. A recent New York Times story highlighted an innovative program in Mississippi that used the funding to pay private companies to hire 3,200 workers and paid their salaries on a sliding scale so that the employers would end up paying the entire amount after six months. As a local employer recently told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s a win-win. We needed the help and they needed the jobs.”

Without federal funding, most states and localities won’t be able to continue to provide support for these jobs. Governors from both parties have called for the extension of the program and some will try to keep it going for a couple of months with state funds, buying Congress time to act. But the reality is that many states will be unable to fill the gap, and those that can, only temporarily. A commitment to extending this program will give more governors the confidence not to end it now and could save up to 100,000 jobs.

We should all support effective job creation programs. I hope Republicans will join with Democrats in Congress to renew funding for the Emergency Contingency Fund and provide businesses a chance to hire and the neediest Americans an opportunity to work.

A Living-Room Discussion with Middle Class Families

Posted by White House

Yesterday, Vice President Biden visited the home of Bob and Lorie Cochran in Manchester, New Hampshire for a discussion on the economy and other issues that are important to middle class families. The Cochrans were kind enough to host a small group of their neighbors and other families from Manchester. You might have seen the President leading similar discussions over the last few weeks – it’s all about hearing directly from the American people about how things are going on Main Street and the concerns they’re facing as they sit around their kitchen tables. We’ve been calling these events “backyard discussions,” but the weather didn’t cooperate yesterday. It started raining as soon as we arrived in New Hampshire, so we all had to move inside to the Cochrans’ living room.

Fortunately, the grim weather didn’t put a damper on our conversation. After some brief opening remarks by the Vice President, we launched right into a great discussion, with the audience asking about the steps we’re taking to create jobs and get our economy moving again. The Vice President took the opportunity to discuss our agenda for creating jobs, including more tax cuts for small businesses that want to expand and hire, infrastructure investment to build on the momentum of the Recovery Act, preserving tax cuts for the middle class, making college more affordable, and reducing health care costs while protecting health care consumers.

As you’d expect in a political season in a highly politically engaged state, other questioners asked about the upcoming midterm elections. And on that subject, Vice President Biden stressed the stark choice voters will face on November 2: will we continue moving forward, building on our economic progress, making sure that insurance companies and banks are playing by the new rules of the road, and pursuing a policy agenda focused on the prosperity of the middle class? Or will we hit reverse and go back to the failed, discredited economic policies set that got us into this mess? Will we rescind and repeal the progress we’ve made to end abuses by insurance companies and big banks, stop rebuilding America’s vital infrastructure, and go back to slashing taxes for millionaires and billionaires with no regard for the fiscal consequences?

From where we stand, the choice is clear. Vice President Biden ended the conversation by stressing just how high the stakes are, and how important it is that every American citizen stays engaged in this debate in the weeks ahead. From what I could tell as I looked on from the kitchen, no one disagreed.