CAT | The President
Ed. Note: Watch video of the meeting in our section on the President’s proposal.
Today’s bipartisan health care meeting offered something you rarely see in Washington: an open, honest, productive discussion between the political parties. Leaders from across the political spectrum gathered at Blair House to exchange thoughts about an issue that touches all of us: rising health costs and unfair insurance company practices.
The President doesn’t view today’s meeting as a campaign debate or piece of theater – and he didn’t approach it as if it were scored like an Olympic event. The President went to Blair House focused on the substance – not the process – and he left the meeting focused on substance: how we put the American people in control of their own health care.
The President remains committed to enacting meaningful health insurance reform that will lower costs for families and small businesses by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in American history. He wants to enhance insurance choices and promote competition with a new insurance marketplace where people and small businesses will be able to have the same choices that every member of Congress will have. His proposal will provide common sense rules of the road and basic consumer protections that keep insurance companies honest and he’ll fight to make sure that no American is denied coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition.
Throughout the day, both sides found areas of agreement on important issues like:
Preventing waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid
Addressing medical malpractice reform
Reforming the insurance market
Giving individuals more choices in coverage, and giving small businesses the opportunity to pool coverage for their employees
But there were also important areas of disagreement.
There was a fundamental disagreement about whether we should set some common sense rules of the road to protect American families and small businesses from insurance company abuses. The President doesn’t believe we can afford to leave those decisions about your care to the insurers alone.
The President believes that a problem this big cannot be addressed incrementally. And while insuring 30 million people is going to cost money, it’s important to remember that most of this money is going to tax credits that will reduce premiums and help people get better coverage.
And while the President appreciated the participation and input of everyone today, he doesn’t think we can just scrap a year’s worth of work and start over. The millions of Americans that are suffering can’t afford another year-long debate. There’s too much at stake.
Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director
Imagine a problem facing a community — unemployment or homelessness, poverty or environmental degradation — and there’s a good chance a group of college students is finding a way to tackle it. At the Corporation for National and Community Service, we honor these students and their universities with the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The Honor Roll is the highest Federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.
Today, we are honored to announce the recipients of the 2009 Presidential Awards:
General Community Service Awardees
Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Special Focus: Service to Youth from Disadvantaged Circumstances Awardees
Emory & Henry College, Emory, Virginia
Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg, New Jersey
Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
In addition to these outstanding winners, 736 colleges and universities were placed on the Honor Roll, with 115 of these receiving “With Distinction” honors.
The competition was tough – the winners had to demonstrate their level of student participation in service activities; scope, level of effort, innovation and effectiveness of their service projects; and overall institutional support to service-learning and volunteerism.
The importance of service to college students is underscored by one telling statistic: in the 2008-09 academic year, more than three million college students contributed over 300 million hours of service. College students take on community challenges by running after school programs, tutoring at-risk youth, building and weatherizing homes, offering computer classes, restoring natural parks, and much more.
I cannot overstate the important role that colleges and universities play in the broader national service movement. These institutions’ commitment to service can have an impact on students throughout their entire lives.
The Honor Roll is one of many ways that we promote student service-learning and civic engagement. Our Learn and Serve America program works with schools across the country to promote academic achievement and civic responsibility for more than one million students each year, and AmeriCorps annually engages thousands of college students in making a difference in their communities while earning money for their education.
I want to express my sincere congratulations to the recipients of the Presidential Award and the more than 700 additional schools that applied. I encourage every college and university to apply for the 2010 Honor Roll, and to find new and creative ways to engage their students in service throughout the year. Read more about all the colleges and universities that received the Honor Roll.
Patrick Corvington is the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service
Shortly after the plane crash in Austin, TX, John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism informed President Obama of the incident. The President expressed his concern, commended the courageous actions of the first responders and asked to be kept up to date as the investigation moves forward.
Robert Gibbs is White House Press Secretary
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said of the meeting today:
The President met this morning at the White House with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. The President stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China. The President commended the Dalai Lama’s "Middle Way" approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government. The President stressed that he has consistently encouraged both sides to engage in direct dialogue to resolve differences and was pleased to hear about the recent resumption of talks. The President and the Dalai Lama agreed on the importance of a positive and cooperative relationship between the United States and China.
President Barack Obama meets with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the Map Room of the White House
In his latest such conversation, President Obama joined Congressional leaders and middle school children to congratulate astronauts aboard the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour during a call from the Roosevelt Room of the White House:
I just wanted to let you guys know how proud we are of all of you at what you guys have been accomplishing. I’ve had a chance to take a look at what Tranquility Module is doing. Everybody here back home is excited about this bay on the world that you guys are opening up, and Stephen Colbert at least is excited about his treadmill.
And so we just wanted to let you know that the amazing work that’s being done on the International Space Station not only by our American astronauts but also our colleagues from Japan and Russia is just a testimony to the human ingenuity; a testimony to extraordinary skill and courage that you guys bring to bear; and is also a testimony to why continued space exploration is so important, and is part of the reason why my commitment to NASA is unwavering.
President Barack Obama, along with Congressional leaders and middle school children, congratulate astronauts aboard the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour during a call from the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Incidentally, there aren’t many better agencies on the internet than NASA – check out their new release of photos from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for example, and get a daily dose of the best of outer space by following them on Twitter.
UPDATE: Check out our "Educate to Innovate" initiative page to learn more about the program that brought these middle schoolers to the White House.
While most of the media attention was dedicated to the anniversary of the Recovery Act, here at the White House the President also convened his nation security team for continued focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
President Barack Obama meets with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Situation Room of the White House, Feb. 17, 2010. General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, was among those joining the discussion via videoconference (left screen)
This evening, President Obama will call the astronaut crews of the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour from the Roosevelt Room of the White House and congratulate the astronauts on their successful ongoing mission. The call will be livestreamed at 5:15pm EST on WhiteHouse.gov/live.
Building on the "Educate to Innovate" campaign, the President will be joined by middle school students from Michigan, Florida, North Carolina and Nebraska who are visiting for the “Future City” engineering competition — an event that drew 34,000 7th and 8th graders from across the nation to Washington, D.C. this week to discuss innovative ideas and designs for a city of tomorrow.
Watch the event live at 5:15pm EST right here on WhiteHouse.gov. [Update: This event has concluded. Watch the video here]
America is facing some of the greatest challenges in a generation. At the same time, promising nonprofit organizations across the country are making heroic efforts to meet overwhelming need and, implement effective and innovative ways to meet these challenges. But their impact is often hampered by a lack of resources and support to evaluate and improve their programs, and expand them so they can serve more communities of need.
Yesterday, the Corporation for National and Community Service launched the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant competition, which takes a new approach to addressing our nation’s most critical social challenges.
The SIF will direct funding through innovative, hands-on grant makers (or intermediaries) across the country. These grant makers will identify fund and support over a period of years promising nonprofit organizations working in low-income communities.
It’s an approach that has clear benefits.
It leverages private funding from grant makers and others. Each federal dollar will be matched with at least $3 of private funding, for a total of $200 million or greater.
It offers nonprofits critical support with respect to management, staffing, data collection, fundraising and other challenges that they will need to overcome as they grow.
It provides for investments in multiple nonprofits in an issue area or geography, allowing the best innovations to rise to the top.
Critical to this last point, the SIF provides funding and incentives for nonprofits to evaluate their effectiveness. Grant makers will be true partners in these evaluation efforts and be jointly held accountable for results.
The SIF’s focus on evaluation is so critical, especially for government.
Billions of taxpayer dollars are spent each year on programs in the issue areas that the SIF will focus on – economic opportunity, youth development and school support, and healthy futures.
What if that funding could be more accurately focused on the best solutions? And what if the knowledge about what works were shared broadly, so it could be used in any community across the country? The benefits would be enormous. Through evaluation and knowledge-sharing, the SIF has the potential to transform how our nation tackles social challenges.
Discussing the SIF last year, the First Lady said it best when she noted:
“By focusing on high-impact, results-oriented non-profits, we will ensure that government dollars are spent in a way that is effective, accountable and worthy of public trust.”
SIF applications are due by April 8, 2010 and awards will be made by July 2010.
Stephen Goldsmith, Board Chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service
In order to fully understand the scope of the Recovery Act, there are three levels to consider: the national, the local, and the individual.
Recovery Act: The National Level
This morning the Vice President – who has overseen the implementation of the Recovery Act as one of his primary responsibilities – marked the one-year anniversary with his first annual report to the President on progress (pdf). A White House release, "Recovery by the Numbers," breaks out some key bullet points – here are just a few:
Jobs
CBO: According to the nonpartisan CBO, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009.
CEA, Other Private Forecasters: Analysis by the Council of Economic Advisers also found that the Recovery Act is responsible for about 2 million jobs – a figure in line with estimates from private forecasters like IHS Global, Moody’s Economy and even the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
The Economy
GDP/Economic Growth: In the fourth quarter of 2009, the economy grew 5.7 percent – – the largest gain in six years and something many economists say is largely due to the Recovery Act. Before the Recovery Act, the economy was shrinking by about 6 percent.
Job Losses: Job losses for the fourth quarter of 2009 were one-seventh what they were in the first quarter of 2009 when the Recovery Act was passed.
There’s plenty more in there, including breakdowns on infrastructure, technology and innovation, immediate relief, and aid to state and local governments. The Vice President also penned an op-ed in USA Today where he discussed the job creation estimates and the role the Recovery Act played in bringing us back from the brink of outright depression, but also what lies ahead:
And yet, to me, the most exciting thing about the Recovery Act is not what we’ve done, but what lies ahead. Many Recovery Act programs that will build the groundwork for the economy of the 21st century will be implemented in the next few months. Broadband access for small and rural communities. New factories where electric cars and clean fuel cells will be made. Wind farms, solar panels — and the facilities to construct them. New health technologies and smarter electrical power grids will be creating jobs this year thanks to the Recovery Act. Truly, the best is yet to come.
In remarks this morning, the President touched on another top level guiding principle of the Recovery Act – creating a new foundation for the American economy. From building a clean energy economy and creating a smarter energy grid, to revitalizing America’s infrastructure and transportation, to making our health records electronic and efficient, to rewarding excellence in teaching our children, people were put to work building a better future for America.
Recovery Act: The Local Level
Here at WhiteHouse.gov/Recovery, we looked at a more local level, with an interactive map looking at a sample of key projects, and the video below featuring the Mayors of Charleston, SC, Philadelphia, PA, Des Moines, IA, Columbus, OH, and Fresno, CA, all telling the story of how the Recovery Act affected cities and towns across the country:
Recovery Act: The Individual Level
With job losses, it always feels like missing the point to talk about numbers and figures, when every job lost can mean almost infinite pain and struggle for a given family. And in the same way that the President and Vice President understand the tough times Americans are going through with that lens, that is also the most meaningful way to look at what the Recovery Act has accomplished. Joining the President this morning, the Vice President took a moment to talk about just one person:
Just yesterday, as I said, in Saginaw, Michigan, I was with a gentleman who has his B.A. — his name is Gonzalez — Mr. Gonzalez. He worked for an automobile company and he got laid off. His wife and two kids were there at this event. But because of the Recovery Act and the job training program at a community college in his town, he went back and took a 16-hour course in being able to begin to deal with — 16-week course — in being able to deal with chemicals related to how they produced solar panels. And DOW Corning has a plant nearby. They added a thousand people over the last year because of some help they got as well, and in their great reach, he’s now working. He’s working at a decent salary. And that community college is going to train this year — another hundred people are going to go right from that training program directly to a job.
The President closed out his remarks referring critics to two other individuals: Blake Jones, Co-Founder of Namaste Solar in Boulder, and Charles Niederriter of Golden Triangle Construction Co. in Imperial, PA, who joined him and the Vice President today:
But for those skeptics who refuse to believe the Recovery Act has done any good, who continue to insist that the bill didn’t work, I’d ask you to take that argument up with Blake and his employees. Take that argument up with Chuck and his construction workers. Take it up with the Americans who are working in those battery plants, or building those new highways, or teaching our children new skills — all because the Recovery Act made it possible.
There’s Blake:
President Barack Obama makes a statement to business owners on the anniversary of the Recovery Act signing in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Earlier today in Maryland, President Obama spoke about the importance of clean energy for the country’s future.
Whether it’s nuclear energy, or solar or wind energy, if we fail to invest in the technologies of tomorrow, then we’re going to be importing those technologies instead of exporting them. We will fall behind. Jobs will be produced overseas, instead of here in the United States of America. And that’s not a future that I accept.
As one plank of that future, he announced loan guarantees through the Department of Energy to operate two new nuclear reactors at a plant in Burke, Georgia. It will be the first new nuclear power plant in nearly three decades. The plant is expected to create approximately 3500 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs. When the nuclear reactors come online, they will provide reliable electricity for 1.4 million people in Georgia.
President Barack Obama delivers remarks on new investments by the administration to create energy jobs during his visit to International Brotherhood of Electricians (IBEW) Local 26 headquarters in Lanham, Md., Feb. 16, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the plants will be held to strict standards to find ways of disposing waste safely, and avoid or reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The President discussed the need to increase the supply of nuclear power to meet growing energy needs and prevent the worst consequences of climate change. The plant is expected to cut carbon pollution by 16 million tons each year. "That’s like taking 3.5 million cars off the road," he explained.
President Obama called for a bipartisan energy and climate legislation to create incentives that will make clean energy profitable.
What I hope is that with this announcement, we’re underscoring both our seriousness in meeting the energy challenge and our willingness to look at this challenge not as a partisan issue but as a matter that’s far more important than politics – because the choices we make will affect not just the next generation but many generations to come.
Project sponsors include Georgia Power Company (GPC), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC), the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) and the City of Dalton, Georgia (Dalton).
Sean Myers points out a feature on a Motor Control Panel to President Barack Obama during a tour of the jobs training center at the International Brotherhood of Electricians (IBEW) Local 26 headquarters in Lanham, Md., Feb. 16, 2010. Looking on at left are Chuck Graham, Business Manager of IBEW Local Union 26 and Energy Secretary Steven Chu. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)