Click here to see the video. In a particularly moving address to troops at Osan Air Base in Osan, South Korea, the President thanked American troops for their continued sacrifice and service, and took the opportunity to a share a short anecdote with the crowd. The story reminded troops of America's great responsibility and privilege to protect freedom and promote democracy around the world, and offered rare historical insight from a longtime ally: I want to deliver, actually, just a quick story, go a little off script. President Lee talked to me about what it was like when he was a young child here in Korea, this country having been torn by war, and the poverty that still existed in the country. And he said, I hope the American people understand how grateful we are for what you've done, because we would not be the extraordinarily strong, prosperous nation that we are, had it not been for the sacrifices of your armed services and the continued contributions that you've made. And I...
When people use arguments they know are bogus, it's probably because they know they don't have any valid arguments at their disposal. So it would seem with opponents of reform in the Senate spending today obsessed with arguments about "rationing" that were debunked months ago. Their attacks are focused on the fact that the legislation supports research into what treatments work best for patients. Before we go any further, let's just say this as plainly as possible: Under health insurance reform, this research cannot be used to dictate coverage. In fact, this objective medical research empowers doctors and patients and helps them fight insurance company decisions to deny treatment and ration care. Maybe this is why opponents of reform are trying so hard to keep updated medical information out of the hands of our nation's doctors. What this patient-centered health research does specifically is provide doctors and patients with the best medical information to help them make the best...
In today’s Washington Post, I have an op-ed discussing an issue critical to the country’s fiscal future: health-care reform that provides the highest quality of care and helps stem rising health-care costs. In the piece, I lay out the four key pillars of fiscally-responsible health reform as identified by a group of the nation’s leading economists: deficit neutrality, a tax on high-cost plans, a Medicare commission, and delivery system reform. As the debate moves to the Senate and we move closer to a final bill, I argue that the greatest risk we run is not completing health reform and letting this opportunity to lay a new foundation for our economy and our country pass us by.
At 10:00 AM EST today the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services will host another Clean Energy Economy Forum. A group of stakeholders, business and community leaders will discuss clean energy and climate legislation work, and the benefits towards public health. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will be answering questions, including some taken live from our Facebook chat application. Watch it through WhiteHouse.gov/live Watch, discuss and engage through Facebook
Click here to see the video. We sat Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes down on the front couch of Air Force One to get a wrap-up of the trip before landing in Washington, DC. He may seem a little sleepy and dehydrated, but I can personally attest that he got a decent amount of rest on the way back. He was firmly in the “stay up at first, sleep later” camp for combating jet lag. Maybe we can have him attest to the success or failure of that endevour tomorrow. It’s been an honor and a privilege to bring you these video updates on our travels through Asia, and we hope it’s given you a new perspective on what it’s like to travel with President. You can find more information on the President's trip and on the President's policies in Asia on our Asia page. Arun Chaundhary is the official White House videographer
Ed. Note: Opponents of health reform appear to have run out of fresh smears against health insurance reform and have started recycling old debunked attacks. In response to those that brought up this attack that Politifact proved false months ago, we simply bring back this classic Reality Check first published on October 1, 2009. Last night Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann questioned health insurance reform, raising the spectre of school-based "sex clinics" that would take students to "have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night": It means that parents will never know what kind of counsel and treatment that their children are receiving. And as a matter of fact, the bill goes on to say what's going to go on -- comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor acute medical conditions, referrals to follow-up for specialty care -- is that abortion? Does that mean that someone's 13 year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a...
From the very beginning defenders of the status quo have held up the Congressional Budget Office as the gold standard for judging the impact of health reform legislation on the deficit. Indeed, as recently as two weeks ago, when alternative legislation based on insurance industry proposals was introduced, those opponents of real reform boasted of the CBO's declaration that it would cut the deficit by $68 billion over 10 years. But that was a long time ago (two weeks ago), and now times have changed. Now that the very same CBO has declared that the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act cuts $130 billion from the deficit, those same defenders of the status quo seem to be saying that the CBO estimate is meaningless. Their argument claims that because some aspects of the legislation don’t kick in for the first few years, such as the health insurance exchange, the CBO estimate is skewed. Here are the facts: The suggestion that this bill pays for six years of coverage with ten...
"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system," Justice Louis D. Brandeis wrote in 1932, "that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." The Obama Administration is taking unprecedented strides toward creating the most open and accountable government in history. And in so doing, we’re learning from those states and municipalities, which are undertaking exciting experiments to bring transparency, participation, and collaboration to the way they work as well. Inspired by the President’s call for more open government, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts launched its data catalogue, following in the footsteps of Washington, DC, San Francisco, New York, and elsewhere around the country (as well as cities in Canada and the UK), to provide public access to information by and about government. What makes this exciting is not merely having transportation...
Thanksgiving is only a week away and like millions of Americans around the country, I’m looking forward to spending time with family and reflecting on the countless blessings in my life. As all of us anxiously wait for the week to go by, I wanted to take some time and talk about the importance of having a safe start to the Holiday Season. As part of the American tradition, millions of families across the country prepare holiday meals. Here in the USDA, we want to make sure you have the information and resources you need to cook safe and great food. You can do simple things like making sure you have a pan large enough for a Turkey and investing in a thermometer to make sure meat is cooked to the right temperature. To help you prepare safe meals, we are holding a Live Facebook Thanksgiving chat today at 3:00 pm EST with a holiday food safety expert from the Food Safety Inspection Service. This chat is a great place to have all your food safety questions answered. You can also submit...
One striking aspect of President Obama’s visit to China is the excitement it has generated at all social levels throughout the country. Rather than being seen as a dry, political event with little relationship to ordinary people’s lives – as such events often are perceived – President Obama’s trip here has energized Chinese and foreign residents alike. Beijing is a city of intellectuals, artists, and scholars, with a lively and active arts scene. While the large establishment-supported (and state controlled) “arts industry” flourishes, so too do hundreds of small informal gatherings of artists creating things of beauty for art’s sake. As the President arrived at Beijing’s airport, miles away, in Beijing’s old city center, in a tiny private theater in a small hutong (alleyway) not far from the Forbidden City, some of Beijing’s top artists celebrated his arrival in a unique way.
In an historic vote a week and half ago, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make affordable health care possible for the citizens of our wonderful country. Then yesterday the Senate introduced their own legislation, "another critical milestone in the health reform effort" as the President put it. When President Obama addressed members of Congress in September, "This is our moment to live up to the trust that the American people have placed in us—even when it’s hard; especially when it’s hard. This is our moment to deliver." But of course as great a milestone as the vote was, we’ve still got a ways to go so we need everybody to stay involved. For our part, we have been working all along to ensure the American people are engaged in the discussion on reform. That’s why I hosted a web chat recently on how health insurance reform will help to eliminate health disparities and how reform will affect underserved communities. Citizens and leaders from around the...
Click here to see the video. This is take two for our sign off from Korea video with Speechwriter Jon Favreau. The first attempt was at the final event of the President’s trip across Asia, a rally with our troops at Osan Air Base in the Republic of Korea. Things start to speed up towards the end of a long journey like this as everyone anticipates going home. We were in the middle of setting up the computer to show you the President shaking hands on the rope line of hanger 635 when the call came to load Air Force One. Being left behind at an event and wandering the streets of Tokyo is one thing, being left behind on a tarmac 6945 miles from home is quite another. But while booking it back to the plane at top speed, we couldn’t resist giving it another stab before scaling the steps to the safety of the “bubble” once more. We hope to get in a couple more updates from the air before wheels down at Andrews Air Force Base tomorrow night. Arun Chaudhary is the official White House...
Three months ago, the critics denied that the Recovery Act was making any jobs. Today, everyone – including the critics - can see those jobs for themselves on Recovery.gov. Now that the evidence has proven them wrong, they are left to cast doubts about just how many jobs were made and where. But for all of the attempts to distract and distort from the program’s progress, these reports – directly from the recipients of Recovery Act dollars - make one thing indisputably clear: the Recovery Act is now responsible for supporting at least one million jobs across the country. It’s time to keep the critics honest. Here are some of the misleading things you may have been hearing about how we are tracking our progress supporting jobs through the Recovery Act – and the truth behind them: FICTION: The reports recipients of Recovery Act funds filed are riddled with errors. FACT: More than 130,000 reports were collected from recipients who were required to fill out 99 different data fields –...
There is a palpable sense of excitement among the staff as we mill around the lobby of the St. Regis Hotel, eagerly awaiting the return of the motorcade. Once we load in, it’s straight to that most Chinese of tourist attractions, the Great Wall of China. Folks look ready to go. Everyone is in warm clothes and sensible shoes, heeding the warnings of those already at the site in Badaling. It’s been a long couple of days for everyone here in Beijing, but the fact that we've been in one place for more than a day, has meant that folks have been able to get out a little more to see this amazing city, eat some food, see some sights. Everyone is enjoying a little something in Beijing. Most importantly, people have had time to purchase an answer to that age-old question: “What did you bring me from your trip?"
Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit my alma mater, Cornell University, to speak at the annual Net Impact Conference. The conference brought together students and professionals from around the U.S. interested in sustainable enterprise and environmental stewardship, and allowed participants to share best practices and discuss new initiatives to advance global sustainability through entrepreneurship and innovation. Dr. Hector Abruna shows Chair Sutley an ultra-high-vacuum chamber for coupled electrochemical and surface studies of single crystal electrocatalyst materials for fuel cells at the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute. While at Cornell, I had the opportunity to check out the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute and the Energy Materials Center, a U.S. Department of Energy designated Energy Frontier Research Center. Héctor Abruña, the director of the Center presented some of their fascinating advances in fuel cell technology and told me about Cornell’s partnerships with major companies to...
We all know that creating jobs is more important than counting jobs. But when misinterpreting the count casts doubt on their creation, it is worth talking about the count. Two aspects in particular worth discussing are how recipients create jobs before receiving money, and why some awards don’t yet show jobs. Some critics have raised questions about jobs being reported as created or saved without any money been spent by the recipient. They ask, “How could this happen?” In many cases we would expect to see job creation before a recipient receives or spends money. For example, sometimes states are not able to pay State Fiscal Stabilization funds to school districts right away. However, knowledge that these funds are on the way have allowed many school districts to retain teachers that they would otherwise cut. When districts know they can count on the money, they can keep teachers on the job. And this isn’t just a hypothetical example. It’s a real, tangible example of what you would see...
Click here to see the video. Veterans Day serves as a reminder to not only honor America's men in uniform, but also the women—the mothers, sisters, daughters, and grandmothers who, throughout history, broke barriers and endured hardships to serve our country. Today at the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama, along with Blue Star Mom Dr. Jill Biden, welcomed some of those women in celebration of their bravery and commitment to protecting our freedoms: In this room alone, we have the first female four star general. We have the first woman in the Navy to be promoted to Master Chief. The first woman in the Army Reserve to be promoted to the general officer rank. We have the first woman in the Army to receive the Expert Field Medical Badge. We have the first African American woman to serve as Chief Nurse at Walter Reed Hospital. And so many more "firsts" and "onlys" -- and that's the result of your hard work and your courage and your persistence. But we know these achievements aren’t...
Secretary Solis discusses “smart meter” technology during a visit to Nevada Energy in October. Today the Department of Labor announced nearly $55 million in grants to help workers, many in underserved communities, find jobs in expanding green industries. As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, these grants reflect the administration’s long-term commitment to fostering both immediate economic growth and a clean energy future. It’s an investment that will help American workers do well, while doing good. The recipients of today’s grants will strengthen the capacity to provide training opportunities, support the collection and dissemination of invaluable state labor market information, and most importantly, help individuals acquire green jobs. Of the grants announced, $48.8 million focus on collecting and disseminating labor market information, which will enable job seekers to connect with green job banks and help to ensure that workers find employment after...
Today we concluded a weeklong trip to Asia. In our closing meeting with President Obama and Chinese Premier Wen, leaders of our two countries reiterated their commitments to renew old alliances and forge new partnerships. Throughout the past week, we have made strides toward our goal of strengthening U.S. leadership and economic competitiveness in the region and making progress on issues that matter to the American people and leveraging that progress into job creation at home. From a trade perspective, the steps we’ve taken in Asia will benefit businesses and workers across the American economy – ranchers, farmers, manufacturers, and creative industries all have a future in U.S. trade with Asia. As companies across the spectrum look for a way forward out of these difficult economic times, we’re asking them to take a second look at trade. Because engaging new customers abroad can create jobs at home. President Obama began his trip to Asia by making an announcement in Tokyo that the...
H1N1 Flu Guide for Community and Faith-based Organizations Helping Organizations Across the Country - http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog...
To help keep communities healthy during the flu season, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (Partnerships Center) led by Alexia Kelley and with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released an H1N1 Flu guide specifically targeted to help community and faith-based organizations. Flu season is in full swing, and communities are finding innovative ways to spread awareness through community outreach programs. Here are just a few examples. Johnson County in Kansas recently posted an entry on its county blog about the release of the new HHS H1N1 Flu guide alongside helpful links of how local organizations can prepare for flu and other emergencies and disasters. To help combat flu in their area, the Health Department of Lexington-Fayette County in Kentucky created flu outreach response teams, also known as “Lex Flu Crews.” Armed with flu knowledge and prevention handout materials, the “Flu Crews” have reached out to...
I was honored to be a part of President Obama’s trip to China this week. We made important progress strengthening our partnership with China on clean energy – a partnership that will create jobs in the United States. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premiere Hu Jintao review the honor guard during the welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Nov. 17, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a series of steps the two countries are taking in this area. Let me highlight three: First, the two Presidents announced the establishment of the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center to facilitate joint work by teams of scientists and engineers from both countries. I signed the Protocol formally establishing the Center with my Chinese counterparts. China and the U.S. are committing $150 million in public and private funding to the center over five years, split evenly between the two countries. The initial...
This afternoon, the First Lady will celebrate women in the military—watch live as she welcomes approximately 130 WWII veterans, current servicewomen, and wounded warriors to the White House. Also dropping by is Dr. Jill Biden, a lifelong and strong supporter of veterans, along with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their wives, and other senior military and administration officials. Watch live here through WhiteHouse.gov/live Watch and chat with others through Facebook
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Know What to Do about the Flu webcast series continues today with a special segment focused on diabetes. If you or a loved one have diabetes, join this live event to learn about the possible risk of complications from H1N1 flu and what you can do to stay healthy this flu season. Today’s experts panelists will discuss how flu can affect people with diabetes and answer your questions live during the event. Participants include: Dr. Beth Bell, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Director for Science, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Ann Albright, PhD, RD, Director, Division of Diabetes Translation, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Visit Flu.gov to watch the webcast live at 1 pm or learn more about flu and diabetes.
Each year, taxpayers lose billions of dollars in wasteful improper payments by the federal government to individuals, organizations, and contractors. "Improper payments" is an umbrella term that covers a number of financial transactions — overpayments to individuals or firms is one example; benefit payments to ineligible program participants is another. In 2008, improper payments totaled $72 billion; in 2009, they totaled $98 billion — an increase driven by improved detection and the significant increase in federal outlays associated with the economic downturn. These errors and mistakes are unacceptable. Taxpayers deserve to know that their dollars are being spent wisely and effectively.
It's no secret that institutions of all stripes focus their communications on certain messages day to day. We thought it would all be a little more open and transparent if we went ahead and published what our focus will be for the day, along with any related articles, documents, or reports. Supporting letter: 20 Leading Economists Write to President Obama, 11/17/09 Talking Points: Economists Say Reform Will Strengthen America’s Fiscal Health Yesterday, a group of 20 leading economists wrote a letter to the President confirming that measures that are included in the Senate Finance Committee legislation and that they hope to see considered on the senate floor "will reduce long-term deficits, improve the quality of care, and put the nation on a firm fiscal footing." The measures, they say, will "help transform the health care system from delivering too much care, to a system that consistently delivers higher-quality, high-value care." The economists lauded the following key measures: A...
