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January 30, 2009
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A Strong Middle Class = A Strong America
President Obama created the Middle Class Task Force and tapped the right person to lead it: Vice President Joe Biden.
The details of the objective for the task force were outlined in an op-ed penned by the Vice President published in USA Today.
From WhiteHouse.gov:
Members of the Middle Class Task Force include: Vice President Biden, Chair; the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Commerce, as well as the Directors of the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors.
Goals of the task force:
- Expanding education and lifelong training opportunities
- Improving work and family balance
- Restoring labor standards, including workplace safety
- Helping to protect middle-class and working-family incomes
- Protecting retirement security
Bipartisan Support for President Obama's Economic Recovery Plan
Huffington Post reports that some Republican governors are voicing support for President Obama's economic recovery plan:
In recent days, some of the nation's more moderate Republican governors have bucked their fellow party members in Washington and come out in favor of the stimulus proposal.
"In some ways, as the governor of Florida, I'm concerned about what infrastructure projects can be supported by this plan, how we can help education, how we can help with health care for the most vulnerable in our society," Gov. Charlie Crist said on Friday. "We have a deficit in our budget that we are facing in our session coming up in March. And it looks like this could be a help to Florida if done right. From some of my colleagues I have spoken with in the congressional delegation, it will help Florida." [...]
In Connecticut, the state's moderate Republican governor Jodi Rell called up Democratic Rep. Jim Himes to ask how she could help move the stimulus through Congress.
"What can I do, who can I call to make sure this passes?" Rell told Himes, according to The Hill.
Economic Recovery House Meetings
President Obama has a plan to put three million Americans back to work but he needs your help.
Can you host a house meeting?
The economic crisis can seem overwhelming and complex to many, but you can help the people you know connect the recovery plan to their lives and learn more about why it's so important. Change can happen because dedicated folks like you talk to their friends, family and neighbors about the challenges that lay ahead.
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January 29, 2009
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President Obama Signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
President Barack Obama signed his first piece of legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, that will make it easier for anyone to get equal pay for equal work regardless of age, race, or gender.
Full remarks of the President are below.
Keep reading "President Obama Signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act"
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January 28, 2009
Evening Open Thread
House passed the economic stimulus 244 to 188.
Statement from the White House:
“Last year, America lost 2.6 million jobs. On Monday alone, we learned that some of our biggest employers plan to cut another 55,000. This is a wakeup call to Washington that the American people need us to act and act immediately.
That is why I am grateful to the House of Representatives for moving the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan forward today. There are many numbers in this plan. It will double our capacity to generate renewable energy. It will lower the cost of health care by billions and improve its quality. It will modernize thousands of classrooms and send more kids to college. And it will put billions of dollars in immediate tax relief into the pockets of working families.
But out of all these numbers, there is one that matters most to me: this recovery plan will save or create more than three million new jobs over the next few years.
I can also promise that my administration will administer this recovery plan with a level of transparency and accountability never before seen in Washington. Once it is passed, every American will be able to go the website recovery.gov and see how and where their money is being spent.
The plan now moves to the Senate, and I hope that we can continue to strengthen this plan before it gets to my desk. But what we can’t do is drag our feet or allow the same partisan differences to get in our way. We must move swiftly and boldly to put Americans back to work, and that is exactly what this plan begins to do.”
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January 27, 2009
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January 26, 2009
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President Obama Signs Memo Allowing States to Set Stricter Emissions Standards
President Barack Obama signed a memorandum today that will allow states to set stricter auto emissions standards. The previous administration declined to grant California a waiver.
President Obama signed a memorandum Monday requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider an application by California to set more stringent auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards than required by federal law.
If the EPA grants a waiver allowing California to set its own emissions standards, the nation's largest state will be allowed to require automakers to produce trucks and cars that get better mileage than what is required under the current national standard.
Thirteen other states could take similar action.
"It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil," Obama said. [...]
Besides the EPA waivers, Obama also called for automakers to increase their fuel efficiency standards nationwide.
The president also directed the federal government to make its buildings more energy efficient and to find new ways for federal agencies to save energy.
Check out the WhiteHouse.gov blog for the President's full remarks.
The second memo paves the way for California and more than a dozen other states to raise emissions standards above and beyond the national standard. They'd asked to do so before, but the Bush administration had denied the request.
"Instead of serving as a partner, Washington stood in their way," President Obama said. "The days of Washington dragging its heels are over."
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January 23, 2009
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Heads to President Obama's Desk
In a 61-36 vote, the Senate voted in favor of equal pay for equal work on the heels of the House vote earlier this month.
The legislation now heads to President Barack Obama's desk for signature.
January 22, 2009
President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address
Watch the full speech:
Where were you when Barack Obama became president?
January 20, 2009
President Barack Obama
We have a new president and his name is Barack Obama.
January 19, 2009
24 Hours to Go
The last full day of the Bush administration.
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January 16, 2009
Evening Open Thread
This is the final weekend of the Bush administration.
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Get Inside the Inauguration
The Presidential Inauguration Committee invites you to get inside the inauguration with great pictures of PIC volunteers hard at work for Tuesday's inauguration of Barack Obama. Check them out.
Four days to go.
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January 15, 2009
Evening Open Thread
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Republicans Fear Losing Texas Senate Seat
Republicans are afraid of losing another Senate seat -- this one in "deeply red Texas" -- should Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison resign to pursue her state's governorship.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) is reconsidering a plan to resign from the Senate this year, a huge relief to Republicans who fear that a special election — even in deeply red Texas — could give Democrats a 60-seat, filibuster-resistant majority in the Senate.
Hutchison, who plans to run for governor in 2010, has been under pressure from Republican colleagues to stay in her Senate seat as long as she can.
Senate Confirmation Hearings: Eric Holder
Eric Holder is currently testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee as President-elect Barack Obama's Attorney General-designate.
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January 14, 2009
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Official Portrait Released
The official portrait for President Barack Obama was released by the transition this morning and was the first presidential portrait to be taken with a digital camera. View the portrait below, or download a copy here.
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January 13, 2009
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Senate Confirmation Hearings: Hillary Clinton
Senator Hillary Clinton is speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee right now as part of her confirmation hearings for Secretary of State.
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January 12, 2009
Evening Open Thread
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Bush's Final Press Conference
George Bush delivered what is believed to be the final press conference of his presidency. The AP noted that it was filled with errors about a recession that started on his watch, not inherited as he claimed this morning, and a slow (rather than "quick") federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
TIME Magazine summed it up this way:
But in what the White House says will be his final press conference on Monday, President Bush himself provided the word everyone has been looking for: disappointment.
Eight more days.
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January 9, 2009
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December: 500k Jobs Lost, Unemployment Reaches 7.2%
In figures released in the December jobs report by the Labor Department, more than a half million jobs were lost and unemployment spiked to 7.2 percent.
The U.S. economy lost 524,000 jobs in December, closing out the worst year for job losses since World War II, the Labor Department said Friday.
Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, with 1.9 million destroyed in just the past four months, according to a survey of work places. It's the biggest job loss in any calendar year since 1945, when 2.75 million jobs were lost as the wartime economy was demobilized.
The 1.5 million jobs lost in the fourth quarter were the most in any three-month period since 1945.
As a percentage of employment, job losses in 2008 totaled 1.8%, the worst since 1982 and the third largest since the war.
The numbers were released as Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-California) began her Senate confirmation hearings as the next Secretary of Labor for President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration.
President-elect Barack Obama's pick to become the top U.S. labor official said on Friday her priorities would be to boost job training and search assistance to fight a deepening U.S. recession.
Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis, tapped by Obama to become labor secretary, also told her Senate confirmation hearing she would fight job discrimination and ensure employees "get the pay they have earned working in safe, healthy and fair workplaces."
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January 8, 2009
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It's Official
In a Joint Session of Congress, Barack Obama and Joe Biden were officially certified as President-elect and Vice President-elect paving the way for the inauguration in just twelve days.
Watch the full video of this historic event courtesy of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office:
Obama Speaks at George Mason University in D.C. on the Economy
Airing live on television is President-elect Barack Obama's speech on the economy from George Mason University in Washington, D.C.
President-elect Obama announced that an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jumpstart job creation and long-term growth by:
- Doubling the production of alternative energy in the next three years.
- Modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills.
- Making the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, all of America's medical records are computerized.
- Equipping tens of thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries.
- Expanding broadband across America, so that a small business in a rural town can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
- Investing in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries.
Full remarks below.
Keep reading "Obama Speaks at George Mason University in D.C. on the Economy"
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January 7, 2009
Evening Open Thread
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President-Elect Barack Obama at the White House
President-elect Barack Obama met with Presidents Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), George H.W. Bush (1989-1993), Bill Clinton (1993-2001), and George W. Bush (2001-2009) at the White House this afternoon. Check out the photos from the event.
Morning Open Thread
We are less than two weeks away from the Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on January 20. For more information on the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, check out www.pic2009.org.
January 5, 2009
Al Franken Wins Minnesota Senate Recount
Congratulations to Senator-elect Al Franken!
In Minnesota, the state canvassing board certified Democrat Al Franken as the winner of the Senate recount against former Senator Norm Coleman.
The Minnesota State Canvassing Board confirmed on Monday that Al Franken has won his Senate election, ending a weeks-long recount process that started with the Democratic challenger facing a roughly 215-vote deficit.
The final tally left Franken with 1,212,431 votes to Sen. Norm Coleman's 1,212,206 votes, a 0.0077 percent margin of victory.
With the results finalized, the Franken for Senate campaign issued a statement on their victory:
This victory is incredibly humbling – not just because it was so narrow, but because of the tremendous responsibility it gives me on behalf of the people of Minnesota.
While the recount process played out, the challenges facing our state and our nation have only grown. With tensions in the Middle East reaching the boiling point, our economy facing its worst crisis since the 1930s, and Minnesota’s middle class families being squeezed harder than ever, it’s clear that we have a lot of important work to do.
I want you all to know that I’m ready to go to Washington and get to work just as soon as possible. And I look forward to joining President-Elect Obama and Senator Klobuchar in getting our country moving in the right direction again.
Read the full statement here.
