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  • Green Impact Zone

    Posted by Adolfo Carrión, Jr. on August 31, 2009 at 6:13 PM EDT

    We have just arrived in Kansas City where, tomorrow, we will continue our discussion of smart growth and smart planning for America’s metropolitan areas. Special Assistant to the President on Urban Policy Derek Douglas, Special Advisor for Green Jobs Van Jones, and I will be joined by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari. Together, we will meet with local elected officials, stakeholders, and community members to discuss the development of the Green Impact Zone, an initiative which is using federal and local resources to invest in components of sustainable living and to create jobs in one of the city’s most challenged communities. This program, supported partially by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, has already become a model for green investment.
     
    With the leadership of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver in partnership with the Mid-America Regional Council and community members, the Green Impact Zone is a comprehensive place-based plan to invest public and private funding to transform a neighborhood plagued by high rates of poverty and violence, unemployment and abandoned property. The Green Impact Zone will improve housing conditions through the rehabilitation and weatherization of the entire 150 block area neighborhood, develop a green workforce through the training of residents from the urban core in green technology, and invest in sustainable transportation through a green bus rapid transit system. Moreover, investors of the Green Impact Zone believe that the effort will break down cost barriers that make "going green" a luxury. The Green Impact Zone provides lessons for investments in sustainability, workforce development, neighborhood stabilization, transportation, energy efficiency, and inclusion.
     
    We are excited about tomorrow’s discussion and learning first-hand from the American people’s ingenuity that continues to bubble-up around the country, whether it’s providing access to fresh food to underserved communities or transforming challenged neighborhoods into beacons for green living and green jobs.
     
    For questions or ideas for the Urban Tour, please feel free to send a message to urbanaffairs@who.eop.gov.
     
    Adolfo Carrión, Jr. is the Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and Deputy Assistant to the President

     

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  • A Town Hall for Troops in Central Command

    Posted by Matt Flavin on August 31, 2009 at 5:30 PM EDT

    To the troops deployed to CENTCOM:
    First, thank you.  Thank you for being deployed away from love ones; for protecting our nation’s security; and for setting an example of service and sacrifice that we all look up to.  As I hope you know, President Obama believes there is no greater honor than serving as our nation’s Commander-in-Chief.  He understands that he commands the finest military that history has ever known and takes great pride in doing so.
    As you stand on the front lines of two wars, we want to make sure we are hearing from you and communicating clearly. The White House and the Department of Defense are proud to launch a joint project called "Troop Town Hall."  This initiative allows troops from across Central Command to submit their questions by email, text or video and allows participants to vote for the questions that think are the most important.   At the conclusion of the program, the President and Secretary Gates will answer the top questions (President Obama promises not to give all the hard ones to Secretary Gates).  
    As a veteran who deployed to CENTCOM for OIF and OEF, I never had this opportunity.  I understand the demands placed on you, but hope you can make time to participate in this project.  The program ends in late September.   At that time, we will provide a link to all of the questions and the answers.  In the meantime, here is a video of the President introducing the program:

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    Matt Flavin is the White House's Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy

     

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  • The Recovery Act in Action

    Posted by Jared Bernstein on August 31, 2009 at 4:58 PM EDT

    So I’m driving along a Pennsylvania highway two weeks ago on my summer vacation, radio blasting, and what do I see but one of those Recovery Act signs, touting a highway project.  Jeez, I thought.  Can’t a guy get away from that stuff for a couple of days!?
    Don’t worry.  I quickly reverted to my economist self and applauded the infrastructure improvement, lecturing my wife and kids on the considerable multiplier effects of such spending (which led to them turning the radio up even louder).
    The fact is, what I saw was a small dose of the medicine from the Recovery Act making its way through one of the nation’s arteries.   And that road project in Pennsylvania is one of out 3,350 highway projects currently underway across the country. 
    But what about the larger patient, i.e., the macro-economy?  What are economic analysts saying about the impact of the Recovery Act thus far?
    As I’ll show you in a moment, they’re saying good things.  The Act is having its intended effect of offsetting some—by no means all—of the damage caused by the deepest downturn since the Great Depression.  And in tandem with our other interventions in financial and housing markets, it’s helped to pull us back from that very dangerous precipice.  
    As Mark Zandi, a highly respected economist (and former advisor to the McCain campaign) put it in a recent analysis, "The fiscal stimulus is providing the fodder for better sales. Lower payroll tax withholding, checks to Social Security recipients, and more financial help to unemployed workers are buoying household incomes. The cash for clunkers program has juiced up vehicle sales, and the housing tax credit has boosted home sales. It is no coincidence that the recession is ending just when the stimulus is providing its maximum economic benefit." (Emphasis mine).
    And other economists agree about the positive effect that the Recovery Act is already having.  Moody’s Economy.com (where Zandi is Chief Economist), IHS Global Insight, and the Economic Policy Institute all estimate that the Recovery Act has created or saved from 500,000 to 750,000 jobs so far. 
    The economists at Goldman Sachs think the package added 2.2 percentage points to real GDP growth (annualized) in the second quarter of 2009 and will add 3.3 points in the current quarter.  That implies even more jobs saved or created during the current quarter compared to the last one.  It also means that were it not for the boost the Recovery Act is giving to the economy right now, GDP would have contracted at a 3.2% rate in the last quarter instead of a 1% rate.
    Which raises a really, really important point—and don’t even think about turning up the radio.  Suppose you were, oh, I don’t know … politically motivated to argue that the Recovery Act wasn’t working.  You’d probably point to that 1% decline in GDP and say, "How can it be working if the economy is still contracting"  Or maybe you’d point to the 247,000 jobs lost last month.
    Now, the President has stressed consistently that as far as we’re concerned, any degree of economic contraction is too much, and even more importantly, any job losses are too many.  But the independent findings cited above make the critical point that if you’re only noticing that things are still bad without noticing that they’re getting better, you’re looking at the wrong benchmarks.  The question is not, Are we still in hole?  Of course we are; it took years to dig in, and it’s going to take a long time to dig out. 
    The relevant question is, Are we digging out faster thanks to the Recovery Act and our other economic policies?  To that question, these independent analysts, and many others, unequivocally answer, "Yes."
    Just take a look at some "then and now" indicators:
    Then vs. Now

    Indicators
    Then
    Now
    Real GDP (1)
    -6.4%
    -1.0%
    Job Losses (2)
    -741,000
    -247,000
    Industrial Production (3)
    -2.2%
    0.5%
    Home Prices (4)
    -2.1%
    0.7%
    New Home Sales (5)
    -10.2%
    9.6%
    Consumer Confidence (6)
    37.4
    54.1

    1: Real annual growth rates, 2009q1 and 2009q2
    2: Payroll employment declines from January 2009 and July 2009.
    3: Monthly percent change, Jan 09 and July 09
    4: Case-Schiller, monthly percent change, Jan 09 and June 09
    5: Monthly percent change, Jan 09 and July 09
    6: Conference Board Index, 1985=100, Jan 09 and Aug 09
     
    GDP was tanking earlier this year; it fell much less quickly in the second quarter and the consensus among private forecasters is for real GDP growth to break into positive territory in the current quarter.
    We’re still losing far too many jobs, but the rate has significantly slowed.  The fact is, you don’t go from losing upwards of 700K jobs on net per month to adding jobs without passing through a period just like this one, where the loss rate slows.
    Home sales and prices are showing stabilizing signs. The sales data, by the way, have gotten a nice boost from our First Time Home Buyers Credit.  And consumer confidence is solidly up, too.
    Let me be very clear about all this: We are not out of hole yet.   It’s important to be realistic about what the Recovery Act has and hasn’t accomplished thus far.  We’ve pulled the economy back from the brink, provided critical relief to families, communities, and states, and are now beginning to lay the foundation for a stronger, more broadly shared expansion. 
    But we are not there yet.   There are more job losses to come.  Key economic indicators may have bottomed out, but they’ve done so at historically low levels.   The economy remains fragile.
    But as we slowly climb out of the hole that greeted us when we got here on January 20th, let’s also be sure to take note of what’s working. 
    OK…NOW you can blast the radio.
     
    Jared Bernstein is the Executive Director of the Middle Class Task Force and the Vice President's Chief Economist
     
     

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  • The Story of the White House Garden

    Posted by Jason Djang on August 31, 2009 at 2:00 PM EDT

    Since ground-breaking and initial tilling in March, we've been documenting the progress of the first garden on White House grounds since Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden during World War II. This new garden was planted with the help of local elementary school children and has yielded a constant supply fresh produce for the First Family and White House events. Hear and see the story of the garden first-hand from First Lady Michelle Obama and White House chef Sam Kass.

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    download .mp4 (131 MB)
     
    This is the second installment of our "Inside the White House" series of videos that show you a glimpse behind the scenes at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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  • Flu Prevention Can Be Fun

    Posted by Katie Stanton on August 31, 2009 at 1:21 PM EDT

    Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House launched a Flu Prevention PSA contest, and in just a few weeks we received 240 entries uploaded to the HHS YouTube channel. Last week, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and a panel of experts reviewed the entries to ensure they followed the contest criteria, and from there picked the top 10 best videos.
    Now it’s your turn. Please go to the HHS YouTube channel and cast your vote for the best video. Keep in mind that the goal of this PSA is to help remind our friends, family and communities that the 2009 H1N1 flu could impact all of us, so make one of your criteria how well it gets the message out on how to prevent the flu.  The winner will get a $2,500 cash prize and their video PSA will be broadcast on national television. The contest ends on September 16th – have fun!

     

  • The Vice President Asks Your Help: Tell Us Why Reform Matters for You

    Posted by Jesse Lee on August 31, 2009 at 11:25 AM EDT

    This morning we released a new Reality Check video from Vice President Biden. The myth he takes on is, as one Member of Congress opposing reform put it, that "This is not a major issue among the American people." The Vice President asks for your help with this one – after you watch, upload a video in response through YouTube helping him bust the myth by telling us why reform is important to you.

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    We've also put together something new.   It's a little bit like those quizzes that get passed around on Facebook or through email – a "What's In Reform for You" quiz. Just answer a few simple questions and find out what somebody like you will get out of reform. Even if you've been following the debate closely you should check it out, you'll be surprised at everything you'll get.

    Learn more about Health Care

  • Eulogy for a Lion

    Posted by Jesse Lee on August 29, 2009 at 3:43 PM EDT

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    download .mp4 (161 MB) | read the transcript
     

    The President's full remarks at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Roxbury, Massachusetts:

    THE PRESIDENT:  Your Eminence, Vicki, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
     
         Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy.  The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the United States Senate -- a man who graces nearly 1,000 laws, and who penned more than 300 laws himself.
     
         But those of us who loved him, and ache with his passing, know Ted Kennedy by the other titles he held:  Father.  Brother.  Husband.  Grandfather.  Uncle Teddy, or as he was often known to his younger nieces and nephews, "The Grand Fromage," or "The Big Cheese."  I, like so many others in the city where he worked for nearly half a century, knew him as a colleague, a mentor, and above all, as a friend.
     
         Ted Kennedy was the baby of the family who became its patriarch; the restless dreamer who became its rock.  He was the sunny, joyful child who bore the brunt of his brothers' teasing, but learned quickly how to brush it off.  When they tossed him off a boat because he didn't know what a jib was, six-year-old Teddy got back in and learned to sail.  When a photographer asked the newly elected Bobby to step back at a press conference because he was casting a shadow on his younger brother, Teddy quipped, "It'll be the same in Washington."
     
         That spirit of resilience and good humor would see Teddy through more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know.  He lost two siblings by the age of 16.  He saw two more taken violently from a country that loved them.  He said goodbye to his beloved sister, Eunice, in the final days of his life.  He narrowly survived a plane crash, watched two children struggle with cancer, buried three nephews, and experienced personal failings and setbacks in the most public way possible.
     
         It's a string of events that would have broken a lesser man.  And it would have been easy for Ted to let himself become bitter and hardened; to surrender to self-pity and regret; to retreat from public life and live out his years in peaceful quiet.  No one would have blamed him for that.
     
         But that was not Ted Kennedy.  As he told us, "…[I]ndividual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in -- and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves."  Indeed, Ted was the "Happy Warrior" that the poet Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote:
     
         As tempted more; more able to endure,
         As more exposed to suffering and distress;
         Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.
     
         Through his own suffering, Ted Kennedy became more alive to the plight and the suffering of others -- the sick child who could not see a doctor; the young soldier denied her rights because of what she looks like or who she loves or where she comes from.  The landmark laws that he championed -- the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, immigration reform, children's health insurance, the Family and Medical Leave Act -- all have a running thread.  Ted Kennedy's life work was not to champion the causes of those with wealth or power or special connections.  It was to give a voice to those who were not heard; to add a rung to the ladder of opportunity; to make real the dream of our founding.  He was given the gift of time that his brothers were not, and he used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow.
     
         We can still hear his voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers' rights or civil rights.  And yet, as has been noted, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did.  While he was seen by his fiercest critics as a partisan lightning rod, that's not the prism through which Ted Kennedy saw the world, nor was it the prism through which his colleagues saw Ted Kennedy.  He was a product of an age when the joy and nobility of politics prevented differences of party and platform and philosophy from becoming barriers to cooperation and mutual respect -- a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots.
     
         And that's how Ted Kennedy became the greatest legislator of our time.  He did it by hewing to principle, yes, but also by seeking compromise and common cause -- not through deal-making and horse-trading alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor.  There was the time he courted Orrin Hatch for support of the Children's Health Insurance Program by having his chief of staff serenade the senator with a song Orrin had written himself; the time he delivered shamrock cookies on a china plate to sweeten up a crusty Republican colleague; the famous story of how he won the support of a Texas committee chairman on an immigration bill.  Teddy walked into a meeting with a plain manila envelope, and showed only the chairman that it was filled with the Texan's favorite cigars.  When the negotiations were going well, he would inch the envelope closer to the chairman.  (Laughter.)  When they weren't, he'd pull it back.  (Laughter.)  Before long, the deal was done.  (Laughter.)
     
         It was only a few years ago, on St. Patrick's Day, when Teddy buttonholed me on the floor of the Senate for my support of a certain piece of legislation that was coming up for vote.  I gave my pledge, but I expressed skepticism that it would pass.  But when the roll call was over, the bill garnered the votes that it needed, and then some.  I looked at Teddy with astonishment and asked how had he done it.  He just patted me on the back and said, "Luck of the Irish."  (Laughter.)
     
         Of course, luck had little to do with Ted Kennedy's legislative success; he knew that.  A few years ago, his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time.  Without missing a beat, Teddy replied, "What did Webster do?"  (Laughter.)
     
         But though it is Teddy's historic body of achievements that we will remember, it is his giving heart that we will miss.  It was the friend and the colleague who was always the first to pick up the phone and say, "I'm sorry for your loss," or "I hope you feel better," or "What can I do to help?"  It was the boss so adored by his staff that over 500, spanning five decades, showed up for his 75th birthday party.  It was the man who sent birthday wishes and thank-you notes and even his own paintings to so many who never imagined that a U.S. senator of such stature would take the time to think about somebody like them.  I have one of those paintings in my private study off the Oval Office -- a Cape Cod seascape that was a gift to a freshman legislator who had just arrived in Washington and happened to admire it when Ted Kennedy welcomed him into his office.  That, by the way, is my second gift from Teddy and Vicki after our dog Bo.  And it seems like everyone has one of those stories -- the ones that often start with "You wouldn't believe who called me today."
     
         Ted Kennedy was the father who looked not only after his own three children, but John's and Bobby's as well.  He took them camping and taught them to sail.  He laughed and danced with them at birthdays and weddings; cried and mourned with them through hardship and tragedy; and passed on that same sense of service and selflessness that his parents had instilled in him.  Shortly after Ted walked Caroline down the aisle and gave her away at the altar, he received a note from Jackie that read, "On you the carefree youngest brother fell a burden a hero would have begged to been spared.  We are all going to make it because you were always there with your love."
     
         Not only did the Kennedy family make it because of Ted's love -- he made it because of theirs, especially because the love and the life he found in Vicki.  After so much loss and so much sorrow, it could not have been easy for Ted to risk his heart again.  And that he did is a testament to how deeply he loved this remarkable woman from Louisiana.  And she didn't just love him back.  As Ted would often acknowledge, Vicki saved him.  She gave him strength and purpose; joy and friendship; and stood by him always, especially in those last, hardest days.
     
         We cannot know for certain how long we have here.  We cannot foresee the trials or misfortunes that will test us along the way.  We cannot know what God's plan is for us.
     
         What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and with love, and with joy.  We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them, and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves.  We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures.  And we can strive at all costs to make a better world, so that someday, if we are blessed with the chance to look back on our time here, we know that we spent it well; that we made a difference; that our fleeting presence had a lasting impact on the lives of others.
     
         This is how Ted Kennedy lived.  This is his legacy.  He once said, as has already been mentioned, of his brother Bobby that he need not be idealized or enlarged in death because what he was in life -- and I imagine he would say the same about himself.  The greatest expectations were placed upon Ted Kennedy's shoulders because of who he was, but he surpassed them all because of who he became.  We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office.  We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy -- not for the sake of ambition or vanity; not for wealth or power; but only for the people and the country that he loved.
     
         In the days after September 11th, Teddy made it a point to personally call each one of the 177 families of this state who lost a loved one in the attack.  But he didn't stop there.  He kept calling and checking up on them.  He fought through red tape to get them assistance and grief counseling.  He invited them sailing, played with their children, and would write each family a letter whenever the anniversary of that terrible day came along.  To one widow, he wrote the following:
     
         "As you know so well, the passage of time never really heals the tragic memory of such a great loss, but we carry on, because we have to, because our loved ones would want us to, and because there is still light to guide us in the world from the love they gave us."
     
         We carry on.
     
         Ted Kennedy has gone home now, guided by his faith and by the light of those that he has loved and lost.  At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good that he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image -- the image of a man on a boat, white mane tousled, smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for whatever storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon.  May God bless Ted Kennedy, and may he rest in eternal peace.  (Applause.)
     
    The President at Senator Kennedy's funeral
    President Barack Obama attends the funeral mass for Senator Edward Kennedy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, Massachusetts, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009. Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy

     

  • Weekly Address: Lessons and Renewal Out of the Gulf Coast

    Posted by Jesse Lee on August 29, 2009 at 12:13 AM EDT

    The President discusses the steps being taken to finish the job of recovery from Hurricane Katrina as the fourth anniversary approaches.  He points to local citizens working hard alongside responsible government to make real progress in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and pledges that the lessons of Katrina will not be forgotten.
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    download .mp3 |download .mp4 (90 MB) | read the transcript

     

  • Learning to Lead, Leading to Serve

    Posted by Rachel Haltom-Irwin on August 28, 2009 at 5:06 PM EDT

    Learning to Lead, Leading to Serve. This is the White House Internship Program motto. Created by the inaugural internship class and presented to the First Lady, the motto embodies the spirit of the internship: a hands-on program designed to mentor and cultivate today’s young leaders, strengthen their understanding of the Executive Office and prepare them for future public service opportunities.

    This week we are excited to announce the launch of our updated website, an informational video about the program and our 2010 Spring Application. The spring application deadline is September 20, 2009. Visit whitehouse.gov/internships to learn more about the program and how you can apply to join our team.

    Download Video: mp4 (32MB)
    Rachel Haltom-Irwin is the Director of the White House Internship Program

     

     

  • EPA Lead Poisoning Prevention Video Contest

    Posted by Steve Owens on August 28, 2009 at 1:45 PM EDT

    Grab your video camera and get the lead out! 
    The dangers of lead poisoning are very serious, and health problems caused by lead can impact a child for a lifetime.
    We want you to help us get the word out about lead poisoning prevention, by creating videos to educate people on what they can do to prevent lead poisoning.  We’re looking for 30-60 second video on anything from the dangers of lead poisoning; how to get rid of lead hazards in homes; or the importance of children being tested for harmful levels of lead in their blood. 
    Entries will be accepted until October 1st. 
    We’ll post the best videos on the EPA, HUD and CDC web sites to get the message out about lead poisoning. The best video will receive a $2,500 First Prize. 
    Most importantly, you’ll be helping us get the word out on an important health issue.
    In young children, lead exposure can cause learning disabilities, decreased intelligence, as well as speech, language, and behavioral problems. In older children and adults, brain and nervous system disorders, high blood pressure, and reproductive problems have all been associated with lead exposure.
    EPA is taking action on a number of fronts to protect children from the lead dangers. We’ll be proposing new requirements to protect children from lead-based paint poisoning including requiring more buildings to use lead-safe work practices during renovation projects, and requiring tests to ensure the renovation cleanup work meets EPA lead dust standards. 
    We’re also working to address lead exposures associated with the manufacture of lead wheel weights used to balance tires. That will help prevent more than 2,000 tons of lead from being released into the environment from tire weights that fall off of automobiles. 
    But we need your help in getting the word out. Please send us your best, most creative video to help to inspire individuals, businesses, communities, and everyone else to avoid dangerous exposure to lead.
    Remember: all entries are due October 1st, and First Prize is $2500.
    Read the details at here.
    We look forward to seeing your video and thanks for helping to protect kids from lead poisoning.
    Steve Owens is EPA Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances

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