Archive for May, 2009:
President Delivers Remarks on New Auto Emission and Efficiency Standards
Scheduled to begin at 12:15 PM Eastern . . .
UPDATED: The event has ended, but we'll have more on the President's historic announcement shortly.
UPDATED: Today, President Obama announced an historic agreement today, setting in motion a national fuel efficiency Cheap Cialis and auto emisions policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new cars and trucks sold in the United States.
The new national standard will replace a patchwork of rules governing fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions that were inadequate, uncertain, and inconsistent.
Fuel economy standards will be raised to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, an increase of more than 8 miles per gallon per vehicle. As a result, we will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the next five years – more oil than we imported last year from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Libya, and Nigeria combined. This is the equivalent of taking 58 million cars off the road for an entire year.
Additional benefits of this new standard include:
o Consumers will pay less for fuel, with savings more than making up for any increase in the prices of new cars.
o Automakers, at a time of historic crisis, will face one clear, consistent standard instead of a confusing and costly patchwork of regulations.
o The economy as a whole will run on less oil, which means less money going overseas and more money for consumers to spend or save at home.
o And we will enhance our national security by loosening the dangerous grip of foreign oil while making a down payment on combating global warming.
This groundbreaking policy represents an unprecedented collaboration between the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the world’s largest auto manufacturers, the United Auto Workers, leaders in the environmental community, the State of California, and other state governments.
Read President Obama's full remarks . . .
White House Advisor Austan Goolsbee on Credit Card Reform
The Senate is set to vote on its version of the Credit Card Holder's Bill of Rights tomorrow, an important set of consumer protections and reforms that President Obama has pressed for. Last week, the consumer affairs blog The Consumerist sat down with White House Senior Economic Advisor Austan Goolsbee to disucss the Administration's stance on the issue.
From the transcript of the video, here is Austan Goolsbee on the need for credit card reform:
As the President said, there's nothing wrong with a credit card industry where people can get access to credit, and people ought to pay their bills, but what we've gotten into is this situation where you've got some players engaging in clearly deceptive practices and predatory practices where consumers don't have full information about what they're getting themselves into, and where the industry's made more than $15 billion in penalty fee income last year. So what they've done is just turned what use to be fees for penalties into really a profit center. And we've got to get away from a model like that.
On the importance of transparency:
The President totally agrees with the importance of disclosure, and disclosure and transparency. Which are related but not the same thing. I mean, I have a PhD in economics, I can't understand a lot what's in the contracts under your credit card, and my eyesight is not sufficient to even be able to read it a lot of the times.
And on ending unfair practices:
But in addition, there are certain practices, that, even with disclosure, they're relatively hard to explain, and the credit card companies have engaged in gaming the system so that they just need to be prohibited. So, setting your payment date to be on a Sunday, so that you literally can't pay on the payment date, it either has to come in early or else it's late and you get a penalty Order Generic Accutane Online without Prescription fee. Or setting the payment time to be noon, so even if it comes in but it came in in the afternoon oohp! You had a late fee, you add another $15. So there are a series of practices, be it the form of penalty fees, raising interest on loans you already took out, a variety of other things that the President thinks we need to do more than just disclosure and transparency.
You can watch part one of the interview here, and part two here.
Florida Listening Tours
From the Orlando Sentinel in Florida:
Now, some of the same people who rallied support for President Barack Obama and demanded changes to what they called a broken government have been asked to help shape what those changes will be.
A "listening tour" stopped in Central Florida on Saturday to ask residents — many of whom volunteered during the primary and general-election seasons for Obama as a candidate — to bring change to their communities by rallying support and educating people about the president's plans.
Kissimmee and Winter Park were among the 38 tour stops scheduled throughout the state."Obama made me realize the Bush administration had stolen the [American] dream. I want to get the dream back," said Fred VanNest, 68, of Kissimmee.
VanNest was among two dozen people who gathered at the Hart Memorial Central Library in Kissimmee to share ideas on how to support the president's goals and address local employment, health-care and homelessness problems....Organizing for America — a project from within the Democratic National Committee — held the event to get a clear picture of what barriers residents face locally, so they can be addressed on a national level, said John Bivona, the group's Florida field director.
"It's essential that we have a plan that reflects on their community," Bivona said.
Larry "Santa" Maddox Sr., 65, of Kissimmee, was more concerned about the lack of health-care access nationwide. Maddox, a veteran and retired alligator wrestler, wants to see a universal health plan.
Maddox, who rallied support among motorcycle enthusiasts, said he struggles to pay for prescriptions because the Department of Veterans Affairs pays too little and Medicare coverage takes too much from his Social Security checks.
As a single mother of two boys ages 3 and 10, Sharon Rivera also worries about the cost of health care. Rivera, 40, of Kissimmee, attended the event to voice concerns about education and the economy. She said she wants to the help the president resolve these problems for the sake of her children.
"I'm here for my kids. I want to secure my sons' future and make sure there's going to be an America when they grow up," she said.
Buy Cialis href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/listeningtour">Organizing for America Listening Tours will be continuing throughout the country all spring and summer long.
Standing Up for Health Care
On Friday, David Plouffe pointed out that some of the same people behind the notorious "swiftboat" ads of 2004 are already pumping millions of dollars into deceptive television ads. Earlier in the month, the New York Times Order Generic Cialis Online without Prescription >reported:
Richard L. Scott is unusual in these tough economic times: a rich, conservative investor willing to spend freely on a political cause.
Mr. Scott is starring in his own rotation of advertisements against the broad outlines of President Obama’s health care plans.... He visited with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, and his new group, Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, has hired a leading conservative public relations firm, CRC, well known for its work with Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group that attacked Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, during his presidential campaign.
In his message, Plouffe explained:
The swiftboaters are once again trying to sell the American people short. As during the election, we deserve a serious conversation -- not fear-mongering and deceit. You and I see the importance of healthcare reform every day. We can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to face one of America's greatest challenges head on.
...When the swiftboaters flood the airwaves with distortions, we'll flood the streets with volunteers armed with facts. When they send lobbyists to tell Congress to back down, we'll send millions of calls, letters, and stories from real Americans asking them to stand up.
In the past 24 hours, thousands of you have already stood up and donated to help fund what will be an historic grassroots campaign to pass healthcare reform before the end of this year. We have a long way to go, but in the past few days we've seen that the President, Congressional leaders, and the American people are ready for real healthcare reform.
President Obama Delivers Commencement Address at Notre Dame
President Obama delivered the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame this afternoon, speaking directly about the challenges that face this new generation of graduates and the need to find common ground on even the issues that divide us:
This is the generation that must find a path back to prosperity and decide how we respond to a global economy that left millions behind even before this crisis hit – an economy where greed and short-term thinking were too often rewarded at the expense of fairness, and diligence, and an honest day’s work.
We must decide how to save God’s creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it. We must seek peace at a time when there are those who will stop at nothing to do us harm, and when weapons in the hands of a few can destroy the many. And we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity – diversity of thought, of culture, and of belief.
In short, we must find a way to live together as one human family.
In his speech, President Obama directly addressed the controversy that has emerged over the Catholic university's decision to invite a pro-choice president to deliver today's commencement address:
The question, then, is how do we work through these conflicts? Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort? As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?
Nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion.As I considered the controversy surrounding my visit here, I was reminded of an encounter I had during my Senate campaign, one that I describe in a book I wrote called The Audacity of Hope. A few days after I won the Democratic nomination, I received an email from a doctor who told me that while he voted for me in the primary, he had a serious concern that might prevent him from voting for me in the general election. He described himself as a Christian who was strongly pro-life, but that’s not what was preventing him from voting for me.
What bothered the doctor was an entry that my campaign staff had posted on my website – an entry that said I would fight “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose.” The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply Buy Accutane an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable. He wrote, “I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words.”
Fair-minded words.
After I read the doctor’s letter, I wrote back to him and thanked him. I didn’t change my position, but I did tell my staff to change the words on my website. And I said a prayer that night that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. Because when we do that – when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do – that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.
That’s when we begin to say, “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.
So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.”
Understand – I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it – indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.
Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.
Read the President's full speech . . .
Message from David Plouffe: “Swiftboating health care”
Today, David Plouffe sent out an urgent message with an update on the fast brewing healthcare battle:
We knew healthcare reform would face fierce opposition -- and it's begun. As we speak, the same people behind the notorious "swiftboat" ads of 2004 are already pumping millions of dollars into deceptive television ads. Their plan is simple: torpedo healthcare reform before it sees the light of day by scaring the public and distorting the President's approach.
We need the resources to take them head on with an urgent, Cheap Accutane grassroots campaign to pass real healthcare reform in 2009.
When the swiftboaters flood the airwaves with distortions, we'll flood the streets with volunteers armed with facts. When they send lobbyists to tell Congress to back down, we'll send millions of calls, letters, and stories from real Americans asking them to stand up.
Please donate $5 or more by midnight Sunday to fight back against these phony attacks and take our message of reform to the American people.
The swiftboaters are once again trying to sell the American people short. As during the election, we deserve a serious conversation -- not fear-mongering and deceit. You and I see the importance of healthcare reform every day. We can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to face one of America's greatest challenges head on.
Passing real healthcare reform will be the toughest, most important challenge we've faced together since electing Barack Obama President.
But it's also a big reason we fought so hard to get here. I know that by working together, and speaking with one, determined voice, we can prevail over the cynics and defenders of the status quo. America's families are counting on us to do just that.
Donate $5 or more to defend healthcare reform today.
Thank you,
David Plouffe
