Archive for October, 2009:
Weekly Address: Milestones on the Economy and the Recovery Act
The Recovery Act is Working
Yesterday we learned that GDP had grown at an annual rate of 3.5 percent during the third quarter, the first time the economy had grown in more than a year.
Today new reports confirm that the Recovery Act is responsible for more than 1 million jobs so far – and is on-track to create and save a total of at least 3.5 million jobs by next fall. The reports (which are required by Congress) were submitted by state and local governments, private companies, community organizations and other recipients of Recovery funds. The reports indicate 640,329 jobs have been created or saved, on a little less than half of stimulus spending to-date.
The majority of the jobs reported today were in the construction and education sectors -- about 325,000 of the jobs reported were in education and more than 80,000 of the jobs are in construction.
Jared Bernstein, Vice President Biden’s Chief Economist and the Executive Director of the Middle Class Task Force, has a great post on the White House blog about today's news. You can access the reports at Recovery.gov.
Morning News
From ABC News:
The Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus bill directly saved or created about 650,000 jobs as of the end of last month, administration officials announced this morning.
The numbers come from Congressionally-mandated reports submitted earlier this month by tens of thousands of state and local governments, private companies, colleges, universities, and community organizations nationwide, administration officials said, with the majority of the funds coming from state governments.
Factoring jobs indirectly created from the stimulus -- not reflected in these numbers -- an administration official says in a statement that "because these reports show that less than half of the spending through that date created or saved about 650,000 jobs, they confirm government and private forecaster’s estimates that overall Recovery Act spending has created and saved at least 1 million jobs."
Moreover, the administration emphasized, these reports do not reflect the job impact of the stimulus plan's tax cuts, direct payments to individuals, and grants and awards of amounts under $25,000 per recipient. Nor, officials cautioned, do they reflect the indirect job impact of the funds, such as when employers for stimulus projects hired to meet new demand or when hired workers spent their paychecks...
From the Associated Press:
Cheered by President Barack Obama, House Democrats rolled out landmark legislation Thursday to extend health care to tens of millions who lack coverage, impose sweeping new restrictions on the insurance industry and create a government-run option to compete with private insurers.
The measure "covers 96 percent of all Americans, and it puts affordable coverage in reach for millions of uninsured and underinsured families, lowering health care costs for all of us," boasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at a ceremony attended by dozens of Democratic lawmakers. She spoke on the steps of the Capitol, not far from where Obama issued his inaugural summons for Congress to act more than nine months ago…
Broad in scope, the House Democrats' bill attempts to build on the current system of employer-provided health care. It would require big companies to cover their employees and include federal subsidies to help small companies provide insurance for theirs, as well. Most individuals would be required to carry insurance, and much of the money in the legislation is dedicated to subsidies for those at lower incomes to help them afford coverage.
For those at even lower incomes, the bill provides for an expansion of Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor. Adults up to 150 percent of the poverty level -- individuals making up to $16,245 and a family of four up to $33,075 -- would be covered, a provision estimated to add 15 million to Medicaid.
One of the bill's major features is a new national insurance market, in which private companies could sell policies that meet federally mandated benefit levels, the government would offer competing coverage and consumers could shop for the policy that best met their needs.
From West Virginia Public Broadcasting:
...Meagan Gardner is the state director of Organizing for America, a grassroots organization that sponsored the bus tour.
“We’re taking to the streets and talking to people about health care, and President Obama’s plan for health care," she said. “He wants to create stability and security for all, and options for people who don’t have any, and make sure costs go down for absolutely everyone.”
At each stop, speakers gave presentations about the need for reform.
In Fairmont, registered nurse Crystal Copeland talked about her struggle to get adequate health care coverage after being diagnosed with rheumatory arthritis.
With what insurers classify as having a pre-existing condition, Copeland’s medical bills are high. She choked back tears as she spoke to the crowd.
An OoOoObama Halloween
Not a moment passes at Organizing For America without volunteers and leaders across the country taking their creativity to the next level. Last week, during our October 20 Day of Action, we had students launching ideas in Ohio and neighbors working together in Michigan to create one of the strongest advocacy pushes in the history of OFA. Once again, this Halloween, we want to call on you to put on your creative hats (it'll look great with that costume) and show us your carving skills!
A pumpkin can be many things; for some, its decoration. For others it's what your grandmother calls you while she's pinching your cheeks. Here at OFA, we think a pumpkin on your front porch can also be a way to show your support for health reform! Last year on October 31, four days before we elected Barack Obama as our 44th President, individuals carved images and messages into their festive orange pumpkins. Our friends at YesWeCarve.com showcased the amazing results:
We want you to send us pictures of your carved pumpkins! You can recreate some of the carvings above. Click here for some stencils, or come up with your own! Send us pictures to halloween2009@dnc.org. We are so close to the one year election anniversary mark, and we are close to making health insurance reform a reality. Bring your friends, family, and (b)roommates together and make a party out of carving your message to show your community your support for reform NOW. Let's scare the naysayers away!
Instead of another bad Halloween joke, I'll just leave the creativity in your hands....
Be sure to send us pictures!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Unveils The Affordable Health Care for America Act
Speaker Pelosi unveiled the House’s final version of health insurance reform legislation – The Affordable Health Care For America Act - in front of the U.S. Capitol this morning, marking another historic step in the on-going effort to pass reform this year.
The bill delivers on President Obama’s goals for reform: increased security and stability for those who have insurance; quality, affordable choices for those who don’t; and lowering the skyrocketing costs of health care for American families, businesses and our government itself.
Here’s an excerpt from the President's statement this morning:
“I congratulate the House of Representatives on the introduction of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, another critical milestone in the effort to reform our health care system…
“The House legislation includes critical reforms to the insurance industry, so that Americans will no longer have to worry that they will be denied coverage, or that their coverage will be dropped or watered down when they need it most. I’m also pleased that the bill includes a public option offered in an exchange. As I’ve said throughout this process, a public option that competes with private insurers is the best way to ensure choice and competition that are so badly needed in today’s market. And the House bill clearly meets two of the fundamental criteria I have set out: it is fully paid for and will reduce the deficit in the long term.”
The New York Times reported:
The bill would require nearly everyone by 2013 to sign up for health coverage either through their employer, a government program or a new kind of purchasing pool called an exchange. Tax credits would be available for most of those buying coverage through the exchange. They would have the option of picking a new government plan or private insurance.
During the transition years from 2010-2013, a temporary government program would help people turned down by private insurers because of medical problems, lawmakers said. After that, insurers no longer could refuse to provide coverage to the sick, nor could they charge more because of poor health of the insured.
The plan also calls for a significant expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health program for low-income people. And it would impose a requirement on employers to offer insurance to their workers or face penalties.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the House bill would cost $894 billion over 10 years and extend insurance coverage to 36 million, covering 96 percent of Americans. It is expected to cut the deficit by $30 billion in the first 10 years.
Speaker Pelosi has said she expects to send the bill to the floor for a vote before November 11.
Morning News
When the Obama administration proposed canceling a host of expensive weapons systems last spring, some of the military industry’s allies in Congress assumed, as they had in the past, that they would have the final say.
But as the president signed a $680 billion military policy bill on Wednesday, it was clear that he had succeeded in paring back nearly all of the programs and setting a tone of greater restraint than the Pentagon had seen in many years.
Now the question is whether Mr. Obama can sustain that push next year, when the midterm elections are likely to make Congress more resistant to further cuts and job losses.
White House officials say Mr. Obama took advantage of a rare political moment to break through one of Washington’s most powerful lobbies and trim more weapons systems than any president had in decades.
From the Redlands Daily Facts:
Cal State San Bernardino student Torrey Reed was only too happy to oblige when an Obama organizer stopped him on a campus walkway last week and asked him to immediately open his cell phone and tell his senator he supported health care reform.
The organizer gave him the number and told him what to expect from the staffer who answered.
"It's the first time I've felt like I really had an impact on something," said Reed, 21, of Moreno Valley.
Similar, brief interactions occurred a few hundred thousand times last week as an army of volunteers fanned out across the country to drum up support for President Barak Obama's top political priority…
The sheer scope and sophistication of local organizing is breaking new political ground, experts say, and the health care debate is its first real test."
National party committees have done issue campaigns in the past," said Jack Pitney, a professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College. "But Organizing For America is unusual in its degree of organization and its funding."
When a gay Wyoming college student was slain in 1998, congressional Democrats pledged to broaden the definition of federal hate crimes by the end of that year to include attacks based on sexual orientation.
The effort instead turned into a decade-long proxy war between liberal groups that want to expand gay rights and conservative groups that do not. But Wednesday, President Obama signed the bill and then hosted a White House reception for gay activists and the parents of the slain student, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard.
"After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are," Obama said after the signing…
The legislation extends provisions first passed in 1968 that make it a federal crime to target individuals because of their race, religion or national origin. Under the law, judges can impose harsher penalties on crimes that are motivated by such animus, and the Justice Department can help local police departments investigate alleged hate crimes.
President Obama made a midnight dash to this air base Wednesday to honor the return of fallen soldiers, absorbing the ultimate cost of war as the United States endures its deadliest month of the Afghanistan campaign.
On a clear fall night, Obama flew by Marine One helicopter to Dover Air Force Base to greet the flag-draped cases of 18 Americans killed in action this week.
After landing, the president, wearing a dark topcoat, got into a motorcade to a base chapel, where he met privately with families of the fallen Americans. He had arrived on the base at 12:34 a.m. Thursday and was expected to be back at the White House before dawn.
Obama is in the midst of an intense, weekslong review of his war strategy in Afghanistan…
Obama meets Friday with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military leaders who would have the responsibility for carrying out his strategy decisions. White House officials said Obama keep considering his options with advisers over the next couple of weeks, and other war council meetings may still be called during that period.
President Obama Signs Inclusive Hate Crimes Legislation
Today President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, legislation that will extend new federal protections to people who are victims of violent crime because of their sex or sexual orientation. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress first passed in 1968. For the first time, the law that previously protected people from attacks motivated by race, religion or ethnicity will also protect gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people.
The President will host a reception commemorating the enactment of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the East Room of the White House this evening. This afternoon, before signing the bill, he said:
"...After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are.
"I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who's here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day -- make this day possible..."
Here’s an excerpt from an editorial in the Washington Post this morning:
PRESIDENT OBAMA is scheduled to sign Wednesday what is being described as the nation's first significant pro-gay rights legislation. Attached to the defense authorization act, the measure would add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to the list of protected classes under the 1969 federal hate-crimes law…
The law doesn't outlaw bigotry or "thought crimes." It applies only to "violent acts motivated by" the characteristics of the victim -- acts, not thoughts or speech. But crimes that target someone because of race or sexual orientation are more than offenses against that individual. They can terrorize whole communities.
Morning News
From the Wall Street Journal:
The Obama administration launched a clean-energy blitz Tuesday, with President Barack Obama sweeping into this Central Florida hamlet to unveil $3.4 billion in stimulus grants for advanced electricity-grid projects and Vice President Joe Biden traveling to his home state of Delaware to open an electric-automobile plant.
The administration Tuesday released a list of about 100 companies and communities in 45 states and territories that will receive federal subsidies to modernize the electric grid. The administration promised the projects would create "tens of thousands of jobs."
When combined with funds from utility customers, the federal program is expected to inject more than $8 billion into grid-modernization efforts nationally, administration officials said. Even so, that represents just a fraction of what would be needed to bring the entire U.S. electrical grid into the digital age….
Tuesday's twin events, and last Friday's presidential visit to a wind-energy-testing lab in Boston, signal a renewed push on energy issues by the Obama administration, after weeks during which energy and climate change have taken a back seat to fights over health care and future strategy in Afghanistan. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held its first hearing Tuesday on long-stalled climate-change legislation…
From Politico:
President Obama exhorted Virginia Democrats Tuesday to get behind their underdog gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds, urging them to shake off the complacency that has plagued the party this year.
Citing polls that show Deeds trailing Republican Bob McDonnell a week before the election, Obama emphasized to a raucous crowd here the importance of electing another Democratic governor to succeed his close friend, DNC Chairman and Gov. Tim Kaine.
“I don’t believe in can’t, I don’t believe in giving up, I don’t believe that we would turn our back on the progress that Tim Kaine has made here in Virginia,” Obama told about 5,000 rally-goers in a college basketball arena…
Obama delivered precisely the message Deeds has sought to leave with voters: that the state senator would govern in the same sort of moderate, competent tradition of Kaine and his predecessor, now-Sen. Mark Warner. “You’ll have a choice: you can decide to break that tradition of good stewardship or you can continue with that opportunity,” Obama said, saying that Deeds was cut from “the very same cloth” as the two governors….
“Are you looking for slick?” Obama asked. “Or are you looking for somebody who's going to be fighting for you?” Perhaps inspired by the largest crowd of his campaign, Deeds delivered an impassioned speech that bore little trace of his usually-halting speaking style. Like Obama, he urged the audience to ignore his deficit. “If I believed every poll I ever looked at, I would have quit this process a long time ago,” Deeds said…
From USA Today:
States have reported using stimulus money to create or save more than 388,000 jobs so far this year, buttressing the Obama administration's claim that the $787 billion plan has had a significant impact on the economy.
That total, based on a USA TODAY review of reports from 33 states and Puerto Rico, includes teachers, construction workers, and others whose jobs were funded by stimulus money awarded to states. The administration plans Friday to release reports from all 50 states, providing the broadest accounting yet of the stimulus plan's impact…Still, Frank Lichtenberg of the Columbia Business School says the figures show a significant economic impact. Obama's Council of Economic Advisors estimated that the stimulus had saved or created 600,000 to 1.1 million jobs. Lichtenberg said the states' reports "make that sound like a reasonable estimate."
From ScreenCrave:
Entertainment and politics have merged once again! Health care reform supporters have entered over a thousand videos in a competition for the best 30-second TV spot to support Obama on his health care mission. This morning, the top 20 spots were announced and now a group of Hollywood celebrities including Will.i.am, Olivia Wilde, Seth MacFarlane, Dule Hill, John Cho, Rosario Dawson, and more will pick the winner and someone will have their message turned into a national television ad paid for by Organizing for America.
Morning News
From the Wall Street Journal:
The Obama administration launched a clean-energy blitz Tuesday, with President Barack Obama sweeping into this Central Florida hamlet to unveil $3.4 billion in stimulus grants for advanced electricity-grid projects and Vice President Joe Biden traveling to his home state of Delaware to open an electric-automobile plant.
The administration Tuesday released a list of about 100 companies and communities in 45 states and territories that will receive federal subsidies to modernize the electric grid. The administration promised the projects would create "tens of thousands of jobs."
When combined with funds from utility customers, the federal program is expected to inject more than $8 billion into grid-modernization efforts nationally, administration officials said. Even so, that represents just a fraction of what would be needed to bring the entire U.S. electrical grid into the digital age….
Tuesday's twin events, and last Friday's presidential visit to a wind-energy-testing lab in Boston, signal a renewed push on energy issues by the Obama administration, after weeks during which energy and climate change have taken a back seat to fights over health care and future strategy in Afghanistan. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held its first hearing Tuesday on long-stalled climate-change legislation…
From Politico:
President Obama exhorted Virginia Democrats Tuesday to get behind their underdog gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds, urging them to shake off the complacency that has plagued the party this year.
Citing polls that show Deeds trailing Republican Bob McDonnell a week before the election, Obama emphasized to a raucous crowd here the importance of electing another Democratic governor to succeed his close friend, DNC Chairman and Gov. Tim Kaine.
“I don’t believe in can’t, I don’t believe in giving up, I don’t believe that we would turn our back on the progress that Tim Kaine has made here in Virginia,” Obama told about 5,000 rally-goers in a college basketball arena…
Obama delivered precisely the message Deeds has sought to leave with voters: that the state senator would govern in the same sort of moderate, competent tradition of Kaine and his predecessor, now-Sen. Mark Warner. “You’ll have a choice: you can decide to break that tradition of good stewardship or you can continue with that opportunity,” Obama said, saying that Deeds was cut from “the very same cloth” as the two governors….
“Are you looking for slick?” Obama asked. “Or are you looking for somebody who's going to be fighting for you?” Perhaps inspired by the largest crowd of his campaign, Deeds delivered an impassioned speech that bore little trace of his usually-halting speaking style. Like Obama, he urged the audience to ignore his deficit. “If I believed every poll I ever looked at, I would have quit this process a long time ago,” Deeds said…
From USA Today:
States have reported using stimulus money to create or save more than 388,000 jobs so far this year, buttressing the Obama administration's claim that the $787 billion plan has had a significant impact on the economy.
That total, based on a USA TODAY review of reports from 33 states and Puerto Rico, includes teachers, construction workers, and others whose jobs were funded by stimulus money awarded to states. The administration plans Friday to release reports from all 50 states, providing the broadest accounting yet of the stimulus plan's impact…Still, Frank Lichtenberg of the Columbia Business School says the figures show a significant economic impact. Obama's Council of Economic Advisors estimated that the stimulus had saved or created 600,000 to 1.1 million jobs. Lichtenberg said the states' reports "make that sound like a reasonable estimate."
From ScreenCrave:
Entertainment and politics have merged once again! Health care reform supporters have entered over a thousand videos in a competition for the best 30-second TV spot to support Obama on his health care mission. This morning, the top 20 spots were announced and now a group of Hollywood celebrities including Will.i.am, Olivia Wilde, Seth MacFarlane, Dule Hill, John Cho, Rosario Dawson, and more will pick the winner and someone will have their message turned into a national television ad paid for by Organizing for America.
Health Reform Video Challenge: Open for Voting
New Media Director Natalie Foster just sent out the following email, announcing the top 20 finalists -- as well as the opening of public voting -- for the Health Reform Video Challenge:
We just finished going through the submissions to OFA's Health Reform Video Challenge, and they're great. There are personal stories that grab your heart, brilliant summaries of what reform would really mean, and plenty of biting satire that calls out the insurance lobbyists.
Out of nearly a thousand excellent videos submitted, we're down to the top 20. Now it's your turn to watch the finalists and vote for your favorites -- and then we'll air the winner on national television.
Watch and vote on the finalists now.
The top 20 ads will also be voted on by our panel of experts and artists, including Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, animator and director Seth MacFarlane, actress Kate Walsh, Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine.
It couldn't be more urgent for us to get these funny, powerful, and eye-opening messages out to the public. As the full Congress begins its final debate on reform, airing the winning video as an ad on national television could help tip the balance toward enacting the changes they've been talking about for years in Washington.
Polls close at midnight on Friday, November 6th, so don't waste a minute: Watch the finalists and vote for your favorites right away.Thanks, and go get started,
Natalie
Natalie Foster
New Media Director
P.S. -- Help spread the word: After you vote, make sure you send this on to friends and family so they can check out the finalists.
http://my.barackobama.com/VideoChallenge
