Posted by Alan B. Krueger The Wall Street Journal ran a graph this weekend claiming, “The private sector is adding jobs … but the recovery is slower than in past cycles.” In fact, even though it is not fast enough, the rate of job growth is actually faster now than was the case at comparable points of [...]
Posted by Jared Bernstein Lindsay Graham has often shown that he’s fully capable of being reasonable and bipartisan. Which made it particularly disappointing to see his misleading use of numbers yesterday. On Meet the Press, the Senator, against a wave of evidence to the contrary, argued that the Recovery Act has been “an absolute disaster” and called [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer On Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio, the President will update the American people on the state of the economy, talk about the progress we have made, and discuss some targeted proposals to keep the economy growing including extending tax cuts for the middle class, and investing in the areas of our economy where [...]
Posted by Secretary Hilda Solis It has become somewhat of a tradition for Labor Secretaries to use Labor Day to give a “State of the American Worker” report, if you will. Some have made remarks from podiums. Others have testified on Capitol Hill. Some have chosen to address think tanks, corporations, or labor unions. Those are [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee Read the Transcript | Download Video: mp4 (61MB) | mp3 (6MB) This morning Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer laid out the basics of the jobs numbers for August out this morning: the private sector added 67,000 jobs, Census workers continued to come to end of their work as planned, and people coming back [...]
Posted by SBA Administrator Karen Mills I was surprised to hear Minority Leader Mitch McConnell say he believes the Small Business Jobs Act currently before the Senate is “a little itty-bitty small business bill that no one thinks will have much of an impact on the economy.” In fact, I would encourage him to go on [...]
Posted by Christina Romer Today’s employment report was better than expected. Private sector payrolls increased by 67,000 in August — the eighth consecutive month of private sector job growth. This growth is consistent with other recent data reports indicating that the economy is continuing to recover, albeit at a somewhat slower pace than in the early [...]
Posted by Karen Mills As I travel around the country, I meet many small business owners who are poised to take that next step to grow their business and create jobs. In fact, this morning’s USA Today looks at one of those business owners – Amarjit Kaur who runs a convenience store and gas station [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee Download Video: mp4 (52MB) | mp3 (5MB) Speaking in the Rose Garden in the heat, the President began his remarks this morning on the economy by once again noting that for all the progress that’s been made since “that terrible September when our economy teetered on the brink of collapse,” there is much left [...]
Posted by Jared Bernstein The old adage goes that Presidents often wish for one-handed economists, to avoid all that “on the one hand, sir, we could be looking at X; though on the other hand, it could be Y.” So when economic consensus forms around the outcome of a policy like the Recovery Act, it’s [...]
Posted by Dan Leistikow Yesterday, Vice President Biden visited a New Hampshire homeowner and announced that more than 200,000 homes have been weatherized as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, helping families across the nation cut their energy bills. The Associated Press ran an article today critical of the announcement and suggesting – incorrectly – [...]
Posted by Administrator Lisa Jackson Administrator Jackson speaks with a response worker at the Incident Command Post in Alabama. June 3, 2010. (by USEPA photo by Eric Vance) I grew up in New Orleans. As a chemical engineering student at Tulane University, I worked and studied in the local environment, particularly the wetlands, marshes and swamps. [...]
Posted by Andy Oare Today Vice President Biden announced that 200,000 homes have been weatherized under the Recovery Act. Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy shares her thoughts: We’re still talking about weatherization on Facebook and Twitter. Ask questions, share your thoughts and we’ll follow-up with tips and answers from our experts in [...]
Posted by Liz Oxhorn Earlier this week, Vice President Biden unveiled a new report detailing how the Recovery Act is investing $100 billion in groundbreaking scientific research and advances in technology. The report focuses on how Recovery Act investments in modernizing transportation, jumpstarting the renewable energy sector, advancing medical research, and building a platform to enhance the [...]
Posted by Commissioner Margaret Hamburg In recent weeks, an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis has sickened hundreds of people across the country and has led to a recall of shell eggs. FDA, CDC and state colleagues have worked hard to review reports of illness, to link these illnesses to eggs, and to trace these eggs to the [...]
Posted by Brian Levine Vice President Joe Biden talks with local workers and small business owners about the economy during a middle-class task force roundtable at Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza restaurant in Washington, DC, August 25, 2010. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann) Today the Vice President held a Middle Class Task Force roundtable [...]
Posted by Dallas Tonsager Devastation caused five years ago to the Gulf region by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita remains historic in proportion. It resulted in loss of life, families being displaced, homes and businesses destroyed, and communities left in ruins. In the midst of this great tragedy, USDA Rural Development lent their knowledge and time to [...]
Posted by Jared Bernstein Ever since the Recovery Act passed last February, Congressional Republicans who opposed this economic rescue plan have had to do an awkward dance around the truth. After all, when you declare from the beginning that the Recovery Act won’t create a single job, you’re going to be forced to do a [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer Later today, House Minority Leader John Boehner is slated to give a speech at the City Club of Cleveland laying out the major planks of his party’s economic agenda. Unfortunately, families in Ohio and across the country don’t need to wait until the speech to learn about these economic policies because they’ve [...]
Posted by Kori Schulman Today, the last reform provisions of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act – also known as the Credit Card Bill of Rights – took effect. The CARD Act of 2009 marked a turning point for American consumers, putting an end to the days of unfair rate hikes and [...]
Posted by Jared Bernstein When it comes to the auto companies, we often focus more on the lake than the streams and rivers. That is, much of the attention to how this critical sector is faring focuses on the end-of-the-line assembly plants, and less on the suppliers that provide the parts to be assembled. You might [...]
Posted by Secretary Shaun Donovan The Recovery Act is making a long-term impact on American families and communities by reducing energy costs, creating green jobs and improving the quality of life for people across the country. That’s why on Thursday, I was proud to announce a major Recovery Act milestone for HUD and the Administration. Through [...]
Posted by Deputy Administrator Marie Johns Ed. Note: Building on the President’s commitment to address issues important to rural Americans, Administration officials are visiting state fairs all summer. See a map of where we’ve been so far, and hear from SBA Deputy Administrator Johns about her recent visit to the Indian State Fair: Having grown up in Indiana, I know [...]
Posted by Arun Chaudhary Thanks for checking out the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, travel with the First Family to Panama City Beach, Florida for a weekend of swimming, mini-golf, and meeting with local business owners. Next up, the President hits the road travelling to Milwaukee, [...]
Posted by Katelyn Sabochik Download Video: mp4 (38MB) | mp3 (4MB) This afternoon, President Obama called on a partisan minority in Congress to stop blocking legislation that would make loans more available and cut taxes for small businesses. In his remarks on the South Driveway, the President said this legislation “makes sense, and normally we would expect [...]
Posted by Katelyn Sabochik Yesterday, President Obama joined families from the Columbus area to answer their questions on topics ranging from health care to Wall Street reform and Social Security. The discussion took place in Joe and Rhonda Weithman’s backyard after President Obama spent some time around the Weithman’s kitchen table talking about the challenges [...]
Posted by Kori Schulman Today the President spent some time around the kitchen table with the Weithman Family in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio natives Rhonda and Joe Weithman live in Columbus with their two children, Rachel (9) and Josh (11). The President talked to Joe and Rhonda about the challenges that they’ve had to go through; [...]
Posted by Joe Fugere Ed. Note: Yesterday President Obama traveled to Seattle, to meet with several small business owners for a discussion about strengthening the economy and creating jobs. Joe Fugere, one of the participants in the roundtable discussion, shared his story with us on the blog. Joe is proof that community banks can be the engine for [...]
Posted by Rachel Martin Read the Transcript | Download Video: mp4 (43MB) | mp3 (4MB) Ed. Note: Rachel Martin joined President Obama last week during his remarks in the Rose Garden calling on Congress to pass legislation that would save 160,000 teacher jobs. Since then, Congress has passed and the President has signed this critical legislation. “Mom, the White House called you” [...]
Posted by Katelyn Sabochik Read the Transcript | Download Video: mp4 (75MB) | mp3 (7MB) Today President Obama travelled to Seattle, Washington and met with three local small business owners, Senator Patty Murray and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke in a roundtable discussion about strengthening the economy and creating jobs. The President met with Gillian Allen-White, owner of [...]
Posted by Katelyn Sabochik Yesterday, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Dr. Jane Lubchenco, dropped by the White House for a live chat on the safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. You can check out the full video of the [...]
Posted by Katelyn Sabochik Read the Transcript | Download Video: mp4 (115MB) | mp3 (11MB) Today, President Obama travelled to Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin to visit the ZBB Energy Corporation’s manufacturing facility. ZBB Energy Corporation manufactures advanced zinc bromide flow batteries and intelligent control platforms. These are crucial components of building a smart energy grid and expanding the commercialization electric [...]
Posted by Nikki Sutton The First Family traveled to Florida’s Gulf Coast today to spend the weekend in Panama City Beach, Florida. The President and First Lady joined area small business owners and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for a roundtable discussion of the recovery. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hold a round [...]
Posted by Jared Bernstein In a blog post on this site yesterday, we noted that if Congressman Boehner really wants to end the stimulus, then he really wants thousands of Ohioans to lose their jobs. In response, the Congressman was quoted as saying that our administration owed his constituents “…an explanation of how raising taxes on small [...]
Posted by Jen Psaki Yesterday, the New York Times reported on a Joint Committee on Taxation study of “President Obama’s proposal to let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthy but to extend them for everyone else.” The study found that “taxpayers with income of more than $1 million for 2011 would still receive on average a [...]
Posted by Administrator Lisa P. Jackson Last week I took part in an American tradition: visiting the Wisconsin State Fair. The Wisconsin State Fair and state fairs throughout the country are a cherished summertime experience for rural America – a place where old friends and old traditions go hand-in-hand with the latest innovations. In a solar [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee Read the Transcript | Download Video: mp4 (104MB) | mp3 (10MB) Before signing the Manufacturing Enhancement Act, the President took a step back to talk about his vision and commitment to American manufacturing. That commitment has helped manufacturing become one of the surprisingly bright spots of the economic recovery. A sector that lost 3,864,000 between [...]
Posted by Kori Schulman From the beginning, the Obama administration’s highest priority has been to rescue and rebuild the economy. Few areas were hit as hard as manufacturing – not just in this downturn, but going back years. Investing in 21st century manufacturing has been a cornerstone of the President’s plan to rebuild the economy [...]
Posted by Jared Bernstein John Boehner wants a lot of people to lose their jobs. We were awfully surprised to hear Rep. Boehner come out for killing jobs en masse in his own state and district by stopping the Recovery Act on last Sunday’s news shows. Though we’re sure he didn’t know it, the Congressman is [...]
