Posted by Ambassador Eric Goosby I was very pleased to join Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the President’s Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, ONAP Director Jeffrey Crowley, and Dr. Elly Katabira, President-elect of the International AIDS Society at the White House today for an event on the [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis (pdf) of the Senate version health insurance reform – and it contains more good news about what reform will mean for families struggling to keep up with skyrocketing premiums under the broken status quo. Like other recent analyses, the CBO report finds [...]
Posted by Nancy-Ann DeParle The Thanksgiving holiday is over, and attention now turns to the Senate floor debate on its health insurance reform. Today’s Washington Post explores one aspect of this debate– and that’s what the impact of health reform will be on our deficits and fiscal situation. There are three things to keep in [...]
Posted by Ann Widger As one of the people in the Office of Public Engagement who work every day with citizens, groups, and organizations on health insurance reform, I’m constantly amazed at the overwhelming show of support from every corner and every constituency you can think of. When I say the list goes on and on, [...]
Posted by Cammie Croft Next week, the President is hosting a discussion at the White House to explore every possible avenue for job creation and get ideas from CEOs, small business owners, economists, financial experts, labor union representatives, nonprofit groups and regular Americans who have felt the impact of this economic crisis firsthand. But you don’t [...]
Posted by Nancy-Ann DeParle Jonathan Gruber, PhD, a MIT Economist who has been closely following the health insurance reform process, issued a compelling new report based on data from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. As the Politico wrote, “The report concludes that under the Senate’s health-reform bill, Americans buying individual coverage will pay less than [...]
Posted by Secretary Tom Vilsack I have seen the consequences of a health care system in need of reform – too few insured, too costly for others and too little quality for all. Unsustainable growth in the cost of health care and the continued denial of coverage to millions of Americans is evidence that our [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer In today’s Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer takes great pains to paint a bleak picture of health care reform as “monstrous,” “overregulated,” and rife with “arbitrary bureaucratic inventions.” The columnist’s argument may be cogent and well-written, but it is wholly inaccurate. Krauthammer describes a “better choice” for health reform as having three [...]
Posted by Austan Goolsbee The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board released the following statement today: Statement from PERAB Chairman Paul Volcker on Tax Task Force The tax subcommittee of the PERAB was scheduled to release its report on December 4th. But we have received more than 500 submissions of serious tax reform ideas from the [...]
Posted by Macon Phillips Happy Thanksgiving! Given the holiday, we are releasing the President’s weekly address today. In this video, President Obama calls to our attention the men and women in uniform who are away from home sacrificing time with family to protect our safety and freedom. He also talks about the progress of health [...]
President Barack Obama with daughter Sasha, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughter Malia, distribute food for Thanksgiving at Martha’s Table, a food pantry in Washington. November 25, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Posted by Rashad Hussain Pilgrims from over 160 countries, including nearly 20,000 Americans, have gathered in Saudi Arabia for the annual performance of the Hajj. They have assembled in Mina and will travel to Arafat, Muzdalifah, and Mecca to offer the rites of pilgrimage. On Friday, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha. The President [...]
Posted by Heather Zichal Some exciting announcements today from the White House on our efforts to combat climate change and lay the foundation for a clean energy economy! The President will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15) next month, and he will take with him an emissions reduction target [...]
Posted by Nicola Goren As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, let us also pause and acknowledge that many of our neighbors are struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table. The President and the First Lady are calling on all of us to come together to solve [...]
Posted by Molly Fedick Today at the White House, the President officially pardoned not one turkey, but two — sparing both “Courage” and “Carolina,” a request from his compassionate daughters, Sasha and Malia. Before sending the birds to a life of “peace and tranquility” in Disneyland, the President took the time to express his gratitude [...]
Posted by Norm Eisen Building upon last month’s historic release of nearly 500 White House visitor records, today the White House releases more than 1,600 records of visits to the White House in response to another month’s worth of requests. You can view all the records in a searchable database in our Disclosures section. We [...]
Posted by Molly Fedick At 11:28 AM EST, President Obama will speak at the official pardoning of the White House turkey. The ceremony will take place in the Rose Garden and give one lucky turkey a second chance at life. Watch it through WhiteHouse.gov/live And in case you missed it, check out yesterday’s preview:
Posted by Cammie Croft At 11:30am EST, White House Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle will answer questions from AllBusiness.com about health reform and small business. Watch it live at WH.gov/Live.
Posted by Molly Fedick In honor of the arrival of His Excellency Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, and his wife, Mrs. Gursharan Kaur, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will hold the first official state dinner of the presidency. The event promises to be a celebration of President Obama’s [...]
Posted by Cammie Croft As the White House prepares for tonight’s State Dinner in honor of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur of India (see the Press Preview pdf), First Lady Michelle Obama hosts young women from the White House Leadership and Mentoring Program to discuss the history and protocol that surround State [...]
Posted by Secretary Steven Chu Today, I announced a $620 million investment in the “Smart Grid” — building on a $3.4 billion investment announced by President Obama last month as part of the Recovery Act. So what is a “Smart Grid?” How will it save your family money? Check out this video: Steven Chu is Secretary of [...]
Posted by Dr. Jill Biden There is nothing like the warmth of home during the holidays. In this spirit, the Vice President and I hosted an early Thanksgiving Dinner last night for servicemembers and their families at our home, the U.S. Naval Observatory. It was the Biden family’s small way of saying thank you to [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer It’s amazing that after so many months debating health insurance reform, sometimes a myth we see being spread about it can still surprise us. In October, for example, we saw a rather shocking claim that one bill being debated in the Senate “could be used to ban guns in home self-defense.” [...]
Posted by Joshua DuBois Secretary Sebelius, Senator Landrieu and others celebrate National Adoption Day on November 20, 2009. Photo by Chris Smith, HHS National Adoption Day is an opportunity for courts across the country to open their doors and finalize adoptions for children out of foster care. There are currently over 500,000 youth in foster [...]
Posted by Erin Edgerton Today’s Know What to Do about the Flu webcast has a special focus on bloggers and their readers. The series, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was launched to deliver accurate and timely information directly to the public. This episode’s focus on bloggers recognizes the power of [...]
Posted by Katie Stanton Today we’re launching a “list” on the official White House account on Twitter which will make it easier for people to follow U.S. Government Twitter feeds. We’ve included a variety of accounts from Cabinet Secretaries, Agencies and Departments. If there are other U.S. government accounts you’d like us to add, please [...]
Posted by John P. Holdren & Melody Barnes President Obama today helped launch a new campaign, “Educate to Innovate,” designed to energize and excite America’s students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It builds on the President’s pledge that he would use his position to help encourage students to study and consider careers in [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee At 11:40 AM EST, President Obama will launch the “Educate to Innovate” campaign, a nationwide effort to help reach the administration’s goal of moving American students from the middle of the pack to the front in science and math achievement over the next decade. The President will announce a series of [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer Opponents of health insurance reform have spent hours on the Senate floor today attacking the Senate’s efforts to provide stability and security for those with insurance, affordable coverage for those without, and lower costs for families, small businesses and the government. To provide a little perspective on these attacks, let’s compare [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee In an address recorded in Seoul, South Korea, the President discusses his trip to Asia. He talks about his push to stop nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Iran, and around the world. He talks about promoting America’s principles for an open society in China while making progress on joint efforts to [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer Since some opponents of reform seem too obsessed with the length of the Senate health insurance reform bill to even bother looking at what’s in it for American families, we thought we’d make it a little easier for them to find some key of provisions they’re working so hard to kill: [...]
Posted by Darron P. Monteiro On Friday we hosted a reception commemorating the 540th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first guru in Sikhism. It was the first time that this holiday has ever been celebrated at the White House. Members of the Sikh community from around the country were invited to [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee In a particularly moving address to troops at Osan Air Base in Osan, South Korea, the President thanked American troops for their continued sacrifice and service, and took the opportunity to a share a short anecdote with the crowd. The story reminded troops of America’s great responsibility and privilege to protect [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer When people use arguments they know are bogus, it’s probably because they know they don’t have any valid arguments at their disposal. So it would seem with opponents of reform in the Senate spending today obsessed with arguments about “rationing” that were debunked months ago. Their attacks are focused on the [...]
Posted by Jesse Lee At 10:00 AM EST today the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services will host another Clean Energy Economy Forum. A group of stakeholders, business and community leaders will discuss clean energy and climate legislation work, and the benefits towards public health. HHS Secretary [...]
Posted by Arun Chaudhary We sat Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes down on the front couch of Air Force One to get a wrap-up of the trip before landing in Washington, DC. He may seem a little sleepy and dehydrated, but I can personally attest that he got a decent amount of rest on [...]
Posted by Macon Phillips Ed. Note: Opponents of health reform appear to have run out of fresh smears against health insurance reform and have started recycling old debunked attacks. In response to those that brought up this attack that Politifact proved false months ago, we simply bring back this classic Reality Check first published on [...]
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer From the very beginning defenders of the status quo have held up the Congressional Budget Office as the gold standard for judging the impact of health reform legislation on the deficit. Indeed, as recently as two weeks ago, when alternative legislation based on insurance industry proposals was introduced, those opponents of [...]
Posted by Beth Noveck “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system,” Justice Louis D. Brandeis wrote in 1932, “that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” The Obama Administration is [...]
Posted by Secretary Tom Vilsack Thanksgiving is only a week away and like millions of Americans around the country, I’m looking forward to spending time with family and reflecting on the countless blessings in my life. As all of us anxiously wait for the week to go by, I wanted to take some time and [...]
