Sebelius at HHS

Overhauling our health care system is going to take the will to fight entrenched special interests and lobbyists, the patience to work across party lines, and a little Kansas common sense.

"Kathleen Sebelius has a remarkable intellect, unquestioned integrity, and the kind of pragmatic wisdom you’ll tend to find in a Kansan," President Obama said as he announced the Kansas Governor as his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. "I know she will bring some much-needed grace and good humor to Washington, and she will be a tremendous asset to my cabinet."

The governor of Kansas since 2003, Secretary-designate Sebelius has a reputation for reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats and Republicans alike, while standing firm for what she believes in the face of pressure from special interests. And before being elected governor, she served as Kansas Insurance Commissioner from 1994-2002 -- so she knows her stuff.

That's also true of Nancy Ann DeParle, the President's choice to lead the White House Office of Health Reform and one of the nation's top health care experts. She learned firsthand how our broken health care system can impact workers and families as Tennessee's commissioner of the Department of Human Services. And she saw the big picture in the Clinton administration, where she handled health care budget issues and managed Medicare and Medicaid.

Along with these announcements, President Obama also said today that $155M from the Recovery Act will go toward supporting 126 new health centers across the country, providing care to 750,000 Americans and creating 5,000 jobs. (Get a state-by-state breakdown of how many patients will benefit from the Recovery Act funding for community health care centers.)

It’s just an early step in a major undertaking to lower costs and expand care that isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s absolutely necessary.

"If we are going to help families, save businesses, and improve the long-term economic health of our nation, we must realize that fixing what’s wrong with our health care system is no longer just a moral imperative, but a fiscal imperative," the President said today. "Health care reform that reduces costs while expanding coverage is no longer just a dream we hope to achieve – it’s a necessity we have to achieve."

The case for green jobs

Vice President Biden makes the case for Green Jobs as a pathway to a strong middle class in the following op-ed, which appears in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning.

Green jobs are a way to aid the middle class

Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Today, in Philadelphia, the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families is holding its inaugural meeting. Our charge is to assess current polices and develop new ones aimed at helping the middle class, the economic engine of this country.

The economic-recovery package that President Obama signed into law last week contains more than $20 billion for investment in a cleaner, greener economy, including $500 million for green job training. The task force's first order of business is to evaluate how investing in green jobs will help build a strong middle class.

So what exactly are "green jobs"? They provide products and services that use renewable energy resources, reduce pollution, and conserve energy and natural resources.

Investing in green jobs also means keeping up with the modern economy. At a time when good jobs at good wages are harder and harder to come by, we must find new, innovative opportunities.

According to the Council of Economic Advisers, green jobs pay 10 to 20 percent more than other jobs. They also are more likely to be union jobs. Building a new power grid, manufacturing solar panels, weatherizing homes and office buildings, and renovating schools are just a few of the ways to create high-quality green jobs that strengthen the foundation of this country.

More green jobs can also mean more money in consumers' pocketbooks at the end of the month. They can reduce your electric and heating bills, leaving you more disposable income for other things.

Right here in Philadelphia, for example, there are 400,000 rowhouses that could be weatherized and made more energy-efficient. Just doing that would lower household energy consumption by 20 to 40 percent, saving families hundreds of dollars a year.

Fortunately, as we will stress in our meeting here today, Mayor Nutter, Gov. Rendell, and other state and city officials across the nation are ready to help us build a greener economy. Philadelphia, for example, is working with its unions, universities, and community colleges to impart green skills to workers from all walks of life. The city is also proposing a new public authority to support large-scale green investment, especially in weatherization, building retrofits, and infrastructure.

We're excited to be in Philadelphia promoting an idea that has so many benefits. We're starting to make the investments needed to leave a cleaner world to our children while also creating good jobs right now. When you're creating green jobs, you're doing well by doing good.

Joseph R. Biden Jr. is the Vice President of the United States.

Green job spotlight: Energy auditor

Green jobs are going to be one of the primary ways the middle class benefits from the economic recovery. That’s why they’re the focus of the Middle Class Task Force’s first meeting tomorrow, in Philadelphia.

But even though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was just signed, there are previews of the impact all over the country.

The Philadelphia Inquirer today profiles Suechada Poynter, a 39-year-old woman who is a home energy auditor -- she checks for air leaks and improperly functioning furnaces to make buildings more energy efficient -- exactly the kind of job the ARRA will create:

"Green jobs have opened a lot of doors for a lot of lower-class people to get into this field," said Poynter, a Thai immigrant and mother of seven who lives in Philadelphia's Logan section and earns $11 an hour for her work.

"I'd tell him to open more doors to get more people into this field," she said. Passionate about the environment, she is studying architecture in college. "This is just the beginning of a bigger door," she said.

Fighting foreclosure and homelessness

The first dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are headed out the door today, as the federal government makes $15 billion available to help states shore up their Medicaid funds.

And there's more coming up.

Just a week after President Obama signed the Act into law, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today allocated 75% of its recovery funds -- $10 billion -- to create green jobs, to revive housing markets with high rates of foreclosure, and curb homelessness.

"Recovery Act investments in HUD programs will be not just swift, but also effective," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement. "They will generate tens of thousands of jobs, help the families and communities hardest hit by the economic crisis, and modernize homes to make them energy efficient."

The money opened up today includes:

$3 billion to develop, finance, and modernize public housing; $255 million for Native American and Native Hawaiian Housing; nearly $100 million for lead hazard reduction; $2.25 billion to kick-start the production of stalled affordable rental housing projects under the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP); $2 billion to undertake much-needed project improvements to maintain the quality of critical affordable housing; $1 billion to rehabilitate affordable housing and improve key public facilities under the Community Development Block Grant Program; $1.5 billion to reduce homelessness, and prevent it among those facing a sudden economic crisis; and a temporary increase to the loan limits of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

You can even see how the funds break down by program area on a state-by-state basis.

Don't mess with Joe (and others)

"They said last night don't mess with Joe," the Vice President said today (Ash Wednesday) at the first Recovery Plan Implementation meeting. Then, pointing to his left, he corrected that perception: "This is the guy you don't mess with."

He's talking about Earl Devaney, announced this week as the choice to lead the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.

"The President has appointed one of our toughest Inspector Generals -- he's a no-nonsense guy -- to help us follow the money," the Vice President said.

A former Secret Service agent best known for his record of rooting out corruption as an Inspector General (IG) at the Interior Department, Devaney said it's not enough just to detect fraud and waste -- we've got to prevent it before the fact.

"I'll be on the frontlines, alongside the department IGs, preventing that waste," he said. And once the money starts to go out and Recovery.gov has all sorts of data, he said, he's counting on everyday Americans to take the initiative and keep an eye on the government, too.

There will be regular Recovery Plan Implementation meetings in the weeks and months ahead, so the Vice President can get regular updates from department and agency leaders – to hear what’s working and what isn’t.

Other key quotes from the meeting:

Vice President Biden:

"This is a monumental project, but it's doable...It's about getting the money out in 18 months, to literally dropkick us out of this recession."

"The fact that so many Americans are struggling to get by should be an incentive to make sure the money is spent well."

Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag:

"We are asking the taxpayers for their help to get this country out of this recession, and in return they deserve accountability and transparency. We have to go beyond normal procedure to a higher level of reporting."

The first meeting: Green jobs as a pathway to a strong middle class

Update: The AP has a preview of Friday’s event:
 

Vice President Biden and the rest of the Middle Class Task Force get down to (official) business for the first time Friday, Feb. 27, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

On the agenda: jobs. Green jobs. Lots of 'em.

Half the cabinet will be there, along with top domestic policy aide Melody Barnes, top environmental policy aide Carol Browner, and Pennsylvania's Gov. Rendell, Sens. Specter and Casey, and Reps. Chaka Fattah and Robert Brady.

But what are green jobs? Where are they? And how do you get one?

Beyond the political heavy-hitters, a lot of clean energy leaders -- including prominent voices from the worlds of policy, non-profits, local government, labor, and business -- will be on hand to try to answer those questions, and these:

--How can we change Washington to make green jobs a political reality? (John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress)
--How can we ensure access to green jobs to everyone? (Van Jones, founding President, Green for All)
--How do we connect people who need jobs to companies that need people? (Fred Krupp, President, the Environmental Defense Fund)
--How can the federal government help bring green jobs to the middle class? (Carol Browner, Assistant to President Obama for Energy and Climate Change)
--What's the role of the labor movement in creating green jobs and training workers for them? (Leo Gerard, International President of the Steelworkers of America
--How do you create green jobs in a city? (Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia)
--How can public-private partnerships help train people for green jobs? (Cecilia Estolano, CEO of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Authority)
--What's the role for business? (Mark Edlen, President, Gerding-Edlen)

We'll have much more from the MCTF's first meeting later in the week.

Recovery in Action: Minnesota and Oregon

The first dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are going out in just two days -- Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 -- in the form of federal support for state medicaid payments.

But the impact is already being felt well beyond that. Just today, Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak announced that he was prepared to swallow hard and make significant cuts to public works and public safety. Thanks to the ARRA, he won't have to:

Help is on the way

$15 billion of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be available in just two days, the President announced this morning, just a week after the act was signed into law.

"By the time most of you get home; money will be waiting to help 20 million vulnerable Americans in your states keep their health care coverage," he told a gathering of the nation's governors in the State Dining Room of the White House. "Children with asthma will be able to breathe easier, seniors won't need to fear losing their doctors, and pregnant women with limited means won't have to worry about the health of their babies."

But as with all the money in the ARRA, it's "not a blank check," the President said. (Learn more about the grant-making process.) He hammered it home by announcing that he's tasked Vice President Biden to oversee  the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and that he's named Earl Devaney to keep an eye on every dollar as head of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.

A former Secret Service agent, Devaney has worked since 1999 as the Inspector General of the Interior Department, where he exposed the Abramoff scandals and a deep culture of corruption among Bush officials and appointees.

"For nearly a decade as Inspector General at the Interior Department, Earl has doggedly pursued waste, fraud and mismanagement," the President said, "and Joe and I can't think of a more tenacious and efficient guardian of the hard-earned tax dollars the American people have entrusted us to wisely invest. 

"He looks like an inspector," he added. "He's tough."

The appointment of Devaney follows on a tough memo from OMB director Peter Orszag to the heads of federal departments and agencies, explaining the high standards that are expected of them in reporting use of ARRA funds.

 

The quickest and broadest tax cut ever

Two important takeaways from the President's Weekly Address this morning.

#1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will start having an impact as soon as a few weeks from now, in the form of the quickest and broadest tax cut in history:

White House photo 2/20/09 by Pete Souza             

privacy policy | download .mp4 | also available here

SATURDAY, February 21, 2009
WEEKLY ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATION 

     THE PRESIDENT:  Earlier this week, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history.  Because of this plan, 3.5 million Americans will now go to work doing the work that America needs done.

     I'm grateful to Congress, governors and mayors across the country, and to all of you whose support made this critical step possible.

     Because of what we did together, there will now be shovels in the ground, cranes in the air, and workers rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our faulty levees and dams.

     Because of what we did, companies -- large and small -- that produce renewable energy can now apply for loan guarantees and tax credits and find ways to grow, instead of laying people off; and families can lower their energy bills by weatherizing their homes.

     Because of what we did, our children can now graduate from 21st century schools and millions more can do what was unaffordable just last week -- and get their college degree.

     Because of what we did, lives will be saved and health care costs will be cut with new computerized medical records. 

     Because of what we did, there will now be police on the beat, firefighters on the job, and teachers preparing lesson plans who thought they would not be able to continue pursuing their critical missions.  And ensure that all of this is done with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, I have assigned a team of managers to make sure that precious tax dollars are invested wisely and well.

     Because of what we did, 95 percent of all working families will get a tax cut -- in keeping with a promise I made on the campaign.  And I'm pleased to announce that this morning, the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks -- meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month.  Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans.

     But as important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery.  And we can't fail to complete the journey.  That will require stemming the spread of foreclosures and falling home values, and doing all we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, which is exactly what the housing plan I announced last week will help us do.

     It will require stabilizing and repairing our banking system, and getting credit flowing again to families and businesses.  It will require reforming the broken regulatory system that made this crisis possible, and recognizing that it's only by setting and enforcing 21st century rules of the road that we can build a thriving economy.

     And it will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover.  That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress, to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we've inherited.  On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities.  And on Thursday, I'll release a budget that's sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline.

     No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us.  We can't help people find work or pay their bills unless we unlock credit for families and businesses.  We can't solve our housing crisis unless we help people find work so that they can make payments on their homes.  We can't produce shared prosperity without firm rules of the road, and we can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control.  In short, we cannot successfully address any of our problems without addressing them all.  And that is exactly what the strategy we are pursuing is designed to do.

     None of this will be easy.  The road ahead will be long and full of hazards.  But I am confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis.  And if we do, our economy -- and our country -- will be better and stronger for it.

     Thank you. 

On the front lines

"You're on the front lines," President Obama told a gathering of 85 mayors in the East Room of the White House this morning.

Mayors and governors have to keep balanced budgets, so they are familiar with the pain that comes with making cuts that broad and deep, he said.

And when that happens, people "turn to the mayor's office for help."

 
That's why the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides much needed assistance to states, cities, and towns that are in desperate need of it to keep from making major cuts in essential services, and to save jobs.

But more than that, by investing in health care, education, and infrastructure, the ARRA will "make our metropolitan areas more livable and sustainable."

In return, the President said he expects an unprecedented level of vigilance in making sure the money from the act is spent efficiently and wisely.

"We can't tolerate business as usual -- not in Washington, not in our state capitals, not in our cities and towns."