The White House Blog

Ed note: this post originally appeared on the Department of Labor's Work in Progress blog

Today marks the second anniversary of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in nearly four decades, as well as the single most heartbreaking day of my tenure as U.S. Secretary of Labor. The day after the explosion at Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, I went to the site and sat vigil with the family members and loved ones of the miners who were trapped underground. We prayed for a miracle that never came. I will never forget the 29 men who perished in an explosion that ripped through the chambers of the mine, the two miners who were seriously injured, or their loved ones.

Since then, MSHA has introduced tough new practices to counteract the type of misdeeds that were so prevalent at Upper Big Branch under Massey Energy. Joe Main, my assistant secretary of labor for MSHA, testified to Congress last week detailing the steps the agency is taking to make sure that we never again see such a senseless loss of life among miners. Our impact inspection program, which targets mines with chronic compliance problems, is an important new tool in our enforcement efforts. Many of the surprise inspections conducted under this program have forced mine operators to shut down production until they have addressed hazards. 

Joe and his team are also making sure that we hold mine operators more accountable. A new rule to be published April 6 and effective in August, requires underground coal mine operators to examine their mines more thoroughly by finding and fixing common violations, including some of those that were cited in the investigation of the UBB mine disaster.  

We have more to do. We cannot allow mine operators to hide hazards from inspectors, which was a major problem at many Massey mines. We need stronger criminal penalties for rogue operators who skirt the law, enhanced whistleblower protections so that miners can speak out about safety, and a host of other reforms.

Mines across the country operate productively every day while adhering to sound health and safety programs. There is never an excuse for cutting corners on worker protection. Employers should never put profits over people.  If every mine operator meets its legal obligation to ensure the safety and health of its workers, we can prevent another tragedy like Upper Big Branch from ever happening again.

Starting tomorrow night, the Jewish community in the United States, Israel, and throughout the world will come together to celebrate the holiday of Passover. 

President and Mrs. Obama will join them, continuing their tradition of hosting a small Seder at the White House. By now, the story of how that tradition began has been told and retold, but in the spirit of Passover, I’ll tell it again: In April of 2008, the President and his staff were on the trail in Pennsylvania in the midst of a long primary campaign. Weary from a long day of work and away from their families, a small group of staffers came together to hold an impromptu Seder. When then-Senator Obama got wind of the Seder, he gathered some other staff and friends and decided to join. At the end of the Seder, the President followed the traditional “Next year in Jerusalem” declaration with a pledge of his own – “Next year in the White House.” Each year since, he has followed through on that promise. This year, he also added a new touch, a video message to Jews everywhere wishing them Chag Sameach as they continue their own traditions or start new ones this Passover.

Here it is:

Earlier today, I joined with First Lady Michelle Obama, to announce a major commitment by forward looking businesses that have launched an ambitious new effort to deliver more than 15,000 jobs to military spouses and veterans in the coming years. This new effort will help deliver jobs that are physically located near bases, as well as thousands of highly sought-after at-home employment opportunities to military families across the country. 

Military families are 10 times more likely to move across state lines than civilian families. Home based jobs are especially valuable for military families because they can move with military spouses as they relocate from base to base across the country, accommodate flexible work hours, enable spouses who care for children or elderly parents to work from home, and give home-bound veterans with disabilities new opportunities to have a fulfilling job. 

At home jobs with flexible work schedules can also lead to better work life balance, and extend job opportunities into communities often left behind. Military families will also benefit from the new job commitments being announced at nearly two-dozen physical contact centers located in close proximity to active military bases. These contact centers often support military families through: family-friendly scheduling, maintaining service accrual records, enabling the seamless transfer from one contact center to another in an event of a relocation, as well as extensive training and immense growth opportunities from agents to supervisors. 

These companies and their associated job opportunities will also be integrated into the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), a Department of Defense-led effort with more than 100 companies in the private sector who have committed to a focused effort on military spouse employment. MSEP was launched by Dr Jill Biden last summer. 

Additional information specifics of the commitments can be found at: www.joiningforces.gov/commitments

President Barack Obama delivers remarks prior to signing the STOCK Act in the South Court Auditorium at the Eisenhower Executive Building (EEOB) of the White House, April 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Recently, President Obama has spent a lot of time talking about fairness.

As he says, "The powerful shouldn’t get to create one set of rules for themselves and another set of rules for everybody else."

That's why he stood before Congress during the State of the Union and asked lawmakers to pass the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.

Today, in a ceremony at the White House, he signed their bill into law:

The STOCK Act makes it clear that if members of Congress use nonpublic information to gain an unfair advantage in the market, then they are breaking the law. It creates new disclosure requirements and new measures of accountability and transparency for thousands of federal employees. That is a good and necessary thing. We were sent here to serve the American people and look out for their interests -- not to look out for our own interests.

But the President also said that no one's work is done:

There’s obviously more that we can do to close the deficit of trust and limit the corrosive influence of money in politics. We should limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries that they have the power to impact.  We should make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can’t lobby Congress, and vice versa. These are ideas that should garner bipartisan support. They certainly have wide support outside of Washington. And it’s my hope that we can build off today’s bipartisan effort to get them done.

Read the full remarks here.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks before the Easter Prayer Breakfast, in the East Room of the White House, April 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

To mark Easter, President Obama this morning hosted a prayer breakfast at the White House.

In his remarks, he talked about how the holiday is an opportunity for Christians to remember that Jesus was a human being -- with doubts and fears:

In the garden of Gethsemane, with attackers closing in around him, Jesus told His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He fell to his knees, pleading with His Father, saying, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” And yet, in the end, He confronted His fear with words of humble surrender, saying, “If it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

So it is only because Jesus conquered His own anguish, conquered His fear, that we’re able to celebrate the resurrection. It’s only because He endured unimaginable pain that wracked His body and bore the sins of the world that He burdened -- that burdened His soul that we are able to proclaim, “He is Risen!”

This is President Obama's third annual Easter Prayer Breakfast. Read the full remarks from today's event here.

Today the White House launched the official Federal Taxpayer Receipt for 2011, an online tool that gives Americans the ability to calculate where their tax dollars are being spent.  Americans can enter their tax information and calculate what portion of their tax dollars go to different priorities, such as veterans’ benefits or education. The President believes the American people deserve to know exactly how and where their tax dollars are being spent, that’s why he launched the first such receipt last year.  

There’s a new addition to this year’s Federal Taxpayer Receipt.  For the first time, Americans can not only see how their tax dollars are being spent, they can see just how many people making over a million dollars a year effectively paid $0 in taxes. That’s right. There are millionaires who didn’t pay a dime in taxes. That doesn’t that makes any sense. Not when so many middle class families are struggling to pay the bills or simply put food on the table.  

The President believes we should build an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. That’s why he proposed the Buffett Rule. It’s simple: if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year – like 98 percent of American families do – your taxes shouldn’t go up.  

In a couple of weeks Congress will have an opportunity to vote on the Buffett Rule. We’ll see where each member of Congress stands. They can either protect the tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or they can fight for middle class families. We all know where the President stands -- he’ll continue to fight to restore the economic security for middle class families across the nation.

The 2012 Easter Egg Roll, which takes place on April 9^th on the South Lawn of the White House, is focused on promoting health and wellness with the theme, “Let’s Go, Let’s Play, Let’s Move!”  This will be the 134^th annual White House Easter Egg Roll with more than 30,000 people visiting the South Lawn for games, stories, and, of course, the traditional egg roll.

Each day this week we are releasing the names of the special guests and performers who will be joining us at the Easter Egg Roll – from celebrity readers to athletes to main stage entertainers – through Let's Move! social networks.  For the latest talent updates, follow Let's Move! on Twitter and Facebook or check out the Easter Egg Roll Storify below or here.

All of the activities, including sports courts, dancing and cooking, encourage children to lead healthy and active lives, which is a central part of the First Lady’s Let's Move! initiative, a national campaign to combat childhood obesity.

To learn more about the Easter Egg Roll visit www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll and http://letsmove.gov.  Tune in for live streams from the South Lawn all day on April 9^th, 2012 on WhiteHouse.gov/live and join the conversation online using the hashtag #EasterEggRoll.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Associated Press (AP) Luncheon at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., April 3, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The President believes this is a make or break moment for the middle class and those working to reach it.  That’s why he has put forward a blueprint for an economy built to last - one where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules.  

Today at the Associated Press Luncheon, the President discussed how his vision differs with the radical vision laid out in the House Republican Budget: 

“This Congressional Republican budget, however, is something different altogether.  It’s a Trojan Horse.  Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it’s really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country.  It’s nothing but thinly-veiled Social Darwinism.  It’s antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who’s willing to work for it – a place where prosperity doesn’t trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class.  And by gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that’s built to last – education and training; research and development – it’s a prescription for decline.”

The President’s approach to reducing our deficit is a balanced approach that asks the wealthiest to pay their fair share, achieves significant health savings and enacts sensible spending cuts while making the investments we need to have a strong middle class.  

Take a look at how the President’s approach and the Congressional Republican policies stack up side by side: 

Side by Side - The President’s Budget vs. Republican Budget

In 2009, a wave of youth violence swept through Chicago. Many young people lost their lives, including Darrion Albert, a 16 year-old honors student who was caught in a brawl between two groups of teenagers, and beaten to death on his way home from school. When President Obama heard about Darrion’s murder, he took action, sending Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to meet with then-Mayor Daley to address the epidemic of violence in our cities.

These initial conversations led to the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, a partnership that works to keep children safe in cities around the country.

Yesterday morning, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, addressed the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention here in Washington, D.C.  She was joined by mayors from across the nation, as well as Attorney General Holder and Secretary Duncan. She spoke about President Obama’s ongoing commitment to making our communities safe places to grow up, and to raise children. Her full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.

Good morning.

Thank you, Melodee, for that very kind introduction, and for everything you do to protect our nation’s young people. 

On behalf of President Obama, I’d like to thank all of you for being true leaders in the fight to prevent youth violence. You all work so hard to keep our children safe. We have mayors from around the country here today.  My hometown Mayor, Rahm Emanuel. Mayor Villaraigosa, who just spoke.  Mayor Reed, Mayor Donohue, and two Mayor Kennedys – Judy and Judith, and Mayor Nutter will be joining you this afternoon. Mayor Menino and Mayor Bing couldn’t be here this morning, but I’d like to recognize them for their leadership. And I also want to acknowledge my dear friend Congressman Bobby Scott.