Today is the beginning of the end of the tobacco epidemic.  You may have already heard about the new dramatic graphic labels that are being proposed for every pack of cigarettes, which are the biggest step forward in 25 years to warn people about the dangers of smoking and help people stop before they start -- but that’s only part of it.

Today, this administration, through the work being done at HHS, is unveiling its first ever comprehensive tobacco control plan – laying out strategic actions that will serve as a roadmap to reduce smoking rates, help tobacco users quit, and prevent children from starting to smoke in the first place.

Every day, nearly 4,000 kids under 18 try their first cigarette, and some 1,000 kids under 18 become daily smokers.  And 443,000 Americans die prematurely each year from smoking and second hand smoke exposure, making it our country's leading cause of preventable death.  It also costs our health care system almost $100 billion a year.

When this Administration took office, we decided that if these numbers weren’t changing, our actions had to – which is why today marks an important milestone in protecting our children and the health of the American public.

The strategic action plan unveiled today includes a proposed rule issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) titled Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements.  Specifically, the proposed rule will drastically change the look and message of each pack of cigarettes by adding new graphic warning labels with pictures showing the negative health consequences of smoking, including some images of the damage that cigarettes do to our bodies to every pack.

When this rule becomes effective in 2012, people who pick up packs of cigarettes are going to know exactly what risks they are taking. Ultimately, companies will be prohibited from manufacturing cigarettes without new graphic health warnings on their packages.

This rule is in addition to progress we’ve already made to encourage people to quit smoking, and to prevent them from ever starting, after historic legislation passed last June gave FDA the prohibiting marketing aimed at children.

And, for the first time, Medicare will cover tobacco cessation for all beneficiaries, allowing people to get help quitting tobacco before they get sick.

We are also funding comprehensive state and local programs around the country for reducing tobacco use – programs like the one in Ringgold County, Iowa, where they are using evidence-based tobacco control interventions to decrease tobacco use in low-income, rural populations.

These are just some of the strategic actions in our comprehensive tobacco control plan. 

Going forward, HHS has charted a clear path to ending tobacco use in our country.  We have a long way to go, but we won’t rest until we’ve eliminated tobacco-related disease and suffering.  The prosperity and health of our country depends on it.

Kathleen Sebelius is Secretary of Health and Human Services

With Veterans Day approaching, Tammy Duckworth, Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, answered your questions during Tuesday Talks this week. On WhiteHouse.gov and Facebook, you asked questions on a range of topics -- from streamlining the claims process to getting Vets jobs to student outreach. 

Use the links below to jump directly to the questions that you're interested in or watch the full video of the chat.

Read the transcript of the speech in the following languages: English | Indonesian | Bengali | Chinese | Dari | Hebrew | Hindi | Malay | Pashto | Punjabi | Turkish | Urdu

The President's trip to Asia has been largely focused on America's economy back home, promoting the exports of things we make.  But his speech in Jakarta, Indonesia was meaningful for a lot of reasons.  It was a follow-up to his speech in Cairo last year attempting to soothe historic tensions between America and Muslim communities around the world; it was a look at a country that has led by example in forging through the often turbulent waters of democracy, despite prejudices that a predominantly Muslim country could not do so and arguments that economic growth required the totalitarian order; and as the President explained in his opening, it was a return for him to one of his childhood homes: "I first came to this country when my mother married an Indonesian named Lolo Soetoro.  And as a young boy I was -- as a young boy I was coming to a different world.  But the people of Indonesia quickly made me feel at home."

[View the gallery in full size.]

Thousands of visitors tour the White House each day. It's been a long time in the making and today, we're pleased to invite you on our new interactive White House tour.

With some incredible behind-the-scenes photos from the Photo Office and our best "Inside the White House" videos, you’re invited to do everything from cook with the New Orleans Saints in the White House kitchen, to peek inside the Situation Room, to watch the Jonas Brothers perform in the East Room and tour the first ever beehive on White House grounds with beekeeper Charlie Brandt -- plus a lot more. What are you waiting for? Welcome to the White House.

Launch the Tour

For the past ten months, we have seen our economy continue to grow and create private sector jobs -- 1.1 million this year so far, and 159,000 in October alone.  But while the job growth we're experiencing tells us we're moving in the right direction, the pace of recovery can feel terribly slow, especially to someone out of work -- and it's clear more needs to be done.

This week, we're reaching out along with Monster to take questions directly from job seekers about the Administration's economic recovery efforts.  Submit your question now, and Monster will select a sample of the most popular for the White House to answer next week.

Post your question to Monster's Facebook page directly or use this form here, and we'll pass it on.

Ed. Note: Read the fact sheet on the US-India Partnership on Open Government (pdf).

Today in Mumbai, President Obama attended what is likely the first ever  Expo on Democracy and Open Government. India's dynamism in the technology sector is well known, as is Gandhi's legacy in India of civic action and bottom-up change, but today's expo highlighted something very fresh: Indian civil society's harnessing of innovation and technology to strengthen India's democracy -- by fighting corruption, holding government officials accountable, and empowering citizens to be the change they seek.

A quick look at the week of October 1, 2010:

Quote: “Encouraging news… not good enough” - President Obama on October jobs report: http://wh.gov/3Hi

The Way Forward: Following the election, the President speaks openly in a press conference about his hope for working with the new Congress going forward on the economy and other issues: http://wh.gov/3A8

Your West Wing Week Video: “Don’t Watch the Plasma Arc” http://wh.gov/3sW

The President's Trip to Asia: Jeff Bader, Senior Director for Asian Affairs, and Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, talk about the President’s upcoming trip to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan in a live video chat: http://wh.gov/3AR and Dan Pfeiffer debunks myths about warships: http://wh.gov/3sw

National Weatherization Day: Find out what's happening nationwide to save money for America’s homeowners by investing in energy efficiency: http://wh.gov/3Gw

October in Photos: A glimpse through the eyes of Pete Souza, Chief Official White House photographer, with this month’s photo of the day gallery (more like the shot below): http://wh.gov/3GT

President Barack Obama with customers at the Famous 4th Street Deli in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Calling the Giants: Behind-the-scenes video of the President calling the San Francisco Giants to congratulate them on their World Series win: http://wh.gov/3sf

TEACH: Reggie Love, Personal Aide to the President, talks about his favorite teacher in this video (HINT: It's not his football coach or his basketball coach): http://bit.ly/aKPiu2 Learn more at Teach.gov

Must See WHTV: New Media interns dig into 1,500 White House videos and emerge with their top 10 favorites. Watch them here: http://wh.gov/3HW

Cabinet Meeting: A download on the Cabinet meeting this week: http://wh.gov/3oK and a behind-the-scenes "Inside the White House" video: http://wh.gov/3CN

The President began his remarks this morning by explaining the challenge America faces, and what the latest employment numbers mean: “We are in the middle of a tough fight to get our economy growing faster, so that businesses across our country can open and expand, so that people can find good jobs, and so that we can repair the terrible damage that was done by the worst recession in our lifetimes.  Today we received some encouraging news.”

As Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explained this morning, we gained 159,000 private sector jobs this month, bringing the total number of private jobs gained since the beginning of the year to 1.1 million.  You can see a chart of private sector losses and gains over the last few years below, or in full size here.

The President spent most of his time speaking on what comes next, and how both parties need to work together immediately to take action and accelerate our recovery and offset the job losses of the past few years:

Because the fact is an encouraging jobs report doesn’t make a difference if you’re still one of the millions of people who are looking for work.  And I won’t be satisfied until everybody who is looking for a job can find one.  So we’ve got to keep fighting for every job, for every new business, for every opportunity to get this economy moving.  And just as we passed a small business jobs bill based on ideas from both parties and the private sector, I am open to any idea, any proposal, any way we can get the economy growing faster so that people who need work can find it faster.

This includes tax breaks for small businesses, like deferring taxes on new equipment, so that they’ve got an incentive to expand and hire, as well as tax cuts to make it cheaper for entrepreneurs to start companies.  This includes building new infrastructure, from high-speed trains to high-speed Internet, so that our economy can run faster and smarter.  It includes promoting research and innovation, and creating incentives in growth sectors like the clean energy economy.  And it certainly includes keeping tax rates low for middle-class families and extending unemployment benefits to help those hardest hit by the downturn while generating more demand in the economy.

It’s also absolutely clear that one of the keys to creating jobs is to open markets to American goods made by American workers.  Our prosperity depends not just on consuming things, but also on being the maker of things.  In fact, for every $1 billion we increase in exports, thousands of jobs are supported here at home.  And that’s why I’ve set a goal of doubling America’s exports over the next five years.  And that’s why on the trip that I’m about to take, I’m going to be talking about opening up additional markets in places like India, so that American businesses can sell more products abroad in order to create more jobs here at home.

And this is a reminder as well that the most important competition we face in this new century will not be between Democrats and Republicans.  It’s the competition with countries around the world to lead the global economy. And our success or failure in this race will depend on whether we can come together as a nation.  Our future depends on putting politics aside to solve problems, to worry about the next generation instead of the next election.  

We can’t spend the next two years mired in gridlock.  Other countries, like China, aren’t standing still.  So we can’t stand still either.  We’ve got to move forward.  

I’m confident that if we can do that, if we can work together, then this country will not only recover, but it will prosper.  And I’m looking very much forward to helping to pry some markets open, help American businesses, and put people back to work here at home during the course of this trip.  

President Barack Obama gives remarks about the monthly jobs numbers during a statement to the press in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, November 5, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

A recent article in the foreign press supposedly quoting an anonymous foreign official claimed that the President’s trip to Asia would end up costing American taxpayers $200 million per day and that 34 navy warships were being used for the trip – certainly an astounding figure, were it true.  Buts it’s not even close to true. This hasn’t stopped some political opponents of the President including some elected officials from trafficking in this claim.

So let us be unequivocal: the numbers reported have no basis in reality.  Due to security concerns, we can’t get into details associated with security procedures and costs, but it's safe to say these numbers are wildly inflated and President Obama’s costs are in line with the costs of protecting previous Presidents. 

For the record, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell was also asked about the claim that the President will be accompanied by 34 warships on the trip, and gave an appropriate response:

We obviously have some support role for presidential travel.  We don't speak to that in detail for security reasons.  But I will take the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd this notion that somehow we were deploying 10 percent of the Navy -- some 34 ships and an aircraft carrier -- in support of the president's trip to Asia.  That's just comical.  Nothing close to that is being done. 

Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director