At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama reflected that it is often during the times when others are in great need that bring Americans together, as the nation united in its efforts to help the people of Haiti.

It's inspiring. This is what we do, as Americans, in times of trouble.  We unite, recognizing that such crises call on all of us to act, recognizing that there but for the grace of God go I, recognizing that life's most sacred responsibility -- one affirmed, as Hillary said, by all of the world's great religions -- is to sacrifice something of ourselves for a person in need.

And on his hopes for progress and civility in the face of difficulty:

Progress comes when we open our hearts, when we extend our hands, when we recognize our common humanity.  Progress comes when we look into the eyes of another and see the face of God.  That we might do so - that we will do so all the time, not just some of the time - is my fervent prayer for our nation and the world.

President Barack Obama speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Feb. 4, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) February 4, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Ed. Note: More from Daily Finance, "Obama Plans to Create Millions of Jobs by Doubling Exports"

Today, I am at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to announce the details of President Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), which is a key part of his strategy to get America's economy growing strongly again. 

The NEI is an extremely ambitious effort that aims to double American exports over the next five years and support 2 million jobs here at home.

And it is unprecedented.

There have, of course, been previous endeavors by the U.S. government to elevate the importance of exports. But what sets this effort apart is that this is the first time the United States will have a government-wide export-promotion strategy with focused attention from the president and his cabinet.

This initiative was designed with one overriding goal in mind: to get people back to work in jobs that provide security, dignity and a sense of hope for the future.

For much of this last decade, America's economic growth was built on a speculative mania that enriched a select few while leaving many Americans out in the cold.  Since 2000, most families have seen their wages stagnate or decline, while the necessities of life like health care and tuition skyrocketed.   

The National Export Initiative will help build a stronger economic foundation and allow us to return to the type of sustainable growth that not long ago ,  helped build the strongest middle class in history.

From the advent of the phone, to the automobile to new drug therapies and the Internet, America's strength has always led been our businesses ability to create and sell products and services that help others around the world lead healthier, wealthier and more productive lives.

That's what we've got to get back to: creating, building and innovating.  That is what this country is all about.

With the NEI, American businesses that want to export – especially small and medium-size enterprises -- are going to have a more vigorous partner in the US government.

The NEI is going to impact a whole array of issues that affect our ability to export, but we’re fundamentally focused on three things:

• Expand the US government's export promotion efforts in all its forms. Many American companies don't export, or export less than they should, because they simply don't have the resources to identify promising new markets or the necessary contacts in foreign countries. The National Export Initiative will funnel $132 million to the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA), and the US Department of Agriculture to educate U.S. farmers and businesses about opportunities overseas and directly connect them with new customers.
• Improve access to credit, especially for small- and medium-sized businesses that want to export. 
• Increase the government's focus on knocking down barriers that prevent U.S. companies from getting  open  and fair access to foreign markets.

The American people can feel confident that when we’re party to an agreement that gives foreign countries the privilege of free and fair access to our domestic market, we are treated the same  in their country . 

The National Export Initiative is one more step in this administration's singular focus on one goal: making sure every American who wants a job can find one.

Gary Locke is Secretary of Commerce

On February 5, 2009, President Obama launched the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  He charged this Office with a specific and critical mission: shifting the focus of the previous initiative from funding to programmatic impact, and helping the federal government partner with faith-based and other nonprofit organizations to better serve all Americans.  And over the last year, this Office has done just that.  Here's a just brief snapshot of the Office’s work:  

• The Office has coordinated President Obama's national fatherhood agenda, implementing strategies to address the challenge of father absence in communities across the country. 
• It has built partnerships between federal agencies and local nonprofits on a range of key issues, from making sure that faith-based organizations can respond to the H1N1 crisis to ensuring that these groups are a part of the government's disaster response efforts.
• It has brought people together across religious lines, working with groups on over 4,000 interfaith service projects this summer, organizing a new President's Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships of some of the top faith and community leaders in the country, and helping to lead the Administration's efforts on interfaith cooperation abroad.
• It has worked to help local organizations to respond to the economic crisis, from implementing foreclosure prevention programs to strengthening nonprofit capacity building. 

Each of these and the many other priorities of the faith-based office are central to President Obama’s vision for our country.  The President realizes that government programs alone cannot solve all of our problems, and that only by connecting with individuals, families, and community- and faith-based organizations across the country will we address our most pressing challenges.  The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships is working to form those partnerships every day, on behalf individuals, families and communities.

To following the ongoing work of the faith-based office, just visit www.whitehouse.gov/partnerships. 

Joshua DuBois is the Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

“We need to encourage American innovation.  Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history – an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched.”

- President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, January 27, 2010

Since taking office, the President has taken historic steps to lay the foundation for the innovation economy of the future, including well over $100 billion of support for innovation in the Recovery Act, novel regulatory and executive order initiatives, and a comprehensive Strategy for American Innovation that offers a blueprint for how these investments and policy priorities will foster sustainable growth and help create high-quality jobs.

But we cannot stop there.  The FY 2011 budget builds on that strategy.  To create the jobs of the future and to ensure that the United States remains the world’s most dynamic economy, we must invest in American innovation by supporting the building blocks of research, development, education, and infrastructure, by promoting competitive markets that spur productive entrepreneurship, and by catalyzing breakthroughs for national priorities.

More details on the innovation components in the budget are available in this Innovation Fact Sheet.

At 5 pm EDT today, four of the architects of innovation within the White House will be discussing the innovation components of the FY 2011 budget in a live chat.  Tune in at WhiteHouse.gov/Live or Facebook to watch and participate.

Diana Farrell is Deputy Director for the National Economic Council.

There did seem to be something even nicer than usual about the snow last night and this morning -- one of those times when it's nice to have Pete Souza around.

Update: I am urged by Pete's adoring White House colleagues to clarify that while it may be especially nice to have Pete Souza around on snowy White House mornings, it is still supremely nice to have him around at any and all times of day -- which of course is very true.

The White House is pictured in the morning after a night of snow February 3, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today, President Obama held a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire to discuss new initiatives and proposals to create jobs and encourage the growth of small businesses. He outlined the details of the new Small Business Lending Fund, which will be created using $30 billion from money repaid by Wall Street banks. 

The fund will provide capital for community banks on Main Street to lend to small businesses that are struggling to obtain loans since bank lending standards have tightened. The fund offers incentives for banks to increase small business lending by providing better deals on capital for banks that provide more loans to creditworthy businesses. "This will help small banks do even more of what our economy needs – and that's ensure that small businesses are once again the engine of job growth in America."

People in the audience listen to President Barack Obama's remarks at the town hall meeting at Nashua High School North in Nashua, N.H., Feb. 2, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) February 2, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Obama also explained new tax credits that provide incentives for small businesses to hire new workers and increase wages, while eliminating all capital gains taxes on small business investments. The relief will allow people to gain capital in order to accelerate growth and the creation of jobs.

President Obama reflected on steps the administration has already taken to create jobs, including the Recovery Act that provided tax reliefs and increased unemployment benefits.

I won’t rest until businesses are hiring again, and wages are rising again, and the middle class is thriving again, and we’ve finally got an economy that works for all Americans, not just some Americans.

President Barack Obama shakes hands with people in audience at the conclusion of the town hall meeting at Nashua High School North in Nashua, N.H., Feb. 2, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) February 2, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

For six months now, I have held the first-ever White House position dedicated to combating violence and sexual assault against women and continuing the important work of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Every morning when I’ve walked into the White House, I’ve brought with me the stories of the many survivors I have worked with over the years.  I’ve focused on raising the profile of violence against women issues across Federal Agencies, states, tribal communities, and localities; coordinating interagency collaboration on these issues; implementing victim assistance programs; and integrating these issues into Administration-wide programs such as the White House Fatherhood Initiative, the White House Council on Women and Girls, HUD’s fight against homelessness, and the Justice Department’s recent effort to better combat disproportionate violence in tribal communities.  

Yesterday, I met with a group of 16 leaders of organizations that combat violence against women, provide resources for women who face domestic violence and sexual assault, and advocate for victims. During this meeting, I shared with these leaders the same information I am sharing with you -- information on how the White House, through the President’s FY 2011 budget, is making combating violence against women a real priority.

Violence Against Women Act as a Budget Priority

The FY 2011 budget will provide a record total of $730 million to combat violence against women -- a $130.5 million increase in funding from the previous fiscal year.  The VAWA, passed in 1994, already provides thousands of victims with life-saving services, improvements in the criminal justice system and increased public awareness. The President’s FY 2011 budget not only continues this strong response, but bolsters current funding and responds to the emerging needs of communities.

Crime Victims Fund

The budget provides a $100 million increase from the Crime Victims Fund, specifically for emergency shelter, transitional housing, and other local services for domestic violence and sexual assault victims. By focusing on both immediate safety and long-term housing assistance, we can help ensure that victims don’t have to choose between living with abuse or becoming homeless. Furthermore, the Crime Victims Fund does not consist of a single taxpayer dollar; it is self-sustaining and supported by criminal fines, forfeited bail bonds, and penalties for Federal offenders. In addition to a fund increase from the Crime Victims Fund, the FY 2011 budget provides $140 million for battered women’s shelters and services, an increase of $10 million from the previous fiscal year.

Victim Resources and Legal Support

The $730 million also provides vital funding for victim resources. The National Domestic Violence Hotline and Teen Dating Violence Helpline are receiving increased funding of $4.5 million to ensure every call is answered. The budget also provides $30 million in VAWA funding for victims of sexual assault -- a $15 million increase from the previous year -- which will be utilized by the Sexual Assault Services Program to provide crisis intervention, advocacy within the criminal justice system, support during forensic exams, and other related assistance.

The FY 2011 budget bolsters legal support for domestic violence and sexual assault victims by providing $50 million in VAWA funding for legal assistance for victims, a $9 million increase from the previous year. The Civil Legal Assistance Program will use this funding to help victims more easily obtain protective orders and other assistance available through the court system.

To build upon the above improvements in the criminal justice system, the budget also provides $188 million in STOP grants that provide better training, improved data collection, specialized law enforcement and prosecution units, and courts specialized for domestic violence and sexual assault cases.

Support Across the Board

Ending domestic violence and sexual assault is a priority for President Obama and Vice President Biden. I’ve written about numerous fund increases and initiatives that are testaments to this fact. In my meeting yesterday, the White House’s commitment to violence against women issues was clear -- we are increasing support for women across the board. 

Read more about our efforts in the President’s FY 2011 budget.

Lynn Rosenthal is the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women

Earlier today, President Obama discussed the 2011 budget, reflecting on the challenges for the country and the steps the administration is taking to meet them. While acknowledging that the inherited $1.3 trillion deficit from the previous administration can’t be brought down overnight, he relayed his continuing efforts to rein in spending and "lay a new foundation for lasting growth."

The President mentioned essential investments in areas of clean energy and scientific research included in the budget to foster jobs of the future. He proposed a 6 percent increase in funding for the Education Department to revitalize community colleges and make colleges more affordable.  "In the 21st century there is no better anti-poverty program than a world-class education."

While making investments for future economic success, President Obama outlined the tough spending cuts to reduce the current deficit, and proposed a freeze in government spending for three years, excluding benefits from Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and benefits for veterans.  He discussed the $20 billion in cuts for programs that are inefficient or have outlived their usefulness, and cuts for worthy programs that must be trimmed accordingly.  "We have to do what families across America are doing: Save where we can so that we can afford what we need."

The freeze will not apply towards national security, though the President made clear that this does not mean a free pass: "even though the Department of Defense is exempt from the budget freeze, it's not exempt from budget common sense."

Helping to bring the deficit down in the coming years, a responsibility fee on big banks to compensate taxpayers for the bailout, and tax breaks for oil companies, investment fund managers, and those making over $250,000 a year would be ended.

To enforce responsible spending, the budget restores pay-as-you-go legislation, which allows Congress to spend a dollar only if it cuts a dollar elsewhere. President also proposed a bipartisan fiscal commission to encourage Democrats and Republicans to work together to create deficit-reducing proposals by a deadline.

These budget policies are projected to decrease the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Visit the FY 2011 Budget website for details about different departments, terminations and reductions, or to learn how the budget will affect your state.

Cross-posted from the OMB Blog, read more details on the OMB Budget page.

Today, the President transmitted the FY 2011 Budget to the Congress.  In about an hour, he will deliver remarks about the Budget, and after that I will be taking questions from the press with CEA Chair Romer.  This post gives readers of OMBlog a brief overview of the document.

After a year in which we took immediate and unprecedented action to rescue the economy from the brink of a second Great Depression, the FY 2011 Budget takes steps to jumpstart job creation, strengthen the economic security of middle-class families, and make the tough choices to put our Nation back on the path to fiscal sustainability.

When the President took office, the economy was on the brink of a depression. The economic crisis required that we take immediate and extraordinary steps to prevent a complete economic collapse that would have caused millions more to lose their jobs. Not all of the efforts we undertook to avoid a deeper recession were popular.   Nonetheless the President did what was right for our country’s future: signing into law the Recovery Act to jumpstart economic growth and taking steps to prevent the collapse of the financial system.

A year later, the economy is back from the brink – and is growing again.  This "statistical recovery," however, is cold comfort for the millions of Americans who have lost their job. The President has therefore called for a package to spur job creation now – including small business tax cuts and investments in clean energy and infrastructure.

To sustain job creation and economic growth into the years ahead and provide room for the private sector to expand, we are also making tough choices in the Budget: cutting what doesn’t work or isn’t necessary and investing in what will help to expand the economy and employment in the coming years.

The Budget thus institutes a three-year non-security discretionary freeze that will save $250 billion over the next decade.  We're not putting forward an across-the-board freeze, but rather an overall cap on non-security discretionary funding in which key investments are expanded but we cut back on programs that are ineffective, duplicative, or just wasteful.  As part of that overall effort, we identified more than 120 programs across the government that should be terminated or reduced – generating $20 billion in savings.

At the same time, we are making critical investments in the areas critical to building a strong economy in the 21^st century. That is why we increase funding at the Department of Education by $2.9 billion or 6.2 percent, make the largest proposed request for Elementary and Secondary Education Act programs while reforming it to be more effective, and provide more money for Pell grants and Race to the Top.

To build a more modern infrastructure, the Budget establishes a new $4 billion dollar National Infrastructure Innovation & Finance Fund to focus on infrastructure investments of national and regional significance.

To help put the nation at the top of the pack when it comes to the new clean energy economy, the Budget includes more than $6 billion in funding for clean energy technologies while also eliminating existing fossil fuel subsidies. And to continue our country’s proud, innovative history, the Budget invests $61.6 billion for civilian research and development – an increase of $3.7 billion, or 6.4 percent, over 2010 levels. 

As we focus our efforts on spurring job creation and jumpstarting economic growth, we also have to change business as usual in Washington and restore fiscal responsibility. Because of the irresponsibility of the past decade, we’ve seen a projected 10-year surplus of over $5 trillion at the end of the Clinton administration turn into a projected 10-year deficit of over $8 trillion the day President Obama took office.

The Budget lays out a plan to put the country back on a sustainable fiscal path.

First, we have already taken action to avoid making the hole any deeper. The Administration proposed, and the Senate just joined the House in passing, statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) legislation. PAYGO forces us to live by a simple but important principle:  Congress can only spend a dollar on an entitlement increase or tax cut if it saves a dollar elsewhere.  In the 1990s, statutory PAYGO encouraged the tough choices that helped move the Government from large deficits to surpluses, and it can do the same today.

Second, economic recovery – on its own – would take our deficits from 10 percent of GDP to 5 percent of GDP. To take them down further, the Budget proposes a series of policies including: the three-year non-security freeze mentioned above; restoring some balance to the tax code by allowing the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire only for those making more than $250,000 a year and reducing the rate at which these same households write-off itemized deductions; ending subsidies for oil, gas, and coal companies and closing other loopholes; and putting in place a responsibility fee on the largest banks to compensate taxpayers for the extraordinary direct and indirect help they provided while also discouraging excessive leverage.

Third, these policies will take deficits down to 4 percent of GDP – amounting to $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction excluding war savings. But that is still not enough, and the only way to solve this is to change Washington, and bring Republicans and Democrats together to work on this problem. That is why the President wants to establish a bipartisan, fiscal commission to look at a range of proposals and put forward a bipartisan recommendation to balance the budget excluding interest payments on the debt by 2015. This type of process has worked in the past, and if everyone in Washington puts the national interest first, we are confident it will again.

Finally, as I have said many times before and will again (since it’s still true!), the key to our long-term fiscal future is fiscally-responsible health insurance reform. All our steps to rein in the deficit will be for naught if we do not reduce the rate of health care cost growth over time.  The legislation passed by both the House and Senate will reduce the deficit over the next decade and put in place the key pieces that will help to bring down health care costs over time. Congress must now deliver on this promise of fiscally responsible health reform – the stakes are high, both for the millions of Americans who lack a stable source of health insurance coverage and for the fiscal well-being of the Nation itself. 

If we take follow the plans laid out in the Budget, I am confident that we will be able to spur job creation now and in years to come and put our Nation back on a fiscally sustainable path, which is critically important to the future growth and prosperity of the United States.

Peter Orszag is Director of the Office of Management and Budget