Right around noon today the President took some time for a conference call with college and university student-journalists.  He explained that part of the reason he was reaching out was to keep them engaged with their democracy:

And what I want to do is just to go speak to young people directly and remind them of what I said during the campaign, which was change is always hard in this country.  It doesn’t happen overnight.  You take two steps forward, you take one step back.  This is a big, complicated democracy.  It’s contentious.  It’s not always fun and games.  A lot of times, to bring about big changes like, for example, in our energy policy, you’re taking on a lot of special interests -- the oil companies and utilities.  And some of them may not want to see the kinds of changes that would lead to a strong green economy. 

And the point is, though, you can’t sit it out.  You can’t suddenly just check in once every 10 years or so, on an exciting presidential election, and then not pay attention…

 It’s a tough time and tough economy for those who may be coming out of college and into the job market for the first time - an issue the President took on during the call:

Invest in the future.  Inspire a child.  TEACH. Those are the themes introduced today as the Department of Education launched the TEACH Campaign to encourage Americans to pursue a career in teaching. 

I now work on education policy in the White House, but until five years ago, I was a teacher.   And I hope to teach again. 

Teachers make a difference.  Teachers are important.  Now that I am not in the classroom every day, I see that even more clearly.  Secretary Duncan is right when he says “there is nothing more important we can do for this country than to get a great teacher in front of every child”.  That is not easy.  Schools across America hire nearly 200,000 new teachers every year – as many as 1.5 million new teachers over the next decade. Today, President Obama announced a new goal of recruiting 10,000 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers over the next two years.  It has never been more important to have great teachers in these subjects, which often limit students’ readiness for college, and our nation’s continued ability to innovate and compete.  

As a new study from Hewitt Associates reveals, the cost of health care has been rising by up to double digits for more than a decade.   The study also demonstrates that the passage of the Affordable Care Act came at a critical time.  

The study confirms our own analysis – that the potential premium impact of the new consumer protections that went into effect last week – from covering adult children on parent’s plans to eliminating lifetime limits, preventing insurance companies from dropping you when you are sick, and eliminating discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions – is roughly 1-2 percent of the more than 8 percent projected increase in the study.  And it’s important to remember that any increases will be offset by a number of provisions in the new law that will save money for consumers and employers. The new law will help bend the cost curve of health care for employers and their workers by: 

• Reducing Premiums: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that health insurance premiums could decrease by 3 percent for employers and a Business Round Table (BRT)/Hewitt Associates study found that employers that offer and contribute to health insurance coverage for their workers could experience cost savings of as much as $3,000 a person by expanding access to coverage and enacting various cost cutting reforms included in the Act. 
• Bringing Costs Down for Small Businesses: The new law provides $40 billion in tax credits to help small businesses purchase coverage for their employees. In 2014, small businesses will be able to purchase private insurance through health Exchanges, which will provide them with the same purchasing power as large businesses. 
• Helping Pay for Early Retirees:  The law created a new Early Retiree Reinsurance Program that provides employers resources to offset the health care costs they pay for their early retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare.  Employers must use the funding to reduce their health care costs or premiums for all employees Today, more than 2,000 employers are participating in the program.  
• Reducing the “Hidden Tax” on Insured Americans: Today, families with insurance pay a hidden tax of up to $1,000 to subsidize care for the uninsured. By making sure insurance covers people who are most at risk, there will be less uncompensated care and the amount of cost shifting among those who have coverage today will be reduced by up to $1 billion in 2013. 
• Preventing Bankruptcy:  Medical costs contribute to about half of the more than 500,000 personal bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2007.  Bankruptcies can be avoided through ensuring insurance companies can’t drop people when they get sick, can’t place a lifetime or unrestricted annual limit on coverage, or discriminate against kids with preexisting conditions.  
• Preventing Illness:  Reducing preventable illness through new prevention coverage will result in significant savings. For instance, preventing obesity will lower premiums by .05 to .1 percent. Every dollar spent on immunizations could save $5.30 on direct health care costs and $16.50 on total societal costs of disease.  Reducing preventable illness can also increase worker productivity – today, increased sickness and lack of coverage security reduce economic output by $260 billion per year.
• Reducing Out of Pocket Costs:  Preventive health benefits will also help reduce out of pocket costs. For example, guidelines suggest that a 58-year old woman who is at risk for heart disease should receive a mammogram, a colon cancer screening, a Pap test, a diabetes test, a cholesterol test, and an annual flu shot; under a typical insurance plan, these tests could cost more than $300 out of her own pocket.

Last week, we celebrated the six month anniversary of the law and the day when the worst insurance company practices began to be eliminated. This week, we’ll continue our efforts to implement the new law and deliver the benefits of reform – including the $100 billion the law will reduce the deficit this decade and the trillion dollars in the next decade — to the American people.

Stephanie Cutter is Assistant to the President for Special Projects
 

This morning, the weekly Republican address is being delivered by Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Congressman who spearheaded the Republican "Pledge to America" -- an effort already widely recognized as a return to the very same special-interest policies that got us into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Indeed, Rep. McCarthy's address only highlights the shortcomings of the Congressional Republicans' plans.  He laments that "our children will be saddled with a deficit and debt that is -- by every definition -- out of control" -- yet fails to mention that his own "pledge" would "increase the deficit by trillions of dollars."  He also neglects to mention that Congressional Republicans voted en masse against PAYGO legislation and against a health reform bill that shaves $1 trillion off the deficit, all while supporting hundreds of billions of dollars of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires

The only symbolic nod to concern about the deficit at the beginning came earlier this month when House Minority Leader John Boehner said vaguely that Republicans were going to institute what amounts to a 20 percent cut in non-security discretionary spending. But yesterday, in an exchange on MSNBC, it was Representative Kevin McCarthy who finally fleshed out the details of the Republicans’ plan to cut spending. When pressed over and over to name one program that the Republicans would cut, McCarthy said that the cuts would be: “across the board.”

What would the Republicans’ “across the board” cut mean in reality?

As I wrote when they first released it, the GOP plan would mean Head Start would have to slash 200,000 children from its rolls, the FBI would cut 2,700 agents, and Federal prisons would have to cut 3,800 correctional officers.

This sort of indiscriminate cutting also would gut the investments needed to lay the foundation for long-term economic growth. Take education: the GOP plan would mean that we wouldn’t be able to fund the turnaround of roughly 100 of our lowest-performing schools; we’d have to eliminate funds that help pay the costs of educating 6.7 million special education students; and about 8 million college students would see their Pell grants cut by an average of $700.

Or take infrastructure and innovation. We’d have to terminate or postpone up to 600 clean energy projects, cut 250 water and wastewater projects funded from the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, and delay progress on a needed upgrade to our air traffic control system. In addition, the National Science Foundation would have to close every research facility and national lab it funds or decide to close its cyber-infrastructure and engineering directorates.

Finally, the GOP’s “across-the-board” cut would also mean that the Securities and Exchange Commission would need to cut at least 600 employees from the levels needed to implement financial reform, and dramatically reduce inspections so that more than half of all stock brokers and dealers would not be inspected at all each year. It’d be anything goes on Wall Street all over again. Similarly, these cuts would make it impossible for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to cover mandatory daily inspections.

In contrast to this reckless approach, the President has proposed a three-year freeze on discretionary spending outside of security that will cut programs that do not work or are not essential, while still investing in what we need to keep the economy growing and protect the health and safety of the American people. So even as we invest in education, infrastructure, and innovation, the President’s plan would bring non-security discretionary spending to its lowest levels in nearly 50 years.

The President has put forward the specifics of what he would cut and how. It’s time that the Republicans do the same.

Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Council on Women and Girls’ (CWG) Friday Highlights. CWG has been busy working on issues ranging from domestic violence to gender integration this past week. Please check out our highlights below and remember that if you have friends or family that would like to join CWG’s email list, please have them contact us at cwg@who.eop.gov.

Friday Highlights

• Vice President Joseph Biden hosted an event at his residence this week to honor the 16^th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, and Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, blogged on the event

• Go on Facebook to checkout the White House’s ongoing commit to end violence against women and girls

• Department of Labor Secretary Solis held a webchat with Lilly Ledbetter on equal pay while also highlighting recent actions the DOL has taken in support of equal pay

• Check out and participate in the 50 States / 50 Stories webfeature that commemorates the six month anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

• Learn about the “Gender Integration in Practice” panel co-hosted by Tina Tchen, Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation

• Read about the The National Coalition of 100 Black Womens' White House Briefing on the economy, healthcare, and education

• Apply for the White House Spring 2011 Internship

• Watch West Wing Week! 

Today, the First Lady hosted a special event for the spouses of Chiefs of State and Heads of Government participating in the United Nations General Assembly at the Stone Barns Center, a non-profit farm and education center north of New York City.

First Lady Michelle Obama and spouses of United Nations leaders tour Stone Barns Food and Agricultural Center with Dan Barber, co-owner and executive chef of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, before the UNGA spousal luncheon in Pocantinco, N.Y. September 24, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

After a tour of the farm, the spouses were introduced to the Center’s children’s education program, where local third graders from Pocantico Hill School and JFK Magnet School demonstrated their experiences in hands-on farming, including harvesting vegetables and collecting eggs from pasture-raised hens.

The White House kitchen garden inspired the day’s event and led to the development of Let’s Move!, the First Lady’s initiate to raise a healthier generation of kids. A key component of the initiative is school education. Stone Barns Center is an example of what can be done when local businesses, local farms, and neighborhood schools work together to educate children. In her remarks, Mrs. Obama discussed the power of hands-on experiences from her own child's experience:

Sasha doesn’t like tomatoes -- or so she says -- not until she took a cooking class at her school and made a tomato-pesto-basil-mozzarella sandwich. 


So she comes home and she says, Mom, have you ever heard of these “hair” potatoes -- tomatoes? And I was like, what are you -- are you talking about heirloom tomatoes? She says, yeah, that's it. She said, now those are good tomatoes. I was like, you eat those everyday. No, these were different, Mom. These were different.

And the point is, is that, yeah, it was different for her because it was her discovery. It wasn’t something that her mother was telling her to do. She had discovered it. She made the sandwich. She made the pesto. And it was good. And now she’s a fan of tomatoes. We can do that with our children.

At an event that brought together the spouses of leaders from around the world, Mrs. Obama noted that childhood obesity is not just an American challenge.

As I talk to these spouses, I’m understanding that we’re seeing -- many of you are seeing these same issues in your own countries. And you’re working very hard on nutrition and education. And my hope is that we can continue to partner and have conversations so that this local campaign becomes a national conversation in so many ways.

So I thank you all for your leadership on this issue. Thank you all for taking the time to spend this afternoon focused on an issue that is near and dear to me. I am always grateful for your friendship and your kindness. It makes these gatherings even more special, to be able to share these ideas and to share in fellowship and toast and all that good stuff.


First Lady Michelle Obama and spouses of United Nations leaders learn how chickens have been raised and integrated into the farm food system, during a tour of Stone Barns Food and Agricultural Center, before the UNGA spousal luncheon in Pocantinco, N.Y. September 24, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Earlier today, my wife Christie and I announced American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to assist 129 rural libraries in 30 states to create, expand, and improve our nation’s rural libraries – benefitting over 1.7 million rural residents. These investments are putting Americans back to work managing and designing the projects, constructing new facilities, and installing computer systems.

And these libraries are also laying the groundwork for sustainable economic growth and a higher quality of life in rural America. They provide opportunities for folks of all ages to learn about new subjects, to pursue an education, to connect with friends and relatives across the country or world, and to take the first steps on the way to a competitive career.

In September 2009, the President announced that – for the first time in history – the White House would routinely release visitor records. Today, the White House releases visitor records that were created in June 2010.  This release brings the grand total of records that this White House has released to over 700,000 records. You can view them all in our Disclosures section.

Norm Eisen is Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform

On Friday, U.S. officials participated in a meeting of the Friends of Yemen in New York, marking an important occasion to coordinate international support for Yemen. The meeting also provides a good opportunity to discuss the United States’ comprehensive approach to assist Yemen. 

Much of the press attention about U.S. efforts regarding Yemen has focused on efforts to combat Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).  There is no doubt AQAP is a serious threat to Yemen, the United States, and our allies.  This was vividly demonstrated by the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, as well as by AQAP attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. In response to this threat, in the past year the Yemeni government has conducted operations that have helped disrupt AQAP’s operations, but AQAP remains dangerous.  AQAP has conducted retaliatory attacks against Yemeni forces, and continues to plot additional attacks against the United States.  The United States strongly supports the Yemeni government’s efforts, and is providing it security assistance to increase its capacity to counter the AQAP threat.  The United States has also designated AQAP and its leaders as terrorists domestically and through the United Nations in order to prevent their travel and restrict their access to the international financial system.  At the same time, the United States and our international partners are strengthening international air travel security in order to prevent future attacks by AQAP or other terrorists.  

However, support for operations against AQAP is only one piece of the United State’s strategy for Yemen.  As many commentators have noted, these efforts alone are insufficient to eliminate AQAP’s threat, because they do not address the environment that allows AQAP to exist. Nor are they sufficient to achieve our broader goal, which President Obama has defined as a unified, stable, democratic and prosperous Yemen.  Indeed, Yemen faces a staggering array of challenges that contribute to instability, including: internal conflicts; growing water scarcity; pervasive poverty; lack of access to education for a population that is growing rapidly; high unemployment with a “youth bulge” (43% of the country’s population is under 14 years of age); inadequate government and health services; corruption; and the approaching economic transition from oil being its primary export to being a net import.  These issues are challenges on their own, but they are also being exploited by AQAP.

Recognizing the seriousness of these challenges, the Obama Administration initiated a review of its Yemen policy in the spring of 2009. The result was a comprehensive strategy to address the root causes of instability, and improve governance and the livelihoods of the Yemeni people. As a result, the United States has greatly expanded its economic and humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni people, to approximately $110 million over the past 12 months up from $14.3 million two years before.   This includes funds for:

• $67 million for the United States Agency for International Devleopment (USAID) to work in partnership with communities to directly address local needs.  This includes health, education, and water projects; mobile health and veterinary clinics; and support for increasing the capacity of local governments to deliver essential services.  (Click here for more detail on USAID’s strategy and programsand their successes)
•  $42.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Yemenis displaced by the conflict in northern Yemen, as well as to refugees in the south. 
• more than $2.3 million in grants from the Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative to local Yemeni organizations to support an inclusive democratic process. 

The United States is also working diplomatically to support: economic and governance development and reform; an inclusive and democratic political process, including free and fair parliamentary elections in 2011; the rule of law and the protection of human rights; an open, vibrant civil society and freedom of the press; the delivery of education, health and other essential services, and the continuation of the ceasefire in the north of Yemen. This work has involved not only U.S. Embassy Sana’a, but senior officials from the White House, the Departments of State and Treasury, USAID, and others.  We are being joined in these efforts by Jim McVerry, recently named to fill the Department of State’s newly-created Senior Coordinator for Yemen position, and Ambassador Gerald Feierstein, who will take up his position in the next few days.

Fortunately, we are not alone in prioritizing assistance to Yemen.  We are coordinating both our diplomatic and assistance efforts with our international partners – including countries from the region and abroad, and the Gulf Coordination Council, European Union, United Nations, International Monetary Fund and World Bank.  We are coordinating both our diplomatic and assistance efforts with them.  The Friends of Yemen is a key component of the international community’s efforts.  Launched by Secretary Hilary Clinton and her international counterparts in London in January of this year, the two dozen member countries and international organizations are focusing on assisting Yemen in implementing important reforms to support its development and stability through the efforts of its Working Groups on Economy & Governance and Justice & the Rule of Law.    Friday’s meeting in New York endorsed important Yemeni political, development steps, and anti-corruption steps.  The meeting also recognized the international community’s efforts to improve assistance delivery, support the ceasefire in the north, and steps to improve employment opportunities for Yemenis.

This will not be quick or easy.  Yemen faces difficult challenges, and assistance Yemen will be a sustained project for the international community.  The Yemeni people and the international community are both confronted by real threats from AQAP, and it may take years to decisively defeat it. However, we believe that the future belongs to those who build, not to those who are focused on destruction.  And the United States stands with the people of Yemen as they seek to build a more positive future and reject AQAP’s efforts to kill innocent men, women, and children.  As President Obama recently wrote, “We are also committed to helping Yemen achieve a future that builds upon the extraordinary talents of its people and the richness of its history…I am convinced that the people of Yemen can do more than overcome the threats that they face – they can build a future of greater peace and opportunity for their children.” The United States’ comprehensive approach aims to assist Yemen in realizing that future. 

Aaron W. Jost is the Director for Arabian Peninsula Affairs for the National Security Council at the White House