The White House Blog: The President

West Wing Week: 06/21/12 o "Soñadores"

Esta semana, el Presidente habló sobre un mejoramiento importante en la política de inmigración que alinea mejor la política del gobierno con nuestros valores, y viajó a la Cumbre del G20 en Los Cabos, México para trabajar hacia la estabilización de la economía global.

President Obama Again Pushes Congress to Act on Student Loans

President Barack Obama, with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, delivers a statement on college affordability and interest rates on student loans, in the East Room of the White House, June 21, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Time is running out for Congress to take actions to stop the rates on federal student loans from doubling on July 1.

That's why President Obama spoke today from the East Room of the White House about the importance of keeping college affordable.

"If Congress does not get this done in a week, the average student with federal student loans will rack up an additional $1,000 in debt over the coming year," he said. "If Congress fails to act, more than 7 million students will suddenly be hit with the equivalent of a $1,000 tax hike. And that’s not something that you can afford right now."

In his remarks, the President also stressed the importance of taking this step for the broader economy. It's not just that those students will suddenly have less money to spend -- it's that we need to have the best educated workforce in the world, and keeping higher education affordable helps to make that possible.

After the event with the President, Mark Zuckerman, the deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, took to Twitter to answer your questions about student loans and college affordability in a White House Office Hours.

You can see that discussion on Storify.

Learn More

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President Obama Speaks at the End of the G20 Summit

After two days of policy discussions and meetings with leaders from the world's major economies, President Obama held a press conference to discuss his takeaways from the G20 Summit.

The ongoing economic crisis in Europe was a central focus of the top-level conversations.

"[This] has been an opportunity for us to hear from European leaders on the progress they’re making and on their next steps -- especially in the wake of the election in Greece," he said. "It’s also been a chance for the international community, including the United States -- the largest economy in the world, and with our own record of responding to financial crises -- to stress the importance of decisive action at this moment."

The President stressed that it's important for Europeans to take ownership over the situation, and said that leaders from the continent understand the stakes and are ready to take the steps necessary to secure stability and growth.

But he also said that the United States could do more to bolster the global economy.

"As the world’s largest economy, the best thing the United States can do is to create jobs and growth in the short term, even as we continue to put our fiscal house in order over the long term," he said.

Read President Obama's full remarks, including his answers to reporters, here.

Or check out a photo gallery of images from the Summit.

A Bilateral Meeting with President Putin

President Barack Obama participates in a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the Esperanza Resort in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico, June 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This afternoon, President Obama had his first face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart -- President Vladimir Putin -- since the other leader was inaugurated in May.

After meeting for two hours, the men spoke briefly to reporters.

President Obama described the conversation as "candid, thoughtful and thorough." He said:

Over the last three years, the United States and Russia have been able to make significant progress on a wide range of issues, including the New START Treaty, the 1,2,3 Agreement, the work we've done on Russia's accession to the WTO, and setting up a presidential process whereby issues of trade and commerce, science, technology are all discussed at a much more intensive level.

We agreed that we need to build on these successes, even as we recognize that there are going to be areas of disagreement, and that we can find constructive ways to manage through any bilateral tensions.

The leaders also put out a joint statement that touched on many of these issues in further detail.