By Jason Furman December 04, 2012 The White House Blog
President Obama is committed to growing our economy from the middle out by ensuring a strong, secure, and thriving middle-class. Now we face a deadline that requires action on jobs, taxes and deficits by the end of the year. While the President is committed to working with Congress to reduce our deficit in a balanced and responsible way, there is no reason to hold the middle-class families hostage while we debate tax cuts for the highest income earners.
To see what the impact would be on consumers and retailers in your community if Congress does not extend the tax cuts for the middle class, click on the link below for your state.
Jason Furman is Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.
President Obama Pushes for Nonproliferation
By Matt Compton December 04, 2012 The White House Blog
President Barack Obama delivers remarks to the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction symposium held at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., Dec. 3, 2012. Joing the President on stage are, from left: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta; former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga.; and Sen. Richard Lugar, R- Ind.(Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)
On Monday, President Obama traveled to the National Defense University to mark the 20th anniversary of what he called “one of the country’s smartest and most successful national security programs” — the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program for the destruction of weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.
“We simply cannot allow the 21st century to be darkened by the worst weapons of the 20th century,” he said. “And that’s why, over the past four years, we’ve continued to make critical investments in our threat reduction programs -— not just at DOD, but at Energy and at State. In fact, we’ve been increasing funding, and sustaining it. And even as we make some very tough fiscal choices, we’re going to keep investing in these programs —- because our national security depends on it.”
President Obama also delivered a specific message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“On Syria, let me just say this. We will continue to support the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people -— engaging with the opposition, providing with — providing them with the humanitarian aid, and working for a transition to a Syria that’s free of the Assad regime,” the President said. “And today, I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there where be consequences, and you will be held accountable.”
President Obama concluded his remarks by telling the story of a trip he took to the Ukraine with Senator Richard Lugar when both men were in the Senate.
“We went to a facility, an old factory,” he said. “We walked down these long, dark corridors. Finally, we came across some women, sitting at a worktable. On it were piles of old artillery shells. And the women were sitting there, taking them apart. By hand. Slowly. Carefully. One by one.”
“It took decades -— and extraordinary sums of money — to build those arsenals,” President Obama told the audience today. “It’s going to take decades — and continued investments –to dismantle them.”
Pass Obama’s Jobs Bill . The American Jobs Act. It Has Been Blocked By The House GOP Long Enough
The American People Need Jobs. So The American People Need Congress To Pass Obama’s Jobs Bill. The American Jobs Act Has Been Blocked By House Republicans For Way To Long. This Bill Would Put Americans Back To Work. So Pass This Bill And Put Americans Back To Work.
We ALL can have a wonderful, happy & safe Holiday Season if we ALL have jobs.
America has never been about what can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. That’s the principle we were founded on.”
Bloomberg TV’s Julianna Goldman spoke with President Barack Obama today to discuss the fiscal cliff and his efforts to compromise with Republican leaders. In a lengthy interview in the Map Room of the White House, President Obama told Goldman that he is willing to make further cuts in entitlements, but insists thatRepublicans accept higher tax rates for top earners inthe US. “It’s just a matter of math.”
Bloomberg TV’s Julianna Goldman spoke with President Obama today to discuss the fiscal cliff and his efforts to compromise with Republican leaders. In a lengthy interview in the Map Room of the White House, President Obama told Goldman that he is willing to make further cuts in entitlements, but insists that Republicans accept higher tax rates for top earners in the US.
President Obama says there will be no deal if tax rates are not raised on the rich.
JULIANNA GOLDMAN: But this just sounds like the same old Washington gridlock. Speaker Boehner was here at the White House last night for a Christmas party. The two of you didn’t even speak. What’s it going to take to get the two of you in a room to hash this out?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, Speaker Boehner and I speak frequently. And, you know, I think the issue right now -
GOLDMAN: So when? When will the two of you sit down in a room?
OBAMA: You know, I don’t think that the issue right now has to do with sitting in a room. The issue right now that’s relevant is the acknowledgment that if we’re going to raise revenues that are sufficient to balance with the very tough cuts that we’ve already made and the further reforms in entitlements that I’m prepared to make, that we’re going to have to see the rates on the top 2 percent go up. And we’re not going to be able to get a deal without it.
And understand, Julianna, the reason for that. It’s not me being stubborn. It’s not me being partisan. It’s just a matter of math. You know, there’s been a lot of talk that somehow we can raise $800 billion or $1 trillion worth of revenue just by closing loopholes and deductions, but a lot of your viewers understand that the only way to do that would be if you completely eliminated, for example, charitable deductions. Well, if you eliminated charitable deductions, that means every hospital and university and not-for-profit agency across the country would suddenly find themselves on the verge of collapse. So that’s not a realistic option.
When you look at how much revenue you can actually raise by closing loopholes and deductions, it’s probably in the range of $300 billion to $400 billion. That’s not enough to come up with a balanced plan that actually reduces the deficit and puts us on the path of long-term stability.
So what I’m going to need, what the country needs, what the business community needs, in order to get to where we need to be, is an acknowledgment that folks like me can afford to pay a little bit higher rate. If we combine that with a tax reform process and entitlement reform, then we can get to a $4 trillion deficit reduction package that actually helps our economy grow, rather than weakens our economy, either in the short term or in the long term.
Pass Obama’s Jobs Bill . The American Jobs Act. It Has Been Blocked By The House GOP Long Enough
The American People Need Jobs. So The American People Need Congress To Pass Obama’s Jobs Bill. The American Jobs Act Has Been Blocked By House Republicans For Way To Long. This Bill Would Put Americans Back To Work. So Pass This Bill And Put Americans Back To Work.
We ALL can have a wonderful, happy & safe Holiday Season if we ALL have jobs.
America has never been about what can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. That’s the principle we were founded on.”
President Barack Obama on Dec. 5 will host a White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior. The conference will provide leaders from the 566 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the president and representatives from his administration. Each federally recognized tribe will be invited to send one representative to the conference. This will be the fourth White House Tribal Nations Conference for the Obama administration.
By Charlie Galbraith December 04, 2012 The White House Blog
On December 5, 2012, President Obama will host representatives invited from each of the 566 federally recognized American Indian tribes, and Alaska Native Villages, at the 2012 White House Tribal Nations Conference. Fulfilling a commitment to improve and expand dialog with Indian Country, the President has hosted a Tribal Nations Conference in each year of his Presidency to facilitate a lasting discussion between Tribal Leaders and Senior Administration Officials. The opening and closing sessions of the Conference will be available for live online viewing at www.WhiteHouse.gov/Live and also atwww.DOI.gov/Live. The expected agenda is as follows:
Opening Session, 9:00am – 10:30am EST
Secretary Ken Salazar, Department of the Interior
Secretary Arne Duncan, Department of Education
Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin, Department of the Treasury
Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank, Department of Commerce
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Tom Vilsack, Department of Agriculture
Closing Session, 1:30pm – 3:30pm EST
Leaders of Each Tribal Leaders Breakout Session
Secretary Ray LaHood, Department of Transportation
Secretary Hilda Solis, Department of Labor President Barack Obama
The White House Tribal Nations Conference is the cornerstone of the Administration’s outreach and engagement with tribal governments and the dialogue and lessons learned will help shape federal policy in the weeks, months and years to come. We would like to sincerely thank all tribal leaders who will be taking part in the White House Tribal Nations Conference and we look forward to our continued collaboration and dialogue.
RT @AuntLulie: @MrMilitantNegro Hmmm Outstanding! "Tellin It Like It T.I.S. Haven't heard that saying in many years! Go FLOTUS!Still A MilitantNegro 9 hours ago
Jueseppi B.
