As Washington thaws out from record snowfall, the President issued plans for a health care reform summit, with Democrats and Republicans, near the end of the month. Some on the right are recommending that he scrap the current bill, while some leftleaning members of Congress are suggesting he re-introduce the pubic option.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010
White House Celebrates the Civil Rights Movement With Music
The snow didn’t stop the Administration from honoring the music of the Civil Rights movement with a workshop and concert at the White House. The workshop, called "Music that Inspired the Movement" was for high school students and featured Motown great Smokey Robinson, and Robert Santelli, the executive director of The GRAMMY Museum. The second event was part of the White House music series, a concert entitled, “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.” Both events were in recognition of Black History month.
The concert began with a stirring rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Gospel great Yolanda Adams. Others performers included: Jennifer Hudson, Natalie Cole, and Bob Dylan. The event was hosted by Morgan Freeman, with guest speakers Robert De Niro and Queen Latifah.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010
Rising Above Partisan Politics
The President continued to call for bi-partisanship from Congress and a spoke of a new focus on job creation, saying: “….at this critical time in our country, the people who sent us here expect a seriousness of purpose that transcends petty politics. That's why I'm going to continue to seek the best ideas from either party as we work to tackle the pressing challenges ahead. I am confident, for example, that when one in 10 of our fellow citizens can't work, we should be able to come together and help business create more jobs. We ought to be able to agree on providing small businesses with additional tax credits and much needed lines of credit. We ought to agree on investments in crumbling roads and bridges, and we should agree on tax breaks for making homes more energy-efficient -- all of which will put more Americans to work.” The administration also sent out invitations to Congress for a bipartisan summit on health reform that the President convened for February 25th.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2010
The Administration Lauds the Recovery Act
Summarizing the success of the economic stimulus at its one year anniversary, the Administration reported the following accomplishments:
“The Recovery Act has….
• provided a tax cut to 95 percent of America’s working families and thousands of small businesses.
• meant the difference between hanging on and destitution for millions of unemployed workers who had exhausted their conventional unemployment insurance benefits.
• kept hundreds of thousands of teachers, police, and firefighters employed by helping to fill the yawning hole in state and local budgets.
• made crucial long-run investments in our country’s infrastructure and jump-started the transition to the clean energy economy.
• saved or created some 1½ to 2 million jobs so far, and is on track to have raised employment relative to what it otherwise would have been by 3.5 million by the end of this year.” (whitehouse.gov)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010
Honoring the Lunar New Year
The President sent well wishes to all those celebrating the Lunar New Year, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Acknowledging the “Year of the Tiger,” the President said, “let us all give thanks for family, the wisdom of our ancestors, and the company of our friends and neighbors.” The Lunar New Year officially began on February 14.
The Senate ‘Gives’ – 27 Obama Nominees Confirmed
Although 27 were confirmed, many of President Obama’s high-level nominees are stalled in a Senate in which Republicans are holding up their confirmation. The President threatened to appoint some nominees during a recess period if the Senate did not act, saying:
“At the beginning of the week, a staggering 63 nominees had been stalled in the Senate because one or more senators placed a hold on their nomination. In most cases, these holds have had nothing to do with the nominee’s qualifications or even political views, and these nominees have already received broad, bipartisan support in the committee process.
Instead, many holds were motivated by a desire to leverage projects for a Senator’s state or simply to frustrate progress. It is precisely these kinds of tactics that enrage the American people.
And so on Tuesday, I told Senator McConnell that if Republican senators did not release these holds, I would exercise my authority to fill critically-needed positions in the federal government temporarily through the use of recess appointments.
This is a rare but not unprecedented step that many other presidents have taken. Since that meeting, I am gratified that Republican senators have responded by releasing many of these holds and allowing 29 nominees to receive a vote in the Senate.
While this is a good first step, there are still dozens of nominees on hold who deserve a similar vote, and I will be looking for action from the Senate when it returns from recess. If they do not act, I reserve the right to use my recess appointment authority in the future.”
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010
Lowering Student Loan Repayments
The Administration’s Middle Class Task Force unveiled an initiative designed to lower student loan repayments. Stating that college tuition has grown much faster than income, and that the average student loan debt is $23,000, the Task Force is recommending that there be a cap on monthly loan repayments.
The proposal is to limit payments to 10 percent of a borrowers income (after living expenses). The administration quoted Dr. Michael Lomax, the President and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, who said the initiative “will decrease the loan payments of hundreds of thousands of low-income borrowers with significant student loan debt, lightening the load of many Americans and enabling them to get the education they need, and our nation needs them to have.”
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