President Obama describes how the House of Representatives left town without finishing important work that would create jobs and strengthen our economy.
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Brad Snyder’s story is a remarkable one. Just one year ago, Lieutenant Snyder was blinded by an IED while serving in Afghanistan. This summer, he competed in the London Paralympics, bringing home two gold medals and a silver medal in swimming.
Moments after being honored at the White House alongside his fellow athletes, Brad shared his story with First Lady Michelle Obama. “Overcoming adversity is a decision that everyone makes,” Brad said, “And you can let that beat you or you can make the decision to move forward.”
Take a moment to watch, and then share this video on Twitter and Facebook with your friends:
President Barack Obama welcomes Coach Cheryl Reeve and the WNBA Champion Minnesota Lynx to the White House to honor the team and their 2011 WNBA Finals victory, in the East Room, Sept. 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)
President Obama today welcomed the Minnesota Lynx to the White House.
Two years ago, Minnesota was home to the worst team in the WNBA. Last year, they were the WNBA champions.
In describing their march to WNBA finals, President Obama told the story of their remarkable turnaround -- describing how they drafted Maya Moore, signed veteran players like Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen, and hired Cheryl Reeve to be their coach.
"By the end of the season, Maya was Rookie of the Year, Lindsay led the league in assists, Cheryl was Coach of the Year," the President said. "The team had the best record in the league. They made their home games the hottest ticket in town. Then, just in case anyone doubted their dominance, they marched through the playoffs, losing only one game and sweeping their final two series."
This year, the Lynx are picking up where they left off -- they're leading the Western Conference, and they've already clinched homecourt advantage for the playoffs.
But more importantly, the President said, they're continuing to set an important example for young women across the country.
"As the husband of a tall, good-looking woman and as the father of two tall, fabulous girls, it is just wonderful to have these young ladies as role models," he said. "There’s something about women’s athletics -- we know for a fact that when girls are involved in athletics, they do better across the board. They’re more confident. They do better in school."
Thomas Jefferson once wrote that when you share an idea with someone, they receive that idea without taking it away from you, just, "as he who lights his taper (candle) at mine, receives light without darkening me."
Almost two hundred years later, that theory of openness is transforming how we think about government services.
In May, President Obama launched an initiative to build a 21st century platform for government. It requires federal agencies to make key services available to mobile users and to release important government data in ways that will allow citizen developers and entrepreneurs to turn them into new products, services, and jobs. "I want us to ask ourselves every day," he said, "how are we using technology to make a real difference in people's lives."
Here at the White House, we've been working to meet that expectation. Last week we expanded our mobile program and, now, we're launching a one-stop resource for those who want to take advantage of the tools provided by the White House technology program. It's called /Developers and includes a breakdown of all of the open data and open source software that we've released to date.
If you're a software developer, we hope you'll take a look at the data and applications that we've released. Crack them open, see how they work. Spot a problem? We'd love for you to help fix it. Have an idea for a new way to use that piece of data? We'd love to know about that, too. Join us on GitHub or drop a line via our contact form or @WHWeb on Twitter.
At sundown this Sunday, the Jewish community here in the United States and all over the world will celebrate the start of the new year. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mark a time of prayer and self-reflection, and offers Americans of all faiths an opportunity to focus on what unites us instead of what divides us, to work together to make this a more perfect union and to continue the work of repairing the world.
Yesterday, four Americans lost their lives after an attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. Ambassador Chris Stevens and Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith were among those killed.
This morning, President Obama condemned that attack, which he called "outrageous and shocking" in a statement from the Rose Garden.
"We're working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats," he said. "I've also directed my Administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people."
Ambassador Stevens had a history of dedicated service in Libya, and as he spoke to reporters, the President described the work to which Stevens devoted his.
"At the height of the Libyan revolution, Chris led our diplomatic post in Benghazi," President Obama said. "With characteristic skill, courage, and resolve, he built partnerships with Libyan revolutionaries, and helped them as they planned to build a new Libya. When the Qaddafi regime came to an end, Chris was there to serve as our ambassador to the new Libya, and he worked tirelessly to support this young democracy, and I think both Secretary Clinton and I relied deeply on his knowledge of the situation on the ground there."
As the President spoke, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was standing by his side. Afterward, the two left the White House to visit the State Department, where the President planned to reiterate again his solidarity with America's diplomats stationed around the world.
President Barack Obama and daughter Malia Obama participate in a service project to commemorate the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance at DC Central Kitchen near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 10, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
In today's Weekly Address, President Obama talks about one of the legacies of September 11, 2001.
"Instead of turning inward with grief," he said, "we’ve honored the memory of those we lost by giving back to our communities, serving those in need, and reaffirming the values at the heart of who we are as a people."
That’s why we mark each September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance -- an act that Congress made official in 2009 and which President Obama signed into law.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is charged with overseeing that effort, and this year, they hope to make it one of the largest days of charitable service in U.S. history.
Last year, for the 10th anniversary -- the First Family, President Obama, the First Lady, Malia, and Sasha -- all pitched in at the DC Central kitchen, preparing meals for those in need.
This year, you can sign up for a service opportunity near you at Serve.gov.
As President Obama says, "We are one American family. And we look out for each other – not just on the difficult days, but every day."
President Obama yesterday made his way to St. John's Parish in Louisiana to take in the damage from Hurricane Isaac and meet with officials responding to the disaster.
The President highlighted the “extraordinary work” done by local first responders who worked around the clock to rescue residents stranded by high water in a place that hadn't flooded in 17 years.
"Some of the folks that we just walked by literally had to be saved by boat. They were in their homes, trapped. The waters came in so quickly," he said. "But because of the great work of law enforcement, National Guard, Coast Guard, making sure that folks were out in rescue mode rapidly, even in some cases at risk of their own lives, no lives were lost."
With tens of thousands still without power and thousands more still unable to return home, federal disaster teams remain focused on relief. On its blog, FEMA officials announced that the agency had transferred of more than 2.4 million liters of water, 2.4 million meals, 1,200 cots, and 32,500 tarps to the state of Louisiana for distribution to victims of the storm.
On Friday, President Obama approved individual assistance as part of the disaster declaration for Louisiana. On Saturday night, he approved the same provisions for Mississippi. So far, more than 86,600 Louisianans and 3, 949 Mississippi residents have registered for assistance, and officials have approved roughly $4.14 million in requests.
In both states, federal disaster teams have opened recovery centers where those affected by the storm can meet face to face with officials from nonprofits, state and local governments, FEMA, the Small Business Association, and other federal agencies to learn about the various types of assistance available to disaster survivors.
In St. John's Parish, President Obama praised the resilience of the people of the Gulf Coast.
"They know what tough times are like, but they know that they can bounce back. There is enormous faith here, enormous strength here," he said. "You can see it with these families. I mean, they were just devastated a few days ago, and they’re already smiling and laughing, and feeling confident about the future and pulling together."
Ed. note: This is cross-posted from Work in Progress
On the first Monday of September, we honor the workers who built the world’s strongest economy. This Labor Day, as the U.S. Department of Labor approaches our centennial celebration, I take extra pride in the historic efforts of today’s workers to drive our recovery by learning new skills and adapting to new challenges.
For more than two centuries, the prospect of work has drawn people to our shores to pursue new opportunities and dreams of a better life. The demands on our workers have changed over the generations, but we’ve always risen to the occasion.
During the Industrial Age, factory workers saw their knowledge and paychecks grow as they mastered new processes to mass produce everything from automobiles to armaments. Following the Great Depression, more than 6 million women joined the workforce, clocking in at shipyards, lumber mills and foundries, and their production helped us win the Great War. And the Internet age carried the talents of our workers across the globe, as our ideas and products reached new markets and brought the world closer together.
Ed. Note: There's been a lot of buzz online recently about the recipe for the White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter, including a popular petition on We the People, the White House's online petition platform.
With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it.
Inspired by home brewers from across the country, last year President Obama bought a home brewing kit for the kitchen. After the few first drafts we landed on some great recipes that came from a local brew shop. We received some tips from a couple of home brewers who work in the White House who helped us amend it and make it our own. To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before.
As far as we know the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds. George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine but there's no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House. (Although we do know there was some drinking during prohibition…)
Since our first batch of White House Honey Brown Ale, we've added the Honey Porter and have gone even further to add a Honey Blonde this past summer. Like many home brewers who add secret ingredients to make their beer unique, all of our brews have honey that we tapped from the first ever bee-hive on the South Lawn. The honey gives the beer a rich aroma and a nice finish but it doesn't sweeten it.
If you want a behind the scenes look at our home-brewing process, this video offers some proof.
So without any further ado, America – this one's for you:
Download a printable PDF of both recipes.
Ingredients
Directions
Ingredients
Directions
In an unscheduled visit to the White House briefing room this afternoon, President Obama took questions from reporters and discussed a big new announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services:
"Today, HHS announced that thanks to the health care law that we passed, nearly 5.4 million seniors with Medicare have saved over $4.1 billion on prescription drugs. That’s an average savings of more than $700 per person," he said. "This year alone, 18 million seniors with Medicare have taken advantage of new preventive care benefits like a mammogram or other cancer screening at no extra cost."
After being asked about the prospects for more action from lawmakers to help create jobs and grow the economy, the President reiterated his call to help millions of responsible homeowners save hundreds of dollars each month.
"We're going to be pushing Congress to see if they can pass a refinancing bill that puts $3,000 into the pockets of the average family who hasn’t yet refinanced their mortgage. That's a big deal," the President told reporters. "That $3,00 can be used to strengthen the equity in that person's home, which would raise home values. Alternatively, that's $3,000 in people's pockets that they can spend on a new computer for their kid going back to school, or new school clothes for their kids, and so that would strengthen the economy as well."
To learn more about the President's proposal, visit WhiteHouse.gov/refi.
At the podium, President Obama also answered questions about the uprising in Syria, the security of American servicemembers in Afghanistan, and the state of the 2012 political campaign.
Watch the President's full press conference here:
On August 17th, we held a Google+ Hangout to highlight the difference AmeriCorps, a national service opportunity that has logged more than 1 billion hours of service since 1994, is making in communities across the country.
The Hangout was moderated by White House Director of Digital Strategy (and AmeriCorps*VISTA alum) Macon Phillips and Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer. They were joined by four people actively engaged in the AmeriCorps community. They talked about what made AmeriCorps such an impactful program, and took questions that came in from Twitter and WhiteHouse.gov about the work AmeriCorps does.
The Hangout was part of a day-long White House focus on AmeriCorps: 150 AmeriCorps alumni came to the White House for a day-long briefing, and later that afternoon 12 of them were honored as Champions of Change, a program to honor ordinary Americans doing great work in their communities.
Watch the conversation, below, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @WhiteHouse for more opportunities to engage.
To learn more about AmeriCorps, visit AmeriCorps.gov or follow them on Twitter at @AmeriCorps.
