Pro President Obama Blog

State of the Union 2012 – White House Follow Up Events

January 24:

10:00 PM EST
Open for Questions: State of the Union 2012
Senior Administration officials take questions from a live audience at the White House as well as from Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ about the President’s State of the Union Address. January 24, 2012.

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January 25:

All Day Josh Earnest answers your questions on Twitter @jearnest44

12:55 PM EST
President Obama will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to deliver remarks at Conveyor Engineering & Manufacturing

1:00 PM EST
Mark Zuckerman, White House Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council holds a follow up event of the State of the Union speech

3:00 PM EST
Ray LaHood, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary holds a follow up event of the State of the Union speech at Virginia Commonwealth University

3:00 PM EST
Dan Pfeiffer , White House Communications Director  holds a follow up event of the State of the Union speech

6:30 PM EST
President Obama travels to the Phoenix area to deliver remarks at the Intel Ocotillo Campus, Chandler, AZ

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January 26:

11:00 AM EST
Vice President Biden tours and delivers remarks at a center co-operated by Albany Engineered Composites and Safran USA on promoting partnerships between Community Colleges and Businesses in Rochester, NH.

10:00 AM EST
Veterans: Matt Flavin, Director of Veterans & Wounded Warrier Policy

11:00 AM EST
LGBT: Miriam Vogel & Gautam Raghavan

12:00 PM EST
Women: Racquel Russell and Avra Siegel

1:00 PM EST
President Obama delivers remarks at UPS Las Vegas South about the importance of American workers developing American-made energy to an economy that’s built to last

1:00 PM EST
Seniors: Jeanne Lambrew and Nick Papas

1:10 PM EST
Vice President Biden to answer some of the most popular questions on Twitter

2:00 PM EST
Latinos: Felicia Escobar, Julie Rodriguez and Luis Miranda

3:00 PM EST
President Obama delivers remarks at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, CO

4:00 PM EST
Small Business Owners: Christine Koronides,Senior Advisor for Economic Policy

5:00 PM EST
African American: Danielle Gray, Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy

5:30 PM EST
President Obama will deliver remarks on American Energy and Promoting Energy Security
at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, CO

6:00 PM EST
Asian American Pacific Islanders: Chris Lu, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary

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January 27:

All Day Submit your questions for President Obama to answer 1/30 at youtube.com/whitehouse

9:00 AM EST
Disability Issues: Kareem Dale, Deputy Assoc. Director of Public Liaison

9:45 AM EST
President Obama will deliver remarks at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, MI

10:00 AM EST
Rural Issues: Doug McKalip, Senior Policy Advisor for Rural Affairs

11:00 AM EST
Foreign Policy: Ben Rhodes, Deputy NSA for Strategic Communications & Speechwriting

12:00 PM EST
Education: Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy

1:00 PM EST
Health: Jeanne Lambrew and Nick Papas

2:00 PM EST
Energy: Heather Zichal and Dan Utech

3:00 PM EST
Consumer Protections: Brian Deese, Deputy Director National Economic Council

4:00 PM EST
Economy: Jason Furman, Principal Deputy Director National Economic Council

5:00 PM EST
Job Opportunities: Portia Wu, Senior Policy Advisor for Mobility & Opportunity Policy

6:00 PM EST
Urban Issues: Racquel Russell, Special Assistant to the President for Mobility & Opportunity

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January 30:

5:30 PM EST
President Obama will answer your top-voted questions in a special post-State of the Union interview from the White House. To participate, visit http://www.youtube.com/whitehouse and submit your question. YouTube videos you submit will drive the interview and will be used to select a few lucky people to join a live Google+ Hangout with the President.

$12.7 Trillion Added to the Debt Over the Last Decade

Graph source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infographics/us-national-debt

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For the last decade, we have spent more money than we take in. In the year 2000, the government had a budget surplus. But instead of using it to pay off debt, the money was spent on trillions of dollars in the nex tax cuts, while two wars and an expensive prescription drug program were simply added to our nationsl’s credit card…To mkae matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more – on tax cuts for the middle-class families to spur the economy; on unemployment insurance; on aid to states so we could prevent more teachers and firefighters and police officers from being laid off.

Because neither party is blameless for the decision that led to this problem, both parties have a responsibility to solve it.

President Obama

To learn more about President Obama’s plan for reform and fiscal responsibility: http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/reform

Voters who wanted to empower the Republican Congress and the Rich 1% came out and voted in 2010 in force. 

VOTE DEMOCRATS  IN 2012

to help President Obama, Democrats and the 99% of America!

By the Numbers: 170,000

Posted by Megan Slack on January 10, 2012

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was in Detroit on Monday, kicking off the opening of the North American International Auto Show and highlighting the resurgence of the American auto industry. Since Chrysler and GM emerged from bankruptcy in June of 2009, the auto industry has added 170,000 jobs—the best period of job growth for the industry in more than a decade.

When President Obama took office, the American auto industry was shedding jobs by the hundreds of thousands and GM and Chrysler faced the possibility of liquidation – which would have caused at least 1 million more jobs to be lost. The Presidentmade the tough choice to help provide the auto industry the temporary support it needed to grow and prosper.

Today, GM and Chrysler have repaid their government loans, and the “Big Three” automakers– GM, Ford, and Chrysler– are all adding jobs, generating profit, and investing in their U.S. facilities. Auto sales climbed in December for the seventh consecutive month and GM, Chrysler, and Ford saw their market share increase to over 47 percent in 2011, the second straight year that Detroit gained market share against their foreign competitors, something that had not previously happened since 1995.

This industry and our economy have a long way yet to go to repair the damage from this recession and return to full health. But the distance these companies and the auto industry have traveled over the past two years is a bright spot on the road to recovery.

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News Headlines:

Once struggling U.S. auto market now industry bedrock (1/8/12 Reuters)

GM Leads U.S. Carmaker Gains in China as Honda Sales Fall (making GM the world’s largest carmaker) (1/10/12 BusinessWeek)

The U.S. economy added 212,000 private sector jobs in December 2011.  After losing more than 8 million jobs in the recession,  more than 3 million private sector jobs were added over the past 22 months.  The White House is starting 2012 with manufacturing on the rise and the American auto industry on the mend.  Analysts and executives expect 2012 U.S. auto sales to grow 4 percent to 9 percent, the third consecutive annual gain. All three U.S. automakers took market share in the United States for the first time in 23 years.

President Obama announced in his January 7th Weekly Address that on Wednesday the White House will host a forum called “Insourcing American Jobs.” Attending the forum will be U.S. business leaders who are bringing jobs back home to America.