The White House Press releases have stacked up to a guilt-inducing and slightly concerning level in my inbox, so I decided to take the most recent (and to me, highest priority) and do a quick list-like rundown in one post to (a) clear my email and conscience, and (b) get us all up-to-date on a few current events and additional resources for more information.
Here we go, in chronological order from oldest to most recent:
7. Jason Furman responds to Twitter and Facebook comments about tax changes
Read all of the questions and Jason Furman's answers at the whitehouse.gov blog.
6. VPOTUS tells Minnesota Supreme Court to quit dithering and put Franken in office
Read what you will from this statement issued in a press release from the Vice President, but to me it's not so much a statement as it is an instruction:
Office of the Vice President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 6, 2009
Vice President Biden Issues Statement Following Meeting with Al Franken
"The election process and recount in Minnesota have lived up to the state's reputation for organization, transparency, and bipartisanship. The officials have been meticulous and every ruling has been unanimous.
"While Senator Amy Klobuchar is one of the hardest working members of the United States Senate, Minnesotans deserve their full representation.
“Once the Minnesota Supreme Court has issued its final ruling in this case, the President and I look forward to working with Mr. Franken on building an economy for the 21st century.”
So far, not yet. Yesterday, Franken, "asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling and order Gov. Tim Pawlenty to certify him the winner of the state's most protracted race in history."
5. OMB Director Peter Orszag deconstructs the budget for our easy reading and comprehension
On May 7, we all heard about the budget released and you may have heard some chatter about Terminations, Reductions, and Savings. What are these? They are areas identified for cutbacks, nearly $17 billion, from the government budget. Half are defense, and half are not. It largely sounds like cutting dead weight. Orszag explains the what, how and why in his blog post, "Determining What Works, Line by Line."
4. Remarks by the President on Reforming the Health Care System to Reduce Costs
On May 11, the President met with leaders from insurance companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and health care providers to discuss health care access and cost. He issued a statement that can be summed up in one sentence, "“So the steps that are being announced today are significant. But the only way these steps will have an enduring impact is if they are taken not in isolation, but as part of a broader effort to reform our entire health care system.”
You can also review a chart of health expenditures, and read more about Addressing Health Care Costs From All Angles.
3. President Obama Launches Office of Public Engagement: A New Name, Mission for White House Liaison Office - Also unveils Citizens’ Briefing Book with ideas from Americans across the country
On May 11th, the President fulfilled another campaign promise to remain accessible to citizens and launched the new Office of Public Engagement, lead by Valerie Jarrett, a long time colleague and supporter of President Obama:
You can read the leadership and staff bios and learn more about the OPE at its Web site.
You can also see the President's video announcement about the launch of the OPE, in which he says, “This office will seek to engage as many Americans as possible in the difficult work of changing this country, through meetings and conversations with groups and individuals held in Washington and across the country.”
This sounds like the White House version---expansion and extension---of the First Lady's Listening Tour, and the Organizing for America re-launch across the US, and its Listening Tours. But don't' confuse these---they are technically separate efforts.
2. Consumerist goes to Washington and says you should, "Send Us Your Credit Card Questions So We Can Ask 'Em At The White House"
"Consumerist is going to the White House this week, and we need your help! Ben and Meg are hitting Washington to do an on-camera interview of a senior policy official in the Obama administration about the new credit card reforms and consumer protections getting pushed through Congress and what they mean for you. Besides our questions, we want to ask your questions about credit card reform, credit card companies, and present tales of credit card woe.
Leave your queries in the comments, or send them to [email protected], subject line "credit card reform." If you want to submit your question by uploading a video to YouTube and sending in the link, that'd be swell because then we can splice them into our video.
UPDATE: We'll be talking to Austan Goolsbee, senior economic adviser to Obama."
1. Peter Orszag clears the air about false allegations that OMB found fault with EPA finding that car exhaust endangers public health
Peter R. Orszag, Director of OMB, "clears the air" about OMB's position about the EPA findings that car exhaust is a health crisis:
"Media reports today are suggesting that OMB has found fault with
EPA’s proposed finding that emissions of greenhouse gases from motor
vehicles contribute to air pollution that endangers public health and
welfare. Any reports suggesting that OMB was opposed to the finding
are unfounded.
The quotations circulating in the press are from a document in which OMB simply
collated and collected disparate comments from various agencies during the
inter-agency review process of the proposed finding. These collected
comments were not necessarily internally consistent, since they came from
multiple sources, and they do not necessarily represent the views of either OMB
or the Administration. In other words, we simply receive comments from
various agencies and pass them along to EPA for consideration, regardless of
the substantive merit of those comments. In general, passing along these
types of comments to an agency proposing a finding often helps to improve the
quality of the notice.
Perhaps more importantly, OMB concluded review of the preliminary finding
several weeks ago, which then allowed EPA to move forward with the proposed
finding. As I wrote on this blog on April 17, the "proposed
finding is carefully rooted in both law and science." I also noted:
"By itself, the EPA’s proposed finding imposes no regulation.
(Indeed, by itself, it requires nothing at all.) If and when the
endangerment finding is made final, the EPA will turn to the question whether
and how to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new automobiles."
The bottom line is that OMB would have not concluded review, which allows the
finding to move forward, if we had concerns about whether EPA’s finding
was consistent with either the law or the underlying science. The press
reports to the contrary are simply false."
For more good reading, try a Google, or take my recommendation:
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