Saturday, January 28, 2012

Obama Cartoon

President Obama on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Equal Pay for All Workers

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Thanks to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act we're one step closer to equal pay for equal work, but there's still more work to do. In this video, the President shares his inspiration for signing the law, and how the Paycheck Fairness Act can help achieve equal pay for all workers. Go to https://my.barackobama.com/potusledbettervid and sign up to find out what you can do to help make this happen.

"The very first bill I signed into law as President was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. It was a big step toward making sure every worker in this country, man or woman, receives equal pay for equal work. I signed this law for women like my mother a single mother who paid her way through college and made huge contributions to a work force that wasn't always fair to her.

I signed this law for women like my grandmother who woke up every morning to take a bus to her job at the bank. She worked hard. She was good at what she did. But time and again she was passed over for some promotions because she was a woman. I signed this law because I want young women like my own daughters to have chances and opportunities that my mom and grandmother never could have dreamed of. Thanks to the relentless efforts like Lilly Ledbetter those opportunities are already in reach. And thanks to this law we're one step closer to fair pair for all Americans, but there's still more work to do.

That's why I support the Paycheck Fairness Act. To often women can't access the information they need to fight the pay discrimination. This legislation would change that. It would protect women who try to find out if their receiving equal pay and it would make it easier for them to take action if they're not. In 2010 a minority of Senators fought a vote on this bill, but women can't wait for equal pay.

I won't stop fighting this inequality. Visit women.barackobama.com and sign up to help more change like this happen. Policies that help women are policies that help our families and our economy grow stronger. Whether we can continue that progress depends on you so please join us now. Thanks."

Kerry Washington Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the OFA Miami, Florida Office

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On Martin Luther King Jr. Day Kerry Washington joined Obama for America in Miami. In this video, she shares why she's encouraging others to get registered to vote, making phone calls, and having one-on-one conversations:

"This is about us having a voice. It's about all of us having a level playing field--an equal chance of having the life of our dreams. You can't really have a voice, unless you're voting. And we want to make sure that everybody's coming out to exercise their right to vote."

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State of the Union 2012: Supporting our Troops and Veterans

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Above all, our freedom endures because of the men and women in uniform who defend it. As they come home, we must serve them as well as they served us. That includes giving them the care and benefits they have earned -- which is why we've increased annual VA spending every year I've been President. And it means enlisting our veterans in the work of rebuilding our Nation.

With the bipartisan support of this Congress, we are providing new tax credits to companies that hire vets. Michelle and Jill Biden have worked with American businesses to secure a pledge of 135,000 jobs for veterans and their families. And tonight, I'm proposing a Veterans Job Corps that will help our communities hire veterans as cops and firefighters, so that America is as strong as those who defend her.

Which brings me back to where I began. Those of us who've been sent here to serve can learn from the service of our troops. When you put on that uniform, it doesn't matter if you're black or white; Asian or Latino; Native American, conservative or liberal; rich or poor; gay or straight. When you're marching into battle, you look out for the person next to you, or the mission fails. When you're in the thick of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit, serving one Nation, leaving no one behind.

State of the Union 2012: "This Nation is Great Because We Built it Together"

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Which brings me back to where I began. Those of us who've been sent here to serve can learn from the service of our troops. When you put on that uniform, it doesn't matter if you're black or white; Asian or Latino; conservative or liberal; rich or poor; gay or straight. When you're marching into battle, you look out for the person next to you, or the mission fails. When you're in the thick of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit, serving one Nation, leaving no one behind.

One of my proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL Team took with them on the mission to get bin Laden. On it are each of their names. Some may be Democrats. Some may be Republicans. But that doesn't matter. Just like it didn't matter that day in the Situation Room, when I sat next to Bob Gates -- a man who was George Bush's defense secretary; and Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran against me for president.

All that mattered that day was the mission. No one thought about politics. No one thought about themselves. One of the young men involved in the raid later told me that he didn't deserve credit for the mission. It only succeeded, he said, because every single member of that unit did their job -- the pilot who landed the helicopter that spun out of control; the translator who kept others from entering the compound; the troops who separated the women and children from the fight; the SEALs who charged up the stairs. More than that, the mission only succeeded because every member of that unit trusted each other -- because you can't charge up those stairs, into darkness and danger, unless you know that there's someone behind you, watching your back.

So it is with America. Each time I look at that flag, I'm reminded that our destiny is stitched together like those fifty stars and those thirteen stripes. No one built this country on their own. This Nation is great because we built it together. This Nation is great because we worked as a team. This Nation is great because we get each other's backs. And if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard. As long as we're joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong.

State of the Union 2012: Staying in School

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Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let's offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren't helping kids learn.

We also know that when students aren't allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.

When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves middle-class families thousands of dollars. And give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years.

State of the Union 2012: "Rewarding Companies That Create Jobs Right Here in America"

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Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.

We should start with our tax code. Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it.

So let's change it. First, if you're a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn't get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home.

Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here.

Third, if you're an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you're a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making products here. And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.

My message is simple. It's time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I'll sign them right away.

State of the Union 2012: "That Means Women Should Earn Equal Pay for Equal Work"

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You see, an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country. That means women should earn equal pay for equal work. It means we should support everyone who's willing to work; and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs.

State of the Union 2012: Dream Act

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Let's also remember that hundreds of thousands of talented, hardworking students in this country face another challenge: The fact that they aren't yet American citizens. Many were brought here as small children, are American through and through, yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else.

That doesn't make sense.

I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That's why my Administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That's why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.

The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now. But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let's at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.

State of the Union 2012: Clean Energy and Job Creation

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I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here. We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That's long enough. It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that's rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that's never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.

State of the Union 2012: Rebuilding America

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Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America's infrastructure. So much of America needs to be rebuilt. We've got crumbling roads and bridges. A power grid that wastes too much energy. An incomplete high-speed broadband network that prevents a small business owner in rural America from selling her products all over the world.

During the Great Depression, America built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. After World War II, we connected our States with a system of highways. Democratic and Republican administrations invested in great projects that benefited everybody, from the workers who built them to the businesses that still use them today.

In the next few weeks, I will sign an Executive Order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects. But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we're no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.

State of the Union 2012: Buffett Rule

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But in return, we need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of Members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes. Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes. And my Republican friend Tom Coburn is right: Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. In fact, if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions. On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn't go up. You're the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages. You're the ones who need relief.

Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.

We don't begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it. When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. It's because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference -- like a senior on a fixed income; or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet. That's not right. Americans know it's not right. They know that this generation's success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility to each other, and to their country's future, and they know our way of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared responsibility. That's how we'll reduce our deficit. That's an America built to last

President Obama's Record on Jobs - Obama for America 2012 Ad

President Obama's Record on Jobs - Obama for America 2012 Ad

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After taking office, President Obama signed the Recovery Act to help get our economy back on track. As a result:

-The U.S. has seen 22 consecutive months of private-sector job growth. -The private sector added more than 3.1 million jobs over those 22 months,.

-Manufacturing added 334,000 jobs in the last two years, the first time since 1997 that manufacturing employment rose.

-The President passed legislation to create jobs and supporting working Americans, including:

-A payroll tax cut for all working families, providing the average working family with a $1,000 tax cut in 2011.

-Expansion of small business loan programs to help small business access credit and create jobs.

-Initiatives to help veterans transition to post-service careers. -Tax incentives for businesses that hire unemployed veterans.

The President's decision to provide emergency loans to the auto industry:

-Saved more than 1.4 million American jobs.

-Prevented personal income losses over two years of more than $96 billion.

-Helped make the big three (Chrysler, GM, and Ford) all profitable for the first time in years.

Ted Kennedy Endorses Barack Obama

You should be with us in 2012: http://my.barackobama.com/tkennedyvid At an event at American University, the Kennedys speak of the leadership and character of Barack Obama, their choice for President of the United States.