obama rss

White House Rural Council Growing Rural Economies, Creating Jobs

This week is National Small Business Week. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), along with agencies across the Obama Administration, are hosting events in five cities. These events provide expert advice, mentoring and explore topics ranging from access to capital to exporting. Small businesses across the country can tune into these events via livestream at sba.gov.
America’s small businesses create two out of three net new private sector jobs in our economy. And today more than half of all working Americans either own or work for a small business. Our goal is to ensure that the positive economic benefits of entrepreneurship can reach every corner of the country.
That’s why today the White House Rural Council is announcing new commitments to increase access to capital …

We the Geeks: Building a 21st Century Resume

Watch "We the Geeks" on a 21st Century Resume live on Thursday, June 20th, at 2:00 p.m. EDT at WH.gov/WeTheGeeks. Join the conversation and ask your questions with the hashtag #WeTheGeeks. Sign up to get email updates about future hangouts.
In the same way that “merit badges” have been used by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and medals have been used by the military to demonstrate achievement, a growing number of foundations, government agencies, companies and non-profits are exploring “digital badges” as the 21st century equivalent of a resume-builder that students and workers can use to showcase their skills, encourage their peers, and find meaningful educational and employment opportunities. 
With support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Mozilla Foundation, and others, digital badges are …

President Obama Speaks to the People of Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate

Watch this video on YouTube
Nearly 50 years to the day after President John F. Kennedy delivered his historic speech to a city divided by the Cold War, President Obama spoke to the people of Berlin about the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Germany, and the values we share.
A symbol of the Germany’s progress since President Kennedy’s visit, President Obama spoke from the east side of Brandenburg Gate – something that would have been impossible if not for the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
“While I am not the first American President to come to this gate, I am proud to stand on its Eastern side to pay tribute to the past,” President Obama said.
For throughout all this history, the …

State and Local Officials in the South Speak Up to Fix the Broken Immigration System

Ed. note: This post is the first in a series of five. Check back on the White House Blog throughout the week for more statements from leaders around the country.
Across the country, Democratic and Republican state and local officials are speaking out about the need for commonsense immigration reform. This week, we’ll share thoughts from governors, mayors, county executives, state legislators, attorneys general, treasurers and more about why they support immigration reform and how fixing the broken immigration system would impact their communities. 
Miami-Dade, Florida Mayor Carlos Gimenez
“For too many years our country has struggled to find an effective solution to immigration reform, with the central issue being the question of how to deal with undocumented workers.  We have been encouraged, however, that in recent months a …

Vice President Biden: The Fight to Reduce Gun Violence Is Far From Over

A little more than six months after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, Vice President Biden said yesterday that he and President Obama have not given up the fight to reduce gun violence.
In January, the Vice President said, “the President and I stood in this very room, joined by the victims of gun violence, parents, teachers, members of law enforcement, and many others, as we made a simple promise to the American people. We said we will do everything that we can, everything in our power to reduce gun violence in this country."
And although a minority of the Senate voted down common-sense legislation that would keep our kids and communities safer, President Obama has "moved forward on what was within his power, what executive actions …

CBO Report: Immigration Reform Will Shrink the Deficit and Grow the Economy

Today, the independent Congressional Budget Office released its score of the Senate’s bipartisan immigration bill, providing even more evidence that commonsense immigration reform is good for the budget and good for economic growth.
CBO estimates that fixing our broken immigration system will reduce federal deficits by about $200 billion over the next 10 years, and about $700 billion in the second decade. The CBO analysis made clear that the additional taxes paid by new and legalizing immigrants would not only offset any new spending, but would be substantial enough to reduce the deficit over the 20-year window. A significant portion of the new taxes would be paid by previously undocumented immigrants. While many of these workers already pay federal taxes, millions more will …

The G-8 Summit in Lough Erne

Today, President Obama is in Northern Ireland for the G-8 Summit in Lough Erne. This year's G-8 is President Obama's fifth since taking office, and the second stop of his three-day trip to Northern Ireland and Germany.

President Barack Obama participates in a G8 Summit meeting on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in the Library at Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 17, 2013. Participating in the meeting are, clockwise from President Obama: Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom; Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany; President François Hollande of France; …

President Obama Discusses the National Security Agency on Charlie Rose

President Obama discussed a range of issues in his interview last night on PBS, but the National Security Agency was the topic for an extended part of the conversation.
"My job is both to protect the American people and to protect the American way of life, which includes our privacy," he said. "So every program that we engage in, what I've said is let's examine and make sure that we're making the right tradeoffs."
Watch that part of the exchange:

Watch the full interview here