Twitter Office Hours Marathon: State of the Union

Erin Lindsay
Erin Lindsay
January 26, 2012
04:49 PM EDT
Chris Lu Twitter Office Hours

Chris Lu, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary, enjoys himself during his special State of the Union session of White House Office Hours. (by Joanna Zhang)

This week, senior White House officials have been answering your questions about President Obama’s State of the Union Address through a series of Office Hours on Twitter. Miss the speech?  Visit Whitehouse.gov/SOTU to watch and learn more and then check out the full line up of engagement events below. 

 You can ask a question using the hashtag #WHChat and don’t forget to follow along with the conversation all day at @WHLive. 

 Missed a session? Click on the chat below to check out the full Q&A on Storify.

Related Topics: Defense, Economy, Education, Energy and Environment, Fiscal Responsibility, Health Care, Immigration, Rural, Seniors and Social Security, Taxes, Technology, Women

President Obama Delivers the 2012 State of the Union

Matt Compton
Matt Compton
January 25, 2012
12:42 AM EDT

Tonight, as President Obama wrapped up his State of the Union, he said, "As long as we are joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, and our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong."

Throughout the speech, he discussed ideas for building an America that lasts. He called it a blueprint for the future and talked about ways to make his vision reality. Learn more about those ideas.

Miss something the President said? To read the full remarks, go here. Or watch the video.

Want to get more out of the enhanced version of the State of the Union? Check out the slides after the jump.

Related Topics: Civil Rights, Defense, Economy, Education, Energy and Environment, Ethics, Fiscal Responsibility, Foreign Policy, Health Care, Immigration, Poverty, Taxes, Technology, Veterans, Additional Issues

An America Built to Last

Matt Compton
Matt Compton
January 24, 2012
10:39 PM EDT
President Obama delivers the 2012 State of the Union

President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 24, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

As President Obama spoke tonight, the phrase he returned to again and again was "building an America that lasts."

We've put together a Blueprint that outlines the ideas in tonight's State of the Union and shows what it will take to achieve that vision. Check it out.

Right now, a group of policy experts and senior White House staff are discussing the speech and answering your questions on WH.gov/live.

And later tonight, we'll share video of the President's remarks and a transcript so you can read every line.

Be sure to check back.

Learn more

 

Related Topics: Blueprint for an America Built to Last, Civil Rights, Defense, Economy, Education, Energy and Environment, Ethics, Fiscal Responsibility, Foreign Policy, Taxes, Technology, Veterans, Additional Issues

2012 State of the Union: Behind the Scenes

Matt Compton
Matt Compton
January 24, 2012
01:59 PM EDT

We're just hours away from the time when President Obama will head to the Capitol to give this year's State of the Union address, and the speech is close to done. If you want to know what goes into making the State of the Union, check out our new behind-the-scenes video.

Related:
Find out how you can talk to Obama Administration officials about the President’s plan
Watch the enhanced version of the 2012 State of the Union Address
Read the full transcript of President Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address
Read President Obama’s Blueprint for an America that is built to last
Take a deep dive into the data behind the President’s plan
Photo Gallery: Scenes from the State of the Union
Interactive Feature: Who Joined the First Lady for the Speech?

Related Topics: Economy, Education, Energy and Environment, Fiscal Responsibility, Foreign Policy, Veterans

Your State of the Union Interview with President Obama

Kori Schulman
Kori Schulman
January 23, 2012
03:00 AM EDT

Tomorrow, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address. He will lay out his vision for a nation where hard work and responsibility are rewarded, where everyone does their fair share, and where everyone is held accountable for their actions. Starting immediately after the speech, the White House will be using social media and other online resources to answer questions from the American public and respond to your ideas about rebuilding America.

The President is committed to creating a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. That’s why President Obama and more than twenty-five members of his administration will be responding to your questions about the speech all week and talking about the issues that matter most to you (check out the full schedule here).

And, in the first completely-virtual interview from the White House, President Obama will answer questions that have been submitted by Americans from across the country via YouTube. The virtual event with the President will happen through Google+ Hangouts, a live multi-person video chat.

On Monday, January 30, the President will join a special Google+ Hangout from the West Wing. He'll be answering several of the most popular questions that have been submitted through YouTube, and some of the people who submitted questions will even be invited to join the President in the Hangout and take part in the live conversation.

Do you have a question for President Obama? Here’s how you can participate:

The Google+ Hangout with President Obama culminates a full week of online engagement with the White House. It also marks the first in a series of White House Hangouts that will cover a range of topics and issues. Follow the White House on Google+ for the latest on White House Hangouts.

Related Topics: Civil Rights, Defense, Economy, Fiscal Responsibility, Foreign Policy, Taxes, Veterans, Women, Additional Issues

State of the Union 2012: We Want to Hear From You

Colleen Curtis
Colleen Curtis
January 20, 2012
11:45 AM EDT

Mark your calendars! Next Tuesday January 24, President Obama will present the annual State of the Union Address at 9 pm EST, and all week long, the White House wants to hear from concerned citizens on the topics that most matter to you.

Once again, we will be streaming an enhanced version of the speech that features graphics, data and stats that highlight the issues the President is discussing on Whitehouse.gov/sotu. We will also live stream that broadcast through the White House Live App on Facebook, YouTube and our new Google+ page.

Starting immediately after the speech and continuing through the rest of the week, senior White House officials will hear from you about the state of our union. President Obama is committed to creating a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration using social media and other online resources to engage citizens across America on your highest priorities.

Immediately following the speech, we’ll be streaming an online panel live from the White House. The panel of senior advisors -- Mark Zuckerman, White House Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council; Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy; Brian Deese, Deputy Director National Economic Council; Ben Rhodes, Deputy NSA for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting and Jen Palmieri, Deputy White House Communications Director – will be answering questions about the President’s address submitted by citizens via twitter (#WHChat & #SOTU), Google+, Facebook and the in-person audience of tweetup participants.

Administration officials will spend Wednesday taking questions on the State of the Union in a day-long Office Hours marathon, an online question and answer session through Twitter. Josh Earnest, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, will be available throughout the day, and Mark Zuckerman, White House Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council will be taking questions at 1 pm EST. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House Communications Director, will also participate.

Thursday’s Office Hours will feature community-focused discussions with policy advisors and experts and Friday will be directed towards specific issues. 

Review the full schedule of events below to learn how you can participate. We hope you will join us at some point next week.

Related Topics: Economy, Education, Energy and Environment, Fiscal Responsibility, Foreign Policy, Health Care, Urban Policy, Veterans, Women

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
January 13, 2012

Government Reorganization Fact Sheet

Looking to make our government leaner, smarter and more consumer-friendly, the President will call on Congress to reinstate the authority that past Presidents had, over decades, to reorganize the government.  With the exception of President Ford, every President from Herbert Hoover to Ronald Reagan had reorganization authority.  Presidents had this sort of authority for almost the entire period from 1932 through 1984.Unlike the authority granted in the past, the President’s proposal would initiate new accountability by mandating that any plan must consolidate government - reducing the number of agencies or saving taxpayer dollars. 

The President will also lay out his first proposed use of that authority: consolidating six agencies into one more efficient department to promote competitiveness, exports and American business. The President knows this is a make or break moment for the middle class and those trying to reach it.  The President’s proposed reorganization would help small businesses grow and, in doing so, would help get more Americans back to work. 

For too long, overlapping responsibilities among agencies have made it harder, rather than easier, for our small businesses to interact with their government.  Those redundancies have also led to unnecessary waste and duplication. President Obama is committed to rethinking, reforming and remaking our government so that it can meet the challenges of our time and is worthy of the American people.

Today’s proposal is just one example of the kind of action the authority he is requesting would allow. 

Competing in a 21st Century Economy

We’re living in a 21st century economy with a 20th century bureaucracy. Our economy has fundamentally changed but the government has not. The needs of our citizens have fundamentally changed but their government has not. Instead, the government has grown only more complex. 

Over the past three years the Obama Administration has taken  numerous steps to address this problem by eliminating government waste and inefficiencies.  Clearly there’s more work to be done.  

The President’s First Action

The President’s first focus under the Consolidation Authority Act would be to make it easier for America's small businesses – which are America’s job creators – to compete, export and grow.  

Currently, there are six major departments and agencies that focus primarily on business and trade in the federal government.  The six are: U.S. Department of Commerce’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.  

This is redundant and inefficient. Small businesses often face a maze of agencies when looking for even the most basic answers to the most basic questions. There is a whole host of websites, toll-free numbers and customer service centers that at times offer them differing advice. The result is a system that is not working for our small businesses.  

The President is proposing to consolidate those six departments and agencies into one Department with one website, one phone number and one mission – helping American businesses succeed. 

One Department: there will be one Department where entrepreneurs can go from the day they come up with an idea and need a patent, to the day they start building a product and need a warehouse, to the day they are ready to export and need help breaking into new markets overseas. 

The new Department will lead the development and implementation of an integrated, strategic, government-wide trade effort and have a focused capacity to help businesses grow and thrive.     

Business USA

We will also be unveiling a new website: BusinessUSA. This site will be a virtual one-stop shop with information for small businesses and businesses of all size that want to begin or increase exporting.

USDA's Blueprint for Stronger Service

Secretary Tom Vilsack
Secretary Tom Vilsack
January 10, 2012
10:11 AM EDT

Ed note: This post was originally published on the USDA blog

Yesterday at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 93rd Annual Meeting, I thanked about 10,000 farmers for helping to make U.S. agriculture a bright spot in our nation’s economy.

In the past few decades, U.S. agriculture has become the second most productive sector of the American economy, thanks to farmers adopting technology, reducing debt, and effectively managing risk. In 2011, America’s farmers, ranchers and producers achieved record farm income, record exports, and have helped to contribute to an unemployment figure in rural America that has fallen faster than in other parts of the country. Over the last three years, as USDA has made significant investments in rural America, we have also looked closely at the way we do business so that we are sustaining and enhancing the farm economy for generations to come. That is why today I introduced USDA’s Blueprint for Stronger Service—a plan that will help to preserve this success in the long term. 

The Blueprint for Stronger Service takes a realistic view of the needs of American agriculture in a challenging budget climate, and lays out USDA’s plans to modernize and accelerate service delivery while improving the customer experience through use of innovative technologies and business solutions. To manage the $3 billion—or 12 percent—reduction Congress has made to discretionary funding for the Department since 2010, USDA looked closely at the way we do business.  For example, some agencies put hiring controls in place and instituted early separation programs. These efforts, when coupled with regular retirement, meant nearly 7,000 employees have retired from USDA over the past 15 months. The plan is also part of the Administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste, launched by President Obama and Vice President Biden to make government work better and more efficiently for the American people. The end result is a plan that will create optimal use of USDA’s employees, better results for USDA customers, and greater efficiencies for American taxpayers.

Tom Vilsack is the U.S Secretary of Agriculture
Related Topics: Economy, Fiscal Responsibility, Rural
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Super Duper Space Toolbox

Posted by Jeff Zients on January 09, 2012 at 05:28 PM EDT
President Barack Obama and 2011 SAVE Award Winner Matthew Ritsko

President Barack Obama talks with Matthew Ritsko, the winner of the 2011 Presidential Securing Americans' Value and Efficiency (SAVE) award, in the Oval Office, Jan. 9, 2012. Ritsko, a financial manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, proposed the space agency create a "lending library" where specialized space tools and hardware purchased by one NASA organization will be made available to other NASA programs and projects. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

From the start of the Administration, President Obama has been committed to delivering the American people an efficient, effective government that cuts waste and uses taxpayer dollars wisely. Recognizing that frontline federal workers know best where the waste is, he has made federal employees an essential partner in that effort. 

In 2009, the President launched the SAVE Award – an annual contest to enlist frontline Federal workers in the effort to cut waste and make government work better for the American people. This year, we received nearly 20,000 entries, and 48,000 votes were cast rating the ideas. Last November, the American people then voted on a final four of the best ideas, and the winner was Matthew Ritsko of Crofton, Maryland. Today, Matthew came to the Oval Office to discuss his idea with the President.

See more about Economy, Fiscal Responsibility  

West Wing Week 1/06/12 or: "2012: The Annual Resolutions Edition"

January 05, 2012 | 4:36 | Public Domain

This week, the President traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, to speak on appointing Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will protect families from predatory lenders, spoke on a comprehensive review of our defense strategy, and the White House staff shared its New Year's resolutions. That's December 30th to January 5th or "2012: The Annual Resolutions Edition."

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