Week Thirty-One

National Scene 9/2 – 9/8/2009

By Linnie Frank Bailey

The President Encourages School Children

Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, including Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, President Barack Obama addressed the nation’s schoolchildren in a moving speech in which he shared his own challenges as a youngster. The President made it clear that ALL children are capable of achieving and encouraged kids to not give up on school, “even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don’t ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.”

Many African-American and Latino parents—whose kids have represented a large percentage of the nation’s dropouts—are making the speech mandatory viewing for their children.

Here is a link to the text of the speech: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/A-Message-of-Hope-and-Responsibility-for-Americas-Students/

Here is link to text of the speech: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-a-National-Address-to-Americas-Schoolchildren/

Follow-up activities for pre-K- 6^th grade: http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/prek-6.pdf

Follow-up activities for 7^th - 12^th grade:

http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/7-12.pdf

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

“What’s in it for you” Quiz

Responding to critics who continue to distort the President’s health care reform initiatives, the Administration has created an interactive quiz which will show American’s how health care reform will help them and their families. Participants answer basic questions about their current situation (no identifying information is collected) and are shown the possible benefits they will receive from health care reform. The quiz can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/quiz/

Friday, September 4, 2009

Historic Move to Release White House Visitor’s List

Continuing Administration efforts toward transparency and openness, the President stated: “For the first time in history, records of White House visitors will be made available to the public on an ongoing basis. We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history not only by opening the doors of the White House to more Americans, but by shining a light on the business conducted inside it. Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process.”

Monday, September 7, 2009

“Fired Up and Ready to Go!”— Still

Signaling a new passion and demeanor following his vacation, the President displayed vigor as he addressed a town hall in Cincinnati Ohio. Speaking at an AFL-CIO Labor Day rally, Obama reminded the audience: “You're enjoying some good music, some good food, some famous Cincinnati chili. But today we also pause. We pause to remember and to reflect and to reaffirm. We remember that the rights and benefits we enjoy today weren’t simply handed to America’s working men and women. They had to be won. They had to be fought for, by men and women of courage and conviction, from the factory floors of the Industrial Revolution to the shopping aisles of today's superstores. They stood up and they spoke out to demand a fair shake and an honest day's pay for an honest day's work.”

The President displayed a renewed willingness to fight for the needs of working Americans, including health care improvements, saying:

“We’ve been fighting for quality, affordable health care for every American for nearly a century -- since Teddy Roosevelt. Think about that -- long time. The Congress and the country have now been vigorously debating the issue for many months. The debate has been good, and that’s important because we’ve got to get this right. But every debate at some point comes to an end. At some point, it’s time to decide. At some point, it’s time to act. Ohio, it’s time to act and get this thing done. We have never been this close. We’ve never had such broad agreement on what needs to be done. And because we’re so close to real reform, suddenly the special interests are doing what they always do, which is just try to scare the heck out of people.”

Addressing critics of his health care policies, the President questioned naysayers: “I’ve got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we’re going to pull the plug on Grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants – you’ve heard all the lies. I’ve got a question for all those folks: What are you going to do? What’s your answer? What’s your solution? And you know what? They don't have one.”