Obama's Record in Brief
The Very Latest
Hear from the First Lady
By on February 16, 2012
Folks are meeting up at Women for Obama house parties across the country Wednesday, and you're invited.
You'll get to meet others who are a part of this campaign—and you'll get a chance to hear a special message from First Lady Michelle Obama about our shared work for progress that will get us fired up for the months ahead.
Want to join? Find a house party—and feel free to pass it on to women you know.
Women have been at the heart of this campaign since the beginning in 2008—helping to plan how to reach out across the country and building the relationships that brought others into this work.
This time around, we've been growing the campaign one woman at a time through Women for Obama. We've organized around South Carolina's Republican primary, called supporters in Colorado to ask them to get involved, shared our skills with each other in Florida, and more—and all these efforts were driven by women, for women.
This is just the beginning. As the campaign grows in your state and other states, local Women for Obama groups will help determine the outcome of this election—by reaching out in their cities and towns and inspiring their communities to step up and support the President.
I hope you can pitch in and keep this work moving along—and make sure that the women you know join in, too. Look for a house party this Wednesday.
Telling Your Personal Story
By on February 16, 2012
One-on-one conversations between volunteers, friends, and neighbors are the foundation of this campaign—and telling your personal story is one of the most effective ways to get new supporters involved.
At a recent organizer training in Wisconsin, participants practiced telling the story of why they first got involved in this campaign—and why this election matters so much.
[ http://assets.bostatic.com/frontend/projects/wi-volunteers/ ]
Congress agrees to extend the payroll tax cut
By on February 16, 2012
Following the news that members of Congress have reached an agreement to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, President Obama released this statement:
Leaders of both parties have done the right thing for our families and for our economy by reaching an agreement that will prevent a tax hike on 160 million working Americans. I urge Congress to pass this agreement so that the payroll tax cut we put in place last year will not expire at the end of this month. The typical American family will still see an extra $40 in every paycheck, keeping nearly $1,000 of their hard-earned money this year. And millions of Americans who are out pounding the pavement looking for new work to support their families will still be able to depend on the vital lifeline of unemployment insurance.
I thank the many Americans who lent their voices to this debate in recent months. You made all the difference. This is real money that will make a real difference in people’s lives. It includes important reforms that I proposed in the American Jobs Act to help discourage businesses from laying off workers and to connect workers with jobs. It includes a critical element in the plan I outlined in the State of the Union to out-innovate the rest of the world by unleashing mobile broadband, investing in innovation, and building a nationwide public safety network. It will mean a stronger economy and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. And as soon as Congress sends this bipartisan agreement to my desk, I will sign it into law right away. But this must be only the start of what we do together this year. There’s much more the American people need and expect from us—to help our businesses keep creating jobs, to help restore security for middle class families, and to leave an economy that’s built to last.
“It all starts with a conversationâ€
By on February 16, 2012
Every neighborhood team needs a leader—a person who's committed to building support President Obama in his or her community. For Edwina and James Marshall, leaders of Team Lansing in Michigan, their journey began in 2008 when they started hearing about then-Senator Obama in conversations with friends.
“In 2008, I got a call from a friend who was excited about this skinny young guy from Chicago she had seen on television,†explains Edwina, who worked as a music teacher in Michigan public schools. “I had never heard of him, but I always took the word of my close friends. I started listening to his speeches—listening intently when he spoke of education and the responsibility of the community as a whole to get things done—and I was excited.â€
For James it was when Edwina got interested—she’d never paid much attention to the political process—that he decided to tune in, too:
“When Edwina told me about this guy from Chicago, I knew there had to be something special. There was a special significance to a young black man running for the highest office in the country, having spent my entire career holding employers accountable to equal-opportunity regulations here in Michigan.â€
When they received an email about a 2008 campaign office opening in downtown Lansing, they headed over. James and Edwina got straight to work—recruiting other volunteers. They also became the welcoming committee for new staff and out-of-state volunteers: organizing housing, cooking everyone healthy meals, and hosting weekly team meetings in their home every Monday.
James and Edwina’s proudest moment was setting up an outdoor voter registration and information tent in the middle of a strip mall in South Lansing.
“People didn’t always trust you, especially when you were talking about politics,†explains Edwina. “But we stayed there. And every day, more people came to register. Soon enough, they were sending over their friends to register and ask us about Obama. It all starts with a conversation.â€
After the 2008 election, James and Edwina continued to volunteer with OFA Michigan. In 2011, they signed up to host a State of the Union house party, and nearly 100 people showed up. Seeing how good they were at inspiring other members of their community to get involved, Regional Field Director Jody Money asked James to be a Neighborhood Team Leader and Edwina to be his deputy.
“It was a no-brainer,†says James about their decision to take on more responsibility. “Sharing information about the President and the political process, talking to people, strengthening our community, and leading others to do the same—it’s priceless. That’s what our team—and this campaign—is all about.â€
James and Edwina are going to be working even harder over the next nine months—Team Lansing had over 25 people turn out for their team meeting this past week, a full house.
If you’re ready to meet the Edwina and James of your community, find a campaign event near you today.
Snapshot—February 16th, 2012
By on February 16, 2012
We can be a bit clap-happy at all-staff meetings here in Chicago, but there's usually lots of good news to cheer.
@OFA_PA
Everyone is signing up to get involved with the campaign in Philly. instagr.am/p/HC-UIwLD6Q
Keeping his word: Extending unemployment insurance
By on February 16, 2012
As the financial crisis was unfolding during the fall of 2008, then-Senator Obama spoke out about the need to extend unemployment insurance for folks struggling to find work:
We have to do more. Americans who have lost their jobs, their homes, are facing rising costs in everything from food to a gallon of gas—we’ve got to give them some relief right now. We need to expand unemployment benefits, and extend them, for those who can’t find another job right away.
Watch this video to see how he’s kept his word as President, and check out this jobs chart for a look at the progress we’ve made since he took office.
Want a sticker?
By on February 16, 2012
You’ll start seeing these Obama 2012 bumper stickers everywhere pretty soon.
And guess what? A free one is already waiting for you—just tell us where to send it and let the mailman do the rest.
Auto industry update
By on February 16, 2012
More good news from the auto industry: GM reported its highest-ever annual profits today. Writes CNN:
"Overall global sales volume rose 7.6% to 9 million for the year, enough to allow it to recapture the global sales title it held for 77 years before it fell behind Toyota Motor (TM) in 2008. Revenue rose 10.8% to $150.8 billion.
"The company's previous record profit was in 1995, when its net income was $6.9 billion, although $900 million of that earlier profit came from units it was in the process of spinning off. GM considers its previous record profit to have come in 1997, when it earned $6.7 billion."
GM's report follows news from Chrysler that the company had posted a profit for the first time since 2005, and an update from Ford, which released its best earnings report since 1998 last month. According to the Washington Post, the three announcements mark "the first time in years that Chrysler, Ford, and GM have all been profitable at the same time."
"That's been a huge boon to the auto market. It's restored consumer confidence, giving them the courage to shop for cars again. It's also helped make credit more readily available—something that prohibited many would-be buyers from looking for new rides during the depths of the Great Recession."
For more on the auto turnaround, check out this fact sheet on steps President Obama is taking to help keep the industry's recovery on the right track.
Did you see: “By the Numbers: 86 Millionâ€
By on February 16, 2012
Last year, 86 million Americans were able to take advantage of free preventive health services covered by their private insurance plans—all thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The White House explains:
One of the major goals of the Affordable Care Act is to help people stay healthy by giving them the tools they need to take charge of their own health and supporting a culture of prevention, rather than focusing on treatment after people get sick.
To do this, the health reform law requires many insurance plans to provide no-copay coverage for a variety of preventive health services, such as colonoscopy screenings for men, Pap smears and mammograms for women, well-child visits, and flu shots for all children and adults. The law also makes proven preventive services free for most people on Medicare.
For more on what the Affordable Care Act is doing for preventive health, head over to the White House blog.
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