http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/11/20/weekly-address-traveling-abroad-our-economy-home
In an address recorded in Seoul, South Korea, the President discusses his trip to Asia. He talks about his push to stop nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Iran, and around the world. He talks about promoting America's principles for an open society in China while making progress on joint efforts to combat climate change. And talks in-depth about the primary objective of his trip: engaging in new markets that hold tremendous potential to spur job creation here at home.
Read the Transcript | Download Video: mp4 (128MB) | mp3 (4MB)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/asia
On November 12, President Obama began a 10-day journey to Asia, which includes visits to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. The purpose of this trip is to strengthen U.S. leadership and economic competitiveness in the region, renew old alliances, forge new partnerships, and make progress on issues that matter to the American people. The trip will include a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings, a Town Hall Event with Chinese youth and a visit to U.S. troops in South Korea.For the first time, we will offer a travel diary of the trip from various members of the Administration. We’ll post updates, photos and videos to help showcase this historic trip.
Staying in Touch During the Asia Trip
Download Video: mp4 (34MB)
When I accepted the President’s gracious offer to serve as his Ambassador in China earlier this year, I knew that the job would be challenging, exciting and rewarding. As Air Force One heads to Shanghai, I am preparing to greet a President who has won the respect and confidence of China’s leaders through his thoughtful remarks, his gracious demeanor and his efforts to seek a relationship that allows us to define ourselves by our common interests and not by our differences.
The President understands that critical problems require the U.S. and China to cooperate. He has a sobering list of strategic objectives for this visit: in addition to the vital task of communicating the desire of the American people to be friends and partners of the Chinese, he will discuss with China's leaders cooperation on such global priorities as the economic recovery, climate change and international security issues in Iran and North Korea as well as make clear our core values.
And since it's his first trip to China, he looks forward to seeing for himself the culture and traditions that have made China a great nation. This trip will advance America's interests in Asia and the rest of the world and I believe our Chinese friends will view it that way as well.
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. is the United States' Ambassador to China
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/11/15/presidents-trip-china
Dear Friend:
We have made great progress with the independent movement and brought real--plus fundamental change to the two-party system. Now is the moment and time to join our continuous effort on making government more accountable -- Coaches! 101 have lobbied the government for Health Care Reform, and Homeless Prevention. Now we are taking on the fight to bring more jobs to NJ, and we need both republican and democrats to join our movement to place pressure on government to create jobs, or fund programs that create jobs in this country. The Next Generation's Leaders Program needs some of your help. We are asking you to be a part of the program and Donate to the cause.
Our program called: The Impact Player Award has helped the lives of teens everywhere.
http://www.coaches101.org/impact_player_award
Join the Community of service!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/david-plouffe-weighs-in-o_n_343424.html
I had arranged to meet David Plouffe on Saturday afternoon at a Starbucks on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington. The night before, a copy of his new book, The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory, was waiting for me when I checked into my hotel at midnight. I flipped it open, read a few lines and was hooked. I spent the rest of the night reading it. Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/obama-one-year-later-the_b_343209.html
As voters in a number of states head to the polls today, many long-time supporters are back on the phones, making calls to help get out the vote. In New Jersey, Jersey Girl reports:
Turn out is slow like any other non Presidential election no surprises there. This afternoon I volunteered to take people to the polls for now to the phones. Let's go NJ, NY and VA GOTV.
From Cookemon, in Illinois:
I'm making calls to Virginia, reminding folks to vote and let them know how important their vote is... I'll be calling off and on today.
And from Sharon, in Maryland:
Just finished 50 calls to New Jersey. Felt like old times. Time to stretch my legs and go back for more.
No matter where you are, you can help out in the final stretch by making GOTV calls from home using our online tools:
Click here to call voters in New Jersey.
Click here to call voters in New York's 23rd District.
Click here to call voters in Virginia.
This is the final week of the GreenGov Challenge, and I urge everyone to view some of the remarkable sustainability ideas submitted thus far by government and military employees.
And for those readers who are government or military employees, I urge you to share your suggestions. Though nearly 6,000 have been submitted thus far, that good idea in your mind right now could rewrite the way the Federal government reduces energy use, conserves water, reduces waste, and supports clean technology.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/26/good-ideas-good-people-greengov-challenge-rounds-final-turn-with-nearly-6000-sustain
To view the webcast of President Obama's speech from Kresge Auditorium on October 23, 2009, click on the appropriate link below. Closed Captioning is available only through the Windows Media Video links.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Building-a-World-that-Gives-Life-to-the-Promise-of-Our-Founding-Documents/
Early this morning, it was announced that President Obama had been selected as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. From the New York Times:
In a stunning surprise, the Nobel Committee announced in Oslo that it has awarded the annual prize to the president “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The award cited in particular Mr. Obama’s effort to reduce the world’s nuclear arsenal.“He has created a new international climate,” the committee said.The announcement, coming extraordinarily early in Mr. Obama’s presidency — less than nine months after he took office as the first African American president — shocked people from Norway to Washington. The White House had no idea it was coming. ...a senior administration official said in an e-mail message that Mr. Gibbs called the White House shortly before 6 a.m. and woke the president with the news.“The president was humbled to be selected by the committee,” the official said, without adding anything further.Mr. Obama made repairing the fractured relations between the United States and the rest of the world a major theme of his campaign for the presidency and since taking office as president, he has pursued a range of policies intended to fulfill that goal. He has vowed to pursue a world without nuclear arms, as he did in a speech in Prague earlier this year, reached out to the Muslim world, delivering a major speech in Cairo in June, and sought to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said in its citation. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”
President Obama is only the third sitting U.S. president to win the award.
UPDATED: The President will deliver a statement from the White House at 10:45 a.m. Eastern. You can watch a live stream of his remarks below:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Weekly-Address-Progress-with-the-G20-in-Pittsburgh/
Recorded literally on his way back from the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, the President uses his Weekly Address to recap the progress made during the intensive discussions with world leaders. From an historic agreement to reform the global financial system, to groundbreaking commitments on reducing subsidies to fossil fuels worldwide, to unity in standing against threats to world peace -- engagement produced tangible results in several areas.
download .mp3 |download .mp4 (79 MB) | read the transcript
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/09/24/President-Obama-Meets-the-Peacekeepers/
President Obama convened an unprecedented meeting with the leaders of countries who contribute troops and police to peacekeeping operations around the world. On the rare occasions when UN blue helmets have made the news in the past, it has unfortunately too often been in the context of situations where peacekeepers have failed to shield civilians, or even when the peacekeepers themselves have been involved in abuse. But every day more than 113,000 peacekeepers around the world go unrecognized as they put their lives on the line to patrol tense front lines, assist the delivery of humanitarian aid, and protect civilians in harm’s way. In light of his administration's commitment to global burden sharing and to peace and security, President Obama felt that it was important to gather those who have put troops in the line of fire to express his appreciation for their sacrifice, and to solicit their views on how best to strengthen peacekeeping, a vital instrument for U.S. security and global stability.
Shortly after noon today President Obama sat down with Heads of State from Bangladesh, Rwanda, Italy, Pakistan, Ghana, Senegal, Nepal, Uruguay on the challenges faced by peacekeepers in the field. Observers to the gathering of Heads of State included Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, and Foreign ministers and/or UN permanent representative from other leading contributors, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Nigeria. [Prime Minister Singh of India, the second largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping, sent his sincere regrets, as he was unable to attend the 64th UN General Assembly.] The meeting included lively interventions from each of the assembled heads of state. A few highlights: President Obama thanked President Kagame of Rwanda for the fine service of his forces in Darfur, and the Rwandan President expressed the hope that the United States and other UN member states would help reenergize political processes so that peacekeepers would in fact have "a peace to keep." President Zadari of Pakistan, the UN's leading troop contributor (with more than 10,000 soldiers active around the world) expressed tremendous pride in his country's forces and emphasized the salutary effect of UN missions of so many nationalities mingling in service of a common cause. Prime Minister Nepal of Nepal – a country active in peacekeeping for more than five decades -- stressed the peacekeepers' need for greater logistic support, and greater clarity in Security Council mandates. [He also said he had brought President Obama the gift of a large Gurkha knife, to symbolize Nepal’s commitment to peace – a knife that the U.S. secret service could not allow him to deliver!] And President Vasquez of Uruguay declared peacekeeping a bargain investments, as its benefits to all countries dramatically outweigh its financial costs. He also said that President Obama’s attention to the issue "had not gone unnoticed" around the world. President Obama, who listened and took notes during much of the meeting, concluded by summarizing what he took to be the key message from the troop contributing countries represented: UN member states needed to work together to: ensure that the resources provided to peacekeepers are sufficient to enable them to carry out the mandates given to them; improve and expand the training, equipping, and transporting of peacekeepers; invest in prevention and conflict resolution so that peacekeeping is not simply what he called a "band-aid for where there is insufficient diplomatic attention;" support, listen to, and, above all, protect local populations. The President pledged to those gathered that his administration "would follow up on a bilateral as well as a multilateral basis so that you receive the support, respect, and thanks that you deserve." Samantha Power is the Senior Director for Mulilateral Affairs.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Real_Change_is_Possible/
The prepared remarks of President Barack Obama at the United Nations General Assembly.
Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentleman: it is my honor to address you for the first time as the forty-fourth President of the United States. I come before you humbled by the responsibility that the American people have placed upon me; mindful of the enormous challenges of our moment in history; and determined to act boldly and collectively on behalf of justice and prosperity at home and abroad.
I have been in office for just nine months, though some days it seems a lot longer. I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world. These expectations are not about me. Rather, they are rooted – I believe – in a discontent with a status quo that has allowed us to be increasingly defined by our differences, and outpaced by our problems. But they are also rooted in hope – the hope that real change is possible, and the hope that America will be a leader in bringing about such change.
I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. This has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for our collective inaction.
Like all of you, my responsibility is to act in the interest of my nation and my people, and I will never apologize for defending those interests. But it is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 – more than at any point in human history – the interests of nations and peoples are shared.
The religious convictions that we hold in our hearts can forge new bonds among people, or tear us apart. The technology we harness can light the path to peace, or forever darken it. The energy we use can sustain our planet, or destroy it. What happens to the hope of a single child – anywhere – can enrich our world, or impoverish it.
In this hall, we come from many places, but we share a common future. No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together. I have carried this message from London to Ankara; from Port of Spain to Moscow; from Accra to Cairo; and it’s what I will speak about today. Because the time has come for the world to move in a new direction. We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interests and mutual respect, and our work must begin now.
We know the future will be forged by deeds and not simply words. Speeches alone will not solve our problems – it will take persistent action. So for those who question the character and cause of my nation, I ask you to look at the concrete actions that we have taken in just nine months.
On my first day in office, I prohibited – without exception or equivocation – the use of torture by the United States of America. I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law. Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.
We have set a clear and focused goal: to work with all members of this body to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies – a network that has killed thousands of people of many faiths and nations, and that plotted to blow up this very building. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, we – and many nations here – are helping those governments develop the capacity to take the lead in this effort, while working to advance opportunity and security for their people.
In Iraq, we are responsibly ending a war. We have removed American combat brigades from Iraqi cities, and set a deadline of next August to remove all of our combat brigades from Iraqi territory. And I have made clear that we will help Iraqis transition to full responsibility for their future, and keep our commitment to remove all American troops by the end of 2011.
I have outlined a comprehensive agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. In Moscow, the United States and Russia announced that we would pursue substantial reductions in our strategic warheads and launchers. At the Conference on Disarmament, we agreed on a work plan to negotiate an end to the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. And this week, my Secretary of State will become the first senior American representative to the annual Members Conference of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Upon taking office, I appointed a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and America has worked steadily and aggressively to advance the cause of two states – Israel and Palestine – in which peace and security take root, and the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians are respected.
To confront climate change, we have invested 80 billion dollars in clean energy. We have substantially increased our fuel-efficiency standards. We have provided new incentives for conservation, launched an energy partnership across the Americas, and moved from a bystander to a leader in international climate negotiations.
To overcome an economic crisis that touches every corner of the world, we worked with the G-20 nations to forge a coordinated international response of over two trillion dollars in stimulus to bring the global economy back from the brink. We mobilized resources that helped prevent the crisis from spreading further to developing countries. And we joined with others to launch a $20 billion global food security initiative that will lend a hand to those who need it most, and help them build their own capacity.
We have also re-engaged the United Nations. We have paid our bills. We have joined the Human Rights Council. We have signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We have fully embraced the Millennium Development Goals. And we address our priorities here, in this institution – for instance, through the Security Council meeting that I will chair tomorrow on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and through the issues that I will discuss today.
This is what we have done. But this is just a beginning. Some of our actions have yielded progress. Some have laid the groundwork for progress in the future. But make no mistake: this cannot be solely America’s endeavor. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world’s problems alone. We have sought – in word and deed – a new era of engagement with the world. Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.
If we are honest with ourselves, we need to admit that we are not living up to that responsibility. Consider the course that we are on if we fail to confront the status quo. Extremists sowing terror in pockets of the world. Protracted conflicts that grind on and on. Genocide and mass atrocities. More and more nations with nuclear weapons. Melting ice caps and ravaged populations. Persistent poverty and pandemic disease. I say this not to sow fear, but to state a fact: the magnitude of our challenges has yet to be met by the measure of our action.
This body was founded on the belief that the nations of the world could solve their problems together. Franklin Roosevelt, who died before he could see his vision for this institution become a reality, put it this way – and I quote: “The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, or one party, or one Nation…. It cannot be a peace of large nations – or of small nations. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world.”
The cooperative effort of the whole world. Those words ring even more true today, when it is not simply peace – but our very health and prosperity that we hold in common. Yet I also know that this body is made up of sovereign states. And sadly, but not surprisingly, this body has often become a forum for sowing discord instead of forging common ground; a venue for playing politics and exploiting grievances rather than solving problems. After all, it is easy to walk up to this podium and to point fingers and stoke division. Nothing is easier than blaming others for our troubles, and absolving ourselves of responsibility for our choices and our actions. Anyone can do that.
Responsibility and leadership in the 21st century demand more. In an era when our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero sum game. No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold. The traditional division between nations of the south and north makes no sense in an interconnected world. Nor do alignments of nations rooted in the cleavages of a long gone Cold War.
The time has come to realize that the old habits and arguments are irrelevant to the challenges faced by our people. They lead nations to act in opposition to the very goals that they claim to pursue, and to vote – often in this body – against the interests of their own people. They build up walls between us and the future that our people seek, and the time has come for those walls to come down. Together, we must build new coalitions that bridge old divides – coalitions of different faiths and creeds; of north and south, east and west; black, white, and brown.
The choice is ours. We can be remembered as a generation that chose to drag the arguments of the 20th century into the 21st; that put off hard choices, refused to look ahead, and failed to keep pace because we defined ourselves by what we were against instead of what we were for. Or, we can be a generation that chooses to see the shoreline beyond the rough waters ahead; that comes together to serve the common interests of human beings, and finally gives meaning to the promise embedded in the name given to this institution: the United Nations.
That is the future America wants – a future of peace and prosperity that we can only reach if we recognize that all nations have rights, but all nations have responsibilities as well. That is the bargain that makes this work. That must be the guiding principle of international cooperation.
Today, I put forward four pillars that are fundamental to the future that we want for our children: non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people.
First, we must stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and seek the goal of a world without them.
This institution was founded at the dawn of the atomic age, in part because man’s capacity to kill had to be contained. For decades, we averted disaster, even under the shadow of a super-power stand-off. But today, the threat of proliferation is growing in scope and complexity. If we fail to act, we will invite nuclear arms races in every region, and the prospect of wars and acts of terror on a scale that we can hardly imagine.
A fragile consensus stands in the way of this frightening outcome – the basic bargain that shapes the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. It says that all nations have the right to peaceful nuclear energy; that nations with nuclear weapons have the responsibility to move toward disarmament; and those without them have the responsibility to forsake them. The next twelve months could be pivotal in determining whether this compact will be strengthened or will slowly dissolve.
America will keep our end of the bargain. We will pursue a new agreement with Russia to substantially reduce our strategic warheads and launchers. We will move forward with ratification of the Test Ban Treaty, and work with others to bring the Treaty into force so that nuclear testing is permanently prohibited. We will complete a Nuclear Posture Review that opens the door to deeper cuts, and reduces the role of nuclear weapons. And we will call upon countries to begin negotiations in January on a treaty to end the production of fissile material for weapons.
I will also host a Summit next April that reaffirms each nation’s responsibility to secure nuclear material on its territory, and to help those who can’t – because we must never allow a single nuclear device to fall into the hands of a violent extremist. And we will work to strengthen the institutions and initiatives that combat nuclear smuggling and theft.
All of this must support efforts to strengthen the NPT. Those nations that refuse to live up to their obligations must face consequences. This is not about singling out individual nations – it is about standing up for the rights of all nations that do live up to their responsibilities. Because a world in which IAEA inspections are avoided and the United Nation’s demands are ignored will leave all people less safe, and all nations less secure.
In their actions to date, the governments of North Korea and Iran threaten to take us down this dangerous slope. We respect their rights as members of the community of nations. I am committed to diplomacy that opens a path to greater prosperity and a more secure peace for both nations if they live up to their obligations.
But if the governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards; if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the security and opportunity of their own people; if they are oblivious to the dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East – then they must be held accountable. The world must stand together to demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise, and that Treaties will be enforced. We must insist that the future not belong to fear.
That brings me to the second pillar for our future: the pursuit of peace.
The United Nations was born of the belief that the people of the world can live their lives, raise their families, and resolve their differences peacefully. And yet we know that in too many parts of the world, this ideal remains an abstraction. We can either accept that outcome as inevitable, and tolerate constant and crippling conflict. Or we can recognize that the yearning for peace is universal, and reassert our resolve to end conflicts around the world.
That effort must begin with an unshakeable determination that the murder of innocent men, women and children will never be tolerated. On this, there can be no dispute. The violent extremists who promote conflict by distorting faith have discredited and isolated themselves. They offer nothing but hatred and destruction. In confronting them, America will forge lasting partnerships to target terrorists, share intelligence, coordinate law enforcement, and protect our people. We will permit no safe-haven for al Qaeda to launch attacks from Afghanistan or any other nation. We will stand by our friends on the front lines, as we and many nations will do in pledging support for the Pakistani people tomorrow. And we will pursue positive engagement that builds bridges among faiths, and new partnerships for opportunity.
But our efforts to promote peace cannot be limited to defeating violent extremists. For the most powerful weapon in our arsenal is the hope of human beings – the belief that the future belongs to those who build, not destroy; the confidence that conflicts can end, and a new day begin.
That is why we will strengthen our support for effective peacekeeping, while energizing our efforts to prevent conflicts before they take hold. We will pursue a lasting peace in Sudan through support for the people of Darfur, and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, so that we secure the peace that the Sudanese people deserve. And in countries ravaged by violence – from Haiti to Congo to East Timor – we will work with the UN and other partners to support an enduring peace.
I will also continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine, and the Arab world. Yesterday, I had a constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas. We have made some progress. Palestinians have strengthened their efforts on security. Israelis have facilitated greater freedom of movement for the Palestinians. As a result of these efforts by both sides, the economy in the West Bank has begun to grow. But more progress is needed. We continue to call on Palestinians to end incitement against Israel, and we continue to emphasize that America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.
The time has come to re-launch negotiations – without preconditions – that address the permanent-status issues: security for Israelis and Palestinians; borders, refugees and Jerusalem. The goal is clear: two states living side by side in peace and security – a Jewish State of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people. As we pursue this goal, we will also pursue peace between Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Syria, and a broader peace between Israel and its many neighbors. In pursuit of that goal, we will develop regional initiatives with multilateral participation, alongside bilateral negotiations.
I am not naïve. I know this will be difficult. But all of us must decide whether we are serious about peace, or whether we only lend it lip-service. To break the old patterns – to break the cycle of insecurity and despair – all of us must say publicly what we would acknowledge in private. The United States does Israel no favors when we fail to couple an unwavering commitment to its security with an insistence that Israel respect the legitimate claims and rights of the Palestinians. And nations within this body do the Palestinians no favors when they choose vitriolic attacks over a constructive willingness to recognize Israel’s legitimacy, and its right to exist in peace and security.
We must remember that the greatest price of this conflict is not paid by us. It is paid by the Israeli girl in Sderot who closes her eyes in fear that a rocket will take her life in the night. It is paid by the Palestinian boy in Gaza who has no clean water and no country to call his own. These are God’s children. And after all of the politics and all of the posturing, this is about the right of every human being to live with dignity and security. That is a lesson embedded in the three great faiths that call one small slice of Earth the Holy Land. And that is why – even though there will be setbacks, and false starts, and tough days – I will not waiver in my pursuit of peace.
Third, we must recognize that in the 21st century, there will be no peace unless we make take responsibility for the preservation of our planet.
The danger posed by climate change cannot be denied, and our responsibility to meet it must not be deferred. If we continue down our current course, every member of this Assembly will see irreversible changes within their borders. Our efforts to end conflicts will be eclipsed by wars over refugees and resources. Development will be devastated by drought and famine. Land that human beings have lived on for millennia will disappear. Future generations will look back and wonder why we refused to act – why we failed to pass on intact the environment that was our inheritance.
That is why the days when America dragged its feet on this issue are over. We will move forward with investments to transform our energy economy, while providing incentives to make clean energy the profitable kind of energy. We will press ahead with deep cuts in emissions to reach the goals that we set for 2020, and eventually 2050. We will continue to promote renewable energy and efficiency – and share new technologies – with countries around the world. And we will seize every opportunity for progress to address this threat in a cooperative effort with the whole world.
Those wealthy nations that did so much to damage the environment in the 20th century must accept our obligation to lead. But responsibility does not end there. While we must acknowledge the need for differentiated responses, any effort to curb carbon emissions must include the fast-growing carbon emitters who can do more to reduce their air pollution without inhibiting growth. And any effort that fails to help the poorest nations both adapt to the problems that climate change has already wrought – and travel a path of clean development – will not work.
It is hard to change something as fundamental as how we use energy. It’s even harder to do so in the midst of a global recession. Certainly, it will be tempting to sit back and wait for others to move first. But we cannot make this journey unless we all move forward together. As we head into Copenhagen, let us resolve to focus on what each of us can do for the sake of our common future.
This leads me to the final pillar that must fortify our future: a global economy that advances opportunity for all people.
The world is still recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. In America, we see the engine of growth beginning to churn, yet many still struggle to find a job or pay their bills. Across the globe, we find promising signs, yet little certainty about what lies ahead. And far too many people in far too many places live through the daily crises that challenge our common humanity – the despair of an empty stomach; the thirst brought on by dwindling water; the injustice of a child dying from a treatable disease, or a mother losing her life as she gives birth.
In Pittsburgh, we will work with the world’s largest economies to chart a course for growth that is balanced and sustained. That means vigilance to ensure that we do not let up until our people are back to work. That means taking steps to rekindle demand, so that a global recovery can be sustained. And that means setting new rules of the road and strengthening regulation for all financial centers, so that we put an end to the greed, excess and abuse that led us into disaster, and prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.
At a time of such interdependence, we have a moral and pragmatic interest in broader questions of development. And so we will continue our historic effort to help people feed themselves. We have set aside $63 billion to carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS; to end deaths from tuberculosis and malaria; to eradicate polio; and to strengthen public health systems. We are joining with other countries to contribute H1N1 vaccines to the World Health Organization. We will integrate more economies into a system of global trade. We will support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year’s Summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time.
Now is the time for all of us to do our part. Growth will not be sustained or shared unless all nations embrace their responsibility. Wealthy nations must open their markets to more goods and extend a hand to those with less, while reforming international institutions to give more nations a greater voice. Developing nations must root out the corruption that is an obstacle to progress – for opportunity cannot thrive where individuals are oppressed and business have to pay bribes. That’s why we will support honest police and independent judges; civil society and a vibrant private sector. Our goal is simple: a global economy in which growth is sustained, and opportunity is available to all.
The changes that I have spoken about today will not be easy to make. And they will not be realized simply by leaders like us coming together in forums like this. For as in any assembly of members, real change can only come through the people we represent. That is why we must do the hard work to lay the groundwork for progress in our own capitals. That is where we will build the consensus to end conflicts and to harness technology for peaceful purposes; to change the way we use energy, and to promote growth that can be sustained and shared.
I believe that the people of the world want this future for their children. And that is why we must champion those principles which ensure that governments reflect the will of the people. These principles cannot be afterthoughts – democracy and human rights are essential to achieving each of the goals that I have discussed today. Because governments of the people and by the people are more likely to act in the broader interests of their own people, rather than the narrow interest of those in power.
The test of our leadership will not be the degree to which we feed the fears and old hatreds of our people. True leadership will not be measured by the ability to muzzle dissent, or to intimidate and harass political opponents at home. The people of the world want change. They will not long tolerate those who are on the wrong side of history.
This Assembly’s Charter commits each of us, and I quote – “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women.” Among those rights is the freedom to speak your mind and worship as you please; the promise of equality of the races, and the opportunity for women and girls to pursue their own potential; the ability of citizens to have a say in how you are governed, and to have confidence in the administration of justice. For just as no nation should be forced to accept the tyranny of another nation, no individual should be forced to accept the tyranny of their own government.
As an African-American, I will never forget that I would not be here today without the steady pursuit of a more perfect union in my country. That guides my belief that no matter how dark the day may seem, transformative change can be forged by those who choose the side of justice. And I pledge that America will always stand with those who stand up for their dignity and their rights – for the student who seeks to learn; the voter who demands to be heard; the innocent who longs to be free; and the oppressed who yearns to be equal.
Democracy cannot be imposed on any nation from the outside. Each society must search for its own path, and no path is perfect. Each country will pursue a path rooted in the culture of its people, and – in the past – America has too often been selective in its promotion of democracy. But that does not weaken our commitment, it only reinforces it. There are basic principles that are universal; there are certain truths which are self evident – and the United States of America will never waiver in our efforts to stand up for the right of people everywhere to determine their own destiny.
Sixty-five years ago, a weary Franklin Roosevelt spoke to the American people in his fourth and final inaugural address. After years of war, he sought to sum up the lessons that could be drawn from the terrible suffering and enormous sacrifice that had taken place. “We have learned,” he said, “to be citizens of the world, members of the human community.”
The United Nations was built by men and women like Roosevelt from every corner of the world – from Africa and Asia; form Europe to the Americas. These architects of international cooperation had an idealism that was anything but naïve – it was rooted in the hard-earned lessons of war, and the wisdom that nations could advance their interests by acting together instead of splitting apart.
Now it falls to us – for this institution will be what we make of it. The United Nations does extraordinary good around the world in feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and mending places that have been broken. But it also struggles to enforce its will, and to live up to the ideals of its founding.
I believe that those imperfections are not a reason to walk away from this institution – they are a calling to redouble our efforts. The United Nations can either be a place where we bicker about outdated grievances, or forge common ground; a place where we focus on what drives us apart, or what brings us together; a place where we indulge tyranny, or a source of moral authority. In short, the United Nations can be an institution that is disconnected from what matters in the lives of our citizens, or it can be indispensable in advancing the interests of the people we serve.
We have reached a pivotal moment. The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation – one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations. With confidence in our cause, and with a commitment to our values, we call on all nations to join us in building the future that our people deserve. Thank you.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die." -- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1932-2009
One would be hard pressed to argue that Ted Kennedy's death was a more bitter pill for the country than the deaths of his brothers before him – John, the young president whose assassination gave Americans a hard warning about the violent age they were about to enter, or Robert, the presidential aspirant who was thought at the time to be the last leader in America who might have been able to help the nation transcend that violence.
Nevertheless, the heavens have somehow conspired to make this Kennedy death, however expected it might have been, nearly as heartbreaking as those of his vigorous younger brothers. It's not just that the great cause of the last 40 years of his life, reforming America's healthcare system, sits at a perilous juncture, although it certainly is that, in part. But the tragic irony of the timing is even greater, because we see in the very healthcare debate that so needed his input the precarious state of the institution to which he devoted his life, and which he shaped and influenced more than probably any other senator in history.
The United States Senate was rarely a force for progress through much of its history. Originally, senators weren't even directly elected. They tended to be men who at the very least would look after the interests of the railroad and mining and sugar industries, and preferably were members of families with those interests.
Then, in the mid-20th century, something different started to happen. As access to higher education became more widespread – and with the idea of public service not yet thought of in terms of the opportunity cost of not being a lobbyist or corporate lawyer instead – a different breed of person started entering the Senate. These people were not old-money Wasps, but middle-class men from different walks of life: frontiersmen who taught themselves Mandarin Chinese, like Montana's Mike Mansfield, or war veterans who wanted only to continue to serve their country, like Phil Hart of Michigan.
On this scale, Kennedy was something of a throwback. He was certainly patrician. He was from one of America's wealthiest families. But Kennedy money wasn't old Wasp money. Old Man Joe, whatever his faults, taught his nine kids to remember the penury from which the family had risen. And from the experience of being Catholic in early 20th-century America, they took the lesson that discrimination and exclusion had to be fought.
In 1958 and 1960, more men in the Mansfield-Hart mould were elected to the Senate. The trend culminated in Teddy's own class, of 1962. Now, suddenly, the Senate wasn't dominated by millionaires and racists. And now, the Senate could help remake America – and itself. It joined the side of progress and passed piles of legislation, starting of course with civil rights but hardly ending there, that changed the country.
No one was more central to this historic change than Kennedy. He left his imprint on more legislation than any senator in the history of the chamber. He forged the famous alliances with dyed-in-the-wool conservatives. I doubt that any senator passed more pieces of bipartisan legislation than Kennedy. He was just damn good at his job.
In a way I think it's a positive thing that he never became president. The controversy surrounding it would have been too great, after Chappaquiddick. It may well be that someone who's done something like that – not only Mary Jo Kopechne's death, but the family's infamous and shameful delay in contacting the authorities – doesn't deserve to be president. And it is the case that his one great run at it, in 1980, represented a sort of nadir in his career. Jimmy Carter may have deserved a primary challenge from his left, but he didn't deserve Kennedy's ungraciousness at that year's convention, when the senator snubbed the president on stage during the convention's final night.
But more than that (and more sympathetically than that), who can seriously doubt that, if Kennedy had been president, these eulogies might have been written years ago? I have a wispy memory from childhood; my family was at a friend's house. Teddy was on TV giving a speech, and I think it was a convention, whether 1968 or 1972 I can't quite say, though probably '68. A woman who was a friend of our host's was watching from a chair, and I was on the floor. I remember how she shook her head sadly and said: "If he runs, they'll just shoot him too."
He escaped the assassin's bullet (and believe me, there were years when one couldn't be sure he would), and now, age and disease have taken the Kennedy who did live to comb grey hair, to invoke a line of Yeats's that he invoked at the funeral of his nephew, the ex-president's son.
An era of Senate history passes with him. The present mess proves that the time when broadly bipartisan agreement could be reached on major legislation – as was the case back in the 1960s on civil rights and Medicare – is long gone. It would be nice to think that his death might encourage his mourning colleagues to try to recapture that old spirit. But it would be naive. His passing will surely, however, steel pro-reform forces to get something accomplished in his honour.
There are and will be more Kennedys, but the Kennedy era is over now. Teddy was imperfect enough that some Americans will say amen to that. Let them. The rest of us know what a dramatically better place this country is because of him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2009/aug/26/ted-kennedy-death-america-politics
www.whitehouse.gov
Michelle and I were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of our dear friend, Senator Ted Kennedy.
For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts.
I valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've profited as President from his encouragement and wisdom.
An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time.
And the Kennedy family has lost their patriarch, a tower of strength and support through good times and bad.
Our hearts and prayers go out to them today--to his wonderful wife, Vicki, his children Ted Jr., Patrick and Kara, his grandchildren and his extended family.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Senator-Kennedy/
Jeremy Bird, Deputy Director of Organizing for America, just sent out this message:
On Thursday, an astounding 280,000 Organizing for America supporters gathered online to huddle with the President at our National Health Care Forum. With Congress about to return to Washington to make historic decisions on health insurance reform, the President chose this critical moment to speak directly to the OFA community. He reminded us of how far we've come and what we can accomplish together:Remember one thing: Nothing is more powerful than millions of voices calling for change. That's how we won this election. You know this, and that's why since OFA launched its health reform campaign in June you've hosted 11,000 events in more than 2,500 towns in every single state and every single congressional district...I am absolutely confident that we can get this done, but I want everybody to remember, this has never been easy....We are not going to give up now. We are going to get this done. Now it's up to us to take the next step. This week, we need to make sure every member of Congress heads back to Washington hearing overwhelming support for change. Lies and fear must not have the last word about the health reform America so desperately needs. So here's what you can do: Host or attend a "Let's Get It Done: Health Insurance Reform Now" event near you.There are many different kinds of events, from forums to rallies to "Health Care Phone Booths," where local folks can get the facts and call Congress. And if there isn't yet one near you, you can easily host your own. Wherever you live, you can help show Congress, the media, and your neighbors that the American people have one clear message about health reform: Let's get it done.Thursday, the President made the stakes of reform crystal clear. He talked about how, with health care costs rising three times faster than wages, the cost of inaction is simply too high.He explained how reform will guarantee competition and choice. He described the Insurance Guarantees that will protect every American from discrimination against pre-existing conditions, exorbitant charges, and arbitrary denials or reductions in coverage just when we need it most.And he made plain his stance on the public option: "So let me just be clear: I continue to support a public option, I think it is important, and I think it will help drive down costs and give consumers choices."But even the best plan only matters if it passes, and that's where we all have a critical role to play. As the President said:And that's why what all of you do is so important, because people trust you -- your neighbors, your friends, fellow community members -- they trust you. They know you. And if you are presenting the facts clearly and fairly, I'm absolutely confident that we're going to win this debate. But we're going to have a lot of work to do and I'm grateful that you're willing to do it. Let's go get 'em.Answer the President's call -- host or attend an event near you:http://my.barackobama.com/reformnowLet's get it done,JeremyJeremy BirdDeputy DirectorOrganizing for AmericaP.S. -- Couldn't join us on Thursday? You can still see the President's message to you. Click here to see highlights of the President's remarks or the full video of the National Health Care Forum.
Remember one thing: Nothing is more powerful than millions of voices calling for change. That's how we won this election. You know this, and that's why since OFA launched its health reform campaign in June you've hosted 11,000 events in more than 2,500 towns in every single state and every single congressional district...I am absolutely confident that we can get this done, but I want everybody to remember, this has never been easy....We are not going to give up now. We are going to get this done.
And that's why what all of you do is so important, because people trust you -- your neighbors, your friends, fellow community members -- they trust you. They know you. And if you are presenting the facts clearly and fairly, I'm absolutely confident that we're going to win this debate. But we're going to have a lot of work to do and I'm grateful that you're willing to do it. Let's go get 'em.
(President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Oval Office of the White House, August 18, 2009)(President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Oval Office of the White House, August 18, 2009)(President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Oval Office of the White House, August 18, 2009)
download .mp4 (264.9 MB) | read the transcript
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/President-Mubarak-of-Egypt-at-the-White-House/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009-Medal-of-Freedom-Recipients/
Barack Obama will recognise the accomplishments of actors, activists, athletes and the world's foremost living theoretical physicist today when he awards the presidential medal of freedom to 16 people.
Among recipients of the United States' highest honour for a civilian will be Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist and mathematician known for his work on black holes; former Irish president and one-time UN human rights commissioner Mary Robinson, and retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Other recipients include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, a leader in global anti-poverty efforts who pioneered providing "microloans" to provide credit to poor people who lack collateral.
Film star Sidney Poitier, civil rights leader the Rev Joseph Lowery and tennis legend Billie Jean King were also among those to receive the medal as well as Democratic senator Edward Kennedy, who has been battling brain cancer, and Sandra Day O'Connor, former US supreme court justice.
Kennedy will remain on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, following the death of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, but the senator's spokesman said his children will attend the ceremony and his daughter, Kara, will accept the award on his behalf.
Obama, awarding his first presidential medals, also will make posthumous awards to Jack Kemp of New York, the football quarterback-turned-politician who died in May, and gay rights activist and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978.
The White House has said the individuals were selected for their work as "agents of change".
US president Harry Truman established the medal of Freedom in 1945 to recognise civilians for their efforts during the second world war. John F Kennedy reinstated the medal in 1963 to honour distinguished service.
Other recipients are: Joe Medicine Crow, the last living Plains Indian war chief who fought in the second world war wearing war paint beneath his uniform. Chita Rivera, an actor, singer, dancer and winner of two Tony Awards for Broadway roles. Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G Komen for the Cure, a leading breast cancer grass-roots organisation. Dr Pedro Jose Greer Jr, assistant dean of academic affairs at Florida International University School of Medicine. Dr Janet Davison Rowley, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/12/medal-of-freedom-obama-list
Posted by Katherine Brandon
The President announced today the 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilan honor. The President praised the recipients for breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens: "These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds. Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs. Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way."The awards will be presented on August 12. Here is a little bit about this year’s recipients:
See the official release for a little more detail.
From WhiteHouse.gov:
Every day, President Obama reads ten letters from the public in order to stay in tune with America's issues and concerns. "Letters to the President" is an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the process of how those ten letters make it to the President's desk from among the tens of thousands of letters, faxes, and e-mails that flood the White House each day.
http://kennedy.senate.gov/
HYANNIS PORT — Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released the following statement regarding the Affordable Health Choices Act:
“This room is a special place. In this room, my two brothers declared their candidacy for the presidency. Today, the nation takes another major step toward reaching the goals to which they dedicated their careers, and for which they gave their lives. They strived, as I have tried to do, for a fairer and more just America – a nation where every American could share fully in the promise of quality health care.
As you vote today, know that I am with you in heart and mind and soul, and I wish very much that I could be with you in person.
I could not be prouder of our committee. We have done the hard work that the American people sent us here to do. We have considered hundreds of proposals. Where we have been able to reach principled compromise, we have done so. Where we have not been able to resolve our differences, we have treated those with whom we disagree with respect and patience. I thank all the members of our committee – Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike – for their dedication and devotion to the great cause of quality, affordable health care for all our people.
Extraordinary thanks go to Chris Dodd. No man has ever had a truer or more generous friend than he has been to me, and no cause has ever had a more able leader than he has been in the great effort to enact health reform.
It is a cause that knows no boundary of party, region, or philosophy. It is a cause that can and should unite us all as Americans. We know, however, that our work is not over – far from it. As we move from our committee room to the Senate floor, we must continue the search for solutions that unite us, so that the great promise of quality affordable health care for all can be fulfilled.
As I said, this room is a special place – and I believe our committee’s actions have added a glorious chapter to the honor roll of history that has been made here.
Americans are an extraordinary people. We have created a nation of liberty and justice. We have defeated forces of oppression, and we have spread prosperity and progress across the globe. When the American people are on the march, there is no barrier that can resist them, no obstacle that can block their path.
The American people are on the march once more, and they will not stop until quality, affordable health care is the birthright of every American. And we are with them every step of the way.”
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Anthony Coley/ Melissa Wagoner (202) 224-2633
http://stories.barackobama.com/healthcare
L'AQUILA, Italy -- Group of Eight leaders, after a last-minute push from U.S. President Barack Obama, will pledge $20 billion over three years for a new "food security" initiative, a late victory for a summit that has limped along and failed to meet other expectations.
Much of that money had been previously pledged to food aid. For instance, of the Obama administration's three-year, $3.5 billion a year pledge, a little less than half is new money. But on Thursday, it looked like G8 leaders would pledge only $12 billion over three years, an actual drop in current aid spending.
"One of the things we're going to have to do is fight the temptation towards cynicism," Mr. Obama said after climate-change talks Thursday.
World leaders here largely punted on big decisions or promised future action. A meeting on nuclear weapons is to be held in Washington in March, Mr. Obama said, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he would soon propose changes to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty requiring states suspected of building nuclear weapons to prove they aren't.
After the group failed to agree on greenhouse-gas emissions targets, Mr. Obama said finance ministers were directed to develop programs for financing climate-change mitigation and climate-control technologies before the Group of 20 nations meet in September, and to reach emissions-reduction targets before December. The leaders agreed to restart and conclude the next round of global trade talks -- but not until 2010.
Amid the lackluster results, officials here found themselves defending the existence of the G-8, as economic powers, such as China, India and others, rise outside the club
Mr. Obama had hoped to secure a robust agricultural aid program before his Saturday trip to the West African nation of Ghana, where he will tell the Ghanaian Parliament that recipients of U.S. assistance must bring to their agricultural-aid programs the same efficiencies and effectiveness that have been applied recently to health efforts, especially on AIDS and education.
"Insofar as he'll be talking about a new way of looking at food security, it will certainly only serve to reinforce the argument that he'll be making in Ghana. That is to say that we have responsibilities, but that the Ghanaians and Africans generally, as well as people in other developing nations, also have responsibilities," said Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough.
Before the gathering, G-8 officials had been promoting a three-year, $15 billion initiative to launch what they are calling a "green revolution" focused on improving agricultural productivity and the livelihoods of the rural poor. Advocates of development aid have noted that $15 billion is at best what developed nations already provide in food assistance. At worst, it may represent a decline.
In response, the Obama administration -- one of the few to pledge real aid increases -- pressed for more before the summit's conclusion.
"Obama's dragging the G-8 along, but at this point, the money's not looking all that good," said Gawain Kripke, U.S. policy director for Oxfam International, an advocate of development aid.
In an interview, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization played down the amount of aid the G-8 would collectively pledge, noting that the real challenge lay in getting individual governments to deliver on their promises through tighter coordination.
The G-8 nations on Thursday pledged by the end of 2010 to have concluded global trade negotiations. The talks -- known as the Doha Round, after the Gulf State city where they were started -- would focus on where they foundered: agricultural subsidies and trade barriers to services.
"There is a really important political goodwill shown by the president of the United States towards having a clear and ambitious target, 2010, to get an agreement -- not just to negotiate," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Full-Video-A-National-Discussion-on-Health-Care-Reform/
"I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. It will be hard. But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough. So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."
– President Barack Obama, February 24, 2009
For a taste, here's the transcript of the first question:
MS. JARRETT: I'm going to be in charge. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
So in my opening remarks, Mr. President, I mentioned that when you released your YouTube video over the weekend, we received literally hundreds of video questions from all across the country. Your staff looked through all those questions and have selected a cross-section that represents a broad cross-section of the kinds of questions that came up.
I want to emphasize that the President has not seen the questions ahead of time. (Laughter.) Absolutely not.
And so we're going to begin with a video question, Mr. President, if you look at the screen.
THE PRESIDENT: All right.
VIDEO Q Hi, my name is Steve White. I'm in Spring Valley, New York. And my question for the President is: Why are we considering a health care plan which maintains the private insurance companies with their high overhead costs, instead of a single-payer plan, which would eliminate the high overhead costs, saving the American taxpayer hundreds of billions of dollars, while covering everyone in our country? Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Well, it's a terrific question. I'm not sure if everybody could hear it, but the gist of the question is, why have we not been looking at a single-payer plan as the way to go?
As many of you know, in many countries, most industrialized advanced countries, they have some version of what's called a single-payer plan. And what that means is essentially that the government is the insurer. The government may not necessarily hire the doctors or the hospitals -- a lot of those may still be privately operated -- but the government is the insurer for everybody. And Medicare is actually a single-payer plan that we have in place, but we only have it in place for our older Americans.
Now, in a lot of those countries, a single-payer plan works pretty well and you eliminate, as Scott, I think it was, said, you eliminate private insurers, you don't have the administrative costs and the bureaucracy and so forth.
Here's the problem, is that the way our health care system evolved in the United States, it evolved based on employers providing health insurance to their employees through private insurers. And so that's still the way that the vast majority of you get your insurance. And for us to transition completely from an employer-based system of private insurance to a single-payer system could be hugely disruptive. And my attitude has been that we should be able to find a way to create a uniquely American solution to this problem that controls costs but preserves the innovation that is introduced in part with a free market system.
I think that we can regulate the insurance companies effectively; make sure that they're not playing games with people because of preexisting conditions; that they're not charging wildly different rates to people based on where they live or what their age is; that they're not dropping people for coverage unnecessarily; that we have a public option that's available to provide competition and choice to the American people, and to keep the insurers honest; and that we can provide a system in which we are, over the long term, driving down administrative costs, and making sure that people are getting the best possible care at a lower price.
But I recognize that there are lot of people who are passionate -- they look at France or some of these other systems and they say, well, why can't we just do that? Well, the answer is, is that this is one-sixth of our economy, and we're not suddenly just going to completely upend the system. We want to build on what works about the system and fix what's broken about the system. And that's what I think Congress is committed to doing, and I'm committed to working with them to make it happen. Okay?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Today-A-National-Discussion-on-Health-Care-Reform/
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1ST, 2009 AT 5:48 AM
Today: A National Discussion on Health Care Reform
Posted by Jesse Lee
On Saturday the President posted a video asking for your questions on health care reform. In just a few days, we’ve gotten hundreds of submissions. The questions spanned the ideological spectrum, and ranged from heart-breaking and personal to almost wonkishly policy-focused.Today’s the day where the President will get to answer some of the best submissions. But even if you didn't get a chance to submit a video question, the opportunities to participate have just begun. Watch, discuss, and engage through our Facebook live-stream chat application, watch and drop us comments at WhiteHouse.gov/live, or take part in the conversation on Twitter using hashtag #WHHCQ.The event will begin around 1:15 EDT:· Join the conversation through Facebook· Join the conversation through Twitter· Watch and give us your feedback here at WhiteHouse.gov/liveWe'll not only be monitoring all of those conversations closely during the event and looking for ways to incorporate your feedback into the conversation, but following up after the event in the coming days to get to as many questions as possible from the ones the President couldn't get to, and to address follow-up questions to his answers there.
![[Obama and Singh]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-EA777_g8_070_F_20090710072000.jpg)
![[SB124706016916511567]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-EA289_0708g8_D_20090708094957.jpg)
