President Obama Gives Speech at a GM Auto Plant

Yesterday, July 30th, 2010, President Obama stopped at the Hamtramck General Motors auto plant in Hamtramck, Michigan to talk about jobs, the economy, and most notably the auto industry and the importance in investing in new auto technologies. It has been a little over a year since the auto industry was given a bailout by the government, and more importantly the U.S. taxpayers. Among those companies bailed out were General Motors and Chrysler.
The President gave a ten minute speech in which he explained the reasoning and validation for the auto bailout, in which he stated, "the auto industry had lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Sales had gone down by 40 percent. And two of the Big Three, GM and Chrysler, were on the brink of a liquidation bankruptcy, which means they would have been wiped out. And if GM and Chrysler were wiped out, then suppliers would be wiped out and dealerships would have been wiped out, and communities would have been even more devastated. It’s estimated that we would have lost another million jobs if we had not stepped in."
He also announced the growth of GM, Ford, and Chrysler. "And a year later, GM and Chrysler, along with Ford, are all posting a profit. The U.S. auto industry has hired 55,000 workers, the most job growth in a decade. And not only that, but you’re producing the cars of the future right here at this plant, producing cars that are going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil." To this, the crowd of GM auto workers let out a loud cheer.
Before his speech President Obama took a tour of the GM plant, as well as a tour of the new Chevy Volt, which is due to make it's debut later this year. He also spoke of the need for energy independence to drive the clean energy economy.

Andy Griffith and Medicare

Today, July 30th, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services(C.M.S.), released a new ad regarding the new benefits in Medicare and Medicaid that seniors will receive because of the new healthcare law that passed earlier this year. The ad, which is set to run immediately on cable channels nationwide features none other than the great and legendary Andy Griffith. It was Andy Griffith of course who starred in the hit series of the 1950s and 1960s "The Andy Griffith Show." In later years he also starred in the mystery series, "Matlock."
This will certainly give a boost of interest in the C.M.S. and the Affordable Care Act as a whole.
The new ad featuring Andy Griffith is posted above.
Enjoy.

President Obama On the Disclose Act

On July 26, 2010, President Obama took the podium in the Rose Garden at the White House to make a strong case for an end to the "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision, that gave corporations and businesses the right to donate unlimited funds to certain candidates of their choosing during an election. "They can buy millions of dollars worth of TV ads –- and worst of all, they don’t even have to reveal who’s actually paying for the ads." Since day one, President Obama has opposed this sort of measure because of the overreaching ramifications it would have over the democratic process, turning it into nothing short of a corporate buyout of our election process. "Now, imagine the power this will give special interests over politicians. Corporate lobbyists will be able to tell members of Congress if they don’t vote the right way, they will face an onslaught of negative ads in their next campaign."
The House of Representatives has passed the Disclose Act with bipartisan support, but in typical fashion, it has been stalled by the Republicans in the Senate. The Disclose Act would require advertising from corporations regarding that of a political nature to provide exactly who is funding the advertisements. President Obama explained further, "So when special interests take to the airwaves, whoever is running and funding the ad would have to appear in the advertisement and claim responsibility for it -– like a company’s CEO or the organization’s biggest contributor."
The President has shown firm and unwavering support for Campaign Finance Reform, which would put the power back in the hands of the individual in the United States to decide who will be elected and who won't.

President Obama's Weekly Address: The Economy and Financial Reform

On July 23, 2010, President Barack Obama gave his weekly address to the nation from the White House.
This comes just after signing into law the most widespread, sweeping financial reform legislation since the Great Depression. In the address he laid out his plans on how the middle class shall be strengthened over the next few years. He also spoke of giving tax cuts to small businesses that invest in clean energy that in turn create jobs in the United States, as well as tax cuts for working families.
He also took aim at the agenda and financial plan of the House and Senate Republicans, most notably House Minority Leader John Boehner, and stated that their policies will do nothing except return the United States back to the same old ways of giving tax breaks to the wealthiest top one percent of Americans, while at the same time because of it adding more national debt and having the middle class foot the bill, and finally, massive deregulation of the financial industry that led the U.S. into the financial crisis.