Live White House Feed: President Obama speaks to Congressional Black Caucus

Update I: The President's speech to the Congressional Black Caucus has concluded. The video will be posted when/if it becomes available.

Update II: The video of President Obama's speech to the CBC is posted below

Washington, D.C. - The President spoke at a gathering of the Congressional Black Caucus Saturday evening to address jobs and the need to "press on" despite the obstacles and adversaries that lay in the path to equality.

Tying the American Jobs Act to the needs of the Black community, President Obama was clear that there is much to be gained. In his speech to the Caucus the President claimed that 100,000 Black businesses and 20 million Black workers would be helped by passage of his jobs bill (presumably, these figures are estimates).

The President went further in highlighting his record on addressing Black concerns, pointing towards gains made with the help of members such as the CBC on issues ranging from education loans to health care reform.

But the President made it clear that he was not finished in his pursuit of a better, fairer society for the Black community. He challenged the CBC to continue working as well. "I don't know about you CBC," President Obama said, "but the future rewards those who press on."

Read more »

President Obama takes American Jobs Act to Ohio on chants of "Pass this bill"

Columbus, OH - First stop, Richmond, VA. Next stop, Columbus, OH. President Obama made his next move in the fight to get his American Jobs Act passed by stepping in Speaker Boehner's (R-OH) back yard on Wednesday. And it seems the crowd has picked up on the President's message. In a speech that targeted schools and infrastructure, the President paused several times to crowd chants of "Pass this bill."



Read more >>

Read more »

White House holds "Open for Questions" forum to address issues in Black and Urban America

Washington, D.C. - "We'll need all hands on deck if this economy is going to succeed." Those were the words of White House Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes as she addressed an audience at the Interactive One "Open for Questions" event on Tuesday. Included in the event were websites The Grio, Black Planet, HelloBeautiful, TheUrbanDaily, and NewsOne.



Read more >>

Read more »

"No games. No politics. No delays." President Obama presents jobs bill, demands passage

Washington D.C. - Holding the actual bill in his hands, President Obama stood in front of a cross-section of Americans he says will benefit from the American Jobs Act he will submit to Congress. Continuing his challenge for Congressional action, the President restated a popular phrase from the weekend, "Pass this bill."

The President's message to Congress? Easy. "No games. No politics. No delays." Positioning himself as being on the side of the American people, President Obama repeated an approach used in last Thursday's address to a joint session of Congress by presenting the bill as a matter of priorities.

"The bottom line is, when it comes to strengthening the economy and balancing our books, we've got to decide what our priorities are. Do we keep tax loopholes for oil companies -- or do we put teachers back to work? Do we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires -- or should we invest in education and technology and infrastructure, all the things that are going to help us out-innovate and out-educate and out-build other countries in the future?"

Taking the political realities of Washington gridlock into consideration, the President warned of the desire of some to let politics trump policy.

"There are some in Washington who'd rather settle our differences through politics and the elections than try to resolve them now. In fact, Joe and I, as we were walking out here, we were looking at one of the Washington newspapers and it was quoting a Republican aide saying, 'I don't know why we'd want to cooperate with Obama right now. It's not good for our politics.'"

The answer, according to the President, is for the people to raise their vocies to be heard. Before leaving, President Obama urged supporters of the bill to call their representatives to help get it passed.

Read more »

President in Richmond, VA: "You expect action"

Richmond, VA - The President forcefully continued his pursuit of a comprehensive jobs bill with a stop in Richmond, VA on Friday. Waisting no time getting to his point, the President began his speech with a direct challenge for Congress to act. Listening to the President, it is clear he feels Congress could learn a thing or two from the American people:

"You make sacrifices to make ends meet. You work hard to meet your responsibilities. You expect the people you send to Washington to do the same thing - to meet their responsibilities. You expect, in a time of crisis, that everybody stops the political circus and actually do something to help people; to help the economy; to restore some security and opportunity; restore the American dream; restore those things that made America the envy of the world. In other words, you expect action and you deserve it right now."

Read more »

President says partisanship stands in the way of action

Repeating his message from the past several weeks, President Obama focused his weekly address on the need for Washington to get beyond partisan politics to "put country ahead of party." President Obama restated his policy goals of cutting the payroll tax, engaging international trade, investing in infrastructure, and creating initiatives for companies to hire US veterans returning from overseas. As for accomplishing these goals, the President maintained his position that Washington politics is the only threat to such action.



Read more >>

Read more »