What Government Did Today

If you’ve followed the public discussion of the Affordable Care Act, you probably have become accustomed to seeing the use of estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  At the time that the Affordable Care Act passed , and a year later , CBO estimated that the health care law in its entirety would reduce the Federal budget deficit over the next decade. And this week, a new report from the Government Accountability Office found that the Affordable Care Act “would have a major effect” on reducing the deficit if implemented as intended.  This year, CBO also updated estimates for parts of the health care law. They project that: The cost of the coverage provisions will be $50 billion lower from 2012 through 2021 when compared to last year’s estimates, and Private health insurance premiums will be 8 percent lower in 2021 than CBO projected last year.

Read the original here:
Bad Math and the Affordable Care Act

Editorial Note: This is the third in a three part part series ( Part One  and Part Two ) on Master Sergeant (retired) Jeffrey Mittman and his journey from being wounded in Iraq to his employment with the Department of Defense and includes a forward by Major (ret) Arturo R.

Read the original here:
A Wounded Warrior Embraces the New Normal: Part Three

Release Time:  For Immediate Release March 22, 2012 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Expediting Review of Pipeline Projects from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas, and Other Domestic Pipeline Infrastructure Projects In an economy that relies on oil, rising prices at the pump affect all of us.  With crude oil prices controlling about three-quarters of gasoline prices, the most important driver of the price here at home is the world oil price — making our economy vulnerable to events halfway around the globe.  There are no quick fixes to this problem.  In the long run we need to reduce America's dependence on oil — which is why my Administration is implementing historic fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, launching new programs to improve energy efficiency in our buildings, and facilitating the safe and responsible development of our natural gas resources. But for the foreseeable future, we will continue to rely on oil to help fuel our transportation system.  As a result, we must safely and responsibly develop our oil resources here at home, as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy to grow our economy and make us more secure. Because of rising oil production, more efficient cars and trucks, and a world-class refining sector that last year was a net exporter of petroleum products for the first time in 60 years, we have cut net imports by a million barrels a day in the last year alone.  By reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we will make our Nation more secure and improve our trade balance — creating jobs and supporting domestic industry.

Continued here:
Presidential Memorandum — Expediting Review of Pipeline Projects from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas, and Other Domestic Pipeline Infrastructure Projects

  This morning, in a statement marking Nowruz, President Barack Obama said : “From Facebook to Twitter – from cell phones to the Internet – our people use the same tools to talk to one another, and to enrich our lives. Yet increasingly, the Iranian people are denied the basic freedom to access the information that they want.  Instead, the Iranian government jams satellite signals to shut down television and radio broadcasts. It censors the Internet to control what the Iranian people can see and say.  The regime monitors computers and cell phones for the sole purpose of protecting its own power. And in recent weeks, Internet restrictions have become so severe that Iranians cannot communicate freely with their loved ones within Iran, or beyond its borders. Technologies that should empower citizens are being used to repress them. Because of the actions of the Iranian regime, an electronic curtain has fallen around Iran – a barrier that stops the free flow of information and ideas into the country, and denies the rest of the world the benefit of interacting with the Iranian people, who have so much to offer.

Excerpt from:
Facilitating Internet Freedom in Iran

Release Time:  For Immediate Release Oval Office 11:09 A.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, it is my great pleasure to welcome once again Taoiseach, Mr.

See the original post here: 
Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Kenny of Ireland after Bilateral Meeting

Release Time:  For Immediate Release EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING A WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON STRONG CITIES, STRONG COMMUNITIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to forge a partnership with local communities to provide them with comprehensive technical assistance to use and compete for Federal resources more effectively and efficiently, which will enable them to develop and implement economic strategies to become more competitive, sustainable, and inclusive, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1.  Policy.  Cities, towns, and regions across our Nation continue to face difficult economic challenges.  Enhancing current Federal assistance is helping to lift communities out of distress.  To allow the Federal Government to better partner with these local communities to build local capacity to address economic issues, and to support comprehensive planning and regional collaboration, my Administration established the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) pilot initiative.  By partnering with cities and regions to augment their vision for stability and economic growth, the SC2 was designed to help communities strengthen their capacity to create jobs and more competitive business climates, and implement locally driven community and regional planning approaches that lead to sustained economic growth, as well as ensure that Federal assistance is more efficiently provided and used. This order improves the way the Federal Government engages with and supports local communities by better aligning resources and coordinating efforts across executive departments and agencies (agencies) so that communities across the country have access to comprehensive, localized technical assistance and planning resources to develop and implement their economic vision and strategies

See the rest here: 
Executive Order — Establishing a White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities

Release Time:  For Immediate Release WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama announced the appointment of one of the nation’s leading public health policy experts as the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). Grant Colfax, MD, Director of the HIV Prevention Section in the San Francisco Department of Public Health will coordinate the continuing efforts of the government to reduce the number of HIV infections across the United States

See the original post here: 
President Obama Announces Grant Colfax as New Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy

Release Time:  For Immediate Release Today, President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron reaffirmed their commitment to continue close bilateral cooperation on global counterterrorism issues.  For decades, and especially since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. and UK have engaged in unprecedented and unparalleled information-sharing and cooperation to strengthen our joint resolve and effectiveness against terrorist threats.  Many of our joint achievements must remain secret, but we can acknowledge that day-to-day interaction by dedicated U.S.

Original post:
Joint Fact Sheet: U.S. and UK Counterterrorism Cooperation

Release Time:  For Immediate Release Today, the Administration officially opened two new national, multi-agency centers to improve how the U.S. Government administers its export control system.  This is a significant step forward in the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative of implementing common sense reforms to streamline and improve the nation’s export control system.  • Export Enforcement Coordination Center (E2C2): Established by the President under Executive Order 13558, the E2C2 is responsible for enhanced information sharing and coordination between law enforcement and intelligence officials regarding possible violations of U.S.

See original here: 
Fact Sheet: Latest Steps to Implement the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative

Release Time:  For Immediate Release Newseum Washington, D.C. 7:06 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much, everybody.  It is good to see all of you.  Jim, thank you for the introduction.  It is a privilege to be with the men and women of the Business Roundtable.  Over the past three years, we’ve worked together on a number of issues, and we’ve found common ground on an awful lot of them

The rest is here: 
Remarks by the President at Business Roundtable