President Obama's Weekly Address: 10/03/09 Health Reform Urgent for the Economy

The President discusses ongoing efforts to spur job creation. He also explains why health insurance reform is needed not just for long-term economic stability, but in the immediate future, discussing statistics on how costs will continue to skyrocket and hurt small businesses even next year.

DNC LAUNCHES NEW WEB AD: "Chris Christie: Bad Temper, Bad Policies"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2009

The DNC today released a new web ad that highlights a testy exchange Chris Christie had with a cancer survivor at the New Jersey Politics forum at Rider University on September 16, 2009 - exposing once again Christie's explosive temper. The exchange highlights Chris Christie’s health care plan which would allow insurance companies to offer “mandate free” policies which would allow insurance providers to drop mammograms and other vital preventive treatments.

Unlike Christie, Governor Corzine stands with President Obama in support of a health insurance reform plan that would provide Americans with security and stability. Chris Christie’s health insurance policies would reduce the quality of care, limit access to coverage and would only serve to pad insurance company profits.

President Obama's Weekly Address: 8/08/09

President Barack Obama calls health insurance reform critical to our nations long-term economic strength and dispels the outlandish rumors being promoted by those who are defending the status-quo

President Obama's Weekly Address: 7/25/09

Health Insurance Reform, Small Business and Your Questions

The President discusses a key factor that has been considered in the development of the health insurance reform proposals that are being considered: the impact of reform on small business. Go to WhiteHouse.gov to read a new Council of Economic Advisers report and give your feedback. July 25, 2009.

01/24/09: President Obama's Weekly Address

In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discussed how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.

The Bush Years

NBC News compiles a devastating list of statistics to show what the United States looked like when George W. Bush entered office in January 2001 and what it looks like today as he's leaving. The numbers are striking, here are a few:

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY
Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent numbers available)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE
Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent available)

U.S. BUDGET (deficit)
Then: +236.2 billion (2000, Congressional Budget Office)
Now: -$1.2 trillion (projected figure for 2009, Congressional Budget Office)

What the Next President Inherits

What could be more important than the upcoming election? What the next president actually does once elected. While a feverish media dissects Palins wardrobe and plumbs Joe Wurzelbachers biography, real challenges for America are piling up. Domestic struggles over marriage and abortion rights will define who we are, and our response to global conflicts and crises will define our place in the world. The end of the campaigning is just the beginning.