Tag Archives: Weekly Address

Weekly Address: Confirming Rich Cordray to Lead the CFPB

July 20, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama discussed the Senate’s confirmation of Rich Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB is an independent watchdog set up to protect families from irresponsible behavior in the financial sector – one that puts mortgage lenders, student lenders, payday lenders, and credit reporting and debt collection agencies under greater scrutiny, while providing the American people a place to get some measure of justice if they don’t play by the rules.

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, July 20, 2013.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
July 20, 2013

Hi, everybody. Three years ago this weekend, we put in place tough new rules of the road for the financial sector so that irresponsible behavior on the part of the few could never again cause a crisis that harms millions of middle-class families.

As part of that reform, we set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the first-ever independent consumer watchdog with one job: to protect families from that sort of behavior.

Two years ago, I nominated a man named Rich Cordray, a former attorney general from Ohio, to run this consumer protection bureau. But Republicans in the Senate refused to give him a simple up-or-down vote, not because they didn’t think he was the right person for the job, but because they didn’t like the law that set up the consumer watchdog in the first place.

So last year, I acted on my own to put him in charge – because without a director, the CFPB couldn’t use all the tools at its disposal to protect consumers from shady mortgage lenders, or unscrupulous credit reporting agencies, or predatory lenders who targeted veterans and seniors. And I’m pleased to say that he was finally confirmed this week by a bipartisan vote.

Because of the work that’s been done at the CFPB over the past two years, today, mortgage lenders, student lenders, payday lenders, and credit reporting and debt collection agencies all face greater scrutiny. And if they don’t play by the rules, you now have somewhere to go to get some measure of justice. In fact, the CFPB has already addressed more than 175,000 complaints from every state.

Today, as part of the CFPB’s “Know Before You Owe” efforts, students and their parents can get a simple report with the information they need to make informed decisions before taking out student loans – and more than 700 colleges have stepped up to make this information clear and transparent. And if you’ve noticed that some credit card forms are actually easier to understand than they used to be, that’s because of the work that Rich’s team and others in the Administration have done.

Today, veterans have the tools they need to defend against dishonest lenders and mortgage brokers who try …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House Press Office

News, Politics, Government

Weekly Address: Time to Replace the Sequester with a Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction

April 27, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

By <a href="/author-detail/3336903">Matt Compton</a>

President Obama says that because Republicans in Congress allowed a series of harmful, automatic budget cuts—called the sequester—to take effect, important programs like Head Start are now forced to reduce their services. After travelers were stuck for hours in airports and on planes this past week, members of Congress passed a temporary band-aid measure to stop the cuts that impact airlines — but they must do more to stop cuts to vital services for the American people. That’s why it’s time for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that makes smarter cuts and reforms in the tax code while creating jobs and strengthening the middle class.

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House

News, Politics, Government

Weekly Address: America Stands with the City of Boston

April 20, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

By <a href="/author-detail/3699933">Megan Slack</a>

President Obama speaks to the American people about the act of terror at the Boston Marathon that wounded dozens and killed three innocent people on Monday, and says that through it all, Boston’s spirit remains undaunted and Americans have proven they refuse to be terrorized.

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

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From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/04/20/weekly-address-america-stands-city-boston

News, Politics, Government

President Obama: "Why I'm not giving the Weekly Address"

April 13, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

By <a href="/author-detail/3336903">Matt Compton</a>

This morning, President Obama, sent the message below to the White House email list, explaining why he asked Francine Wheeler to deliver the Weekly Address. If you didn't get the email, be sure to sign up.

Hello, everybody —

Each week, like many presidents before me, I sit down to record a short address to the nation. It's something I take very seriously because it offers a chance to bring focus to an issue that needs to be part of the national dialogue.

But today, I've asked someone to take my place.

Francine Wheeler is a mother. She and her family live in Newtown, Connecticut. Four months ago, her six year-old son Ben was murdered in his elementary school, along with 19 other children and six brave educators.

Joined by her husband David, Francine shares her perspective about the steps we can take to reduce gun violence and prevent the kind of tragedy she understands all too well.

It's a message that every American should hear:

From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/04/13/president-obama-why-im-not-giving-weekly-address

News, Politics, Government

Weekly Address: Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother Calls for Commonsense Gun Responsibility Reforms

April 13, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

By The White House

Remarks of Francine Wheeler
The President’s Weekly Address

Hi. As you’ve probably noticed, I’m not the President. I’m just a citizen. And as a citizen, I’m here at the White House today because I want to make a difference and I hope you will join me.

My name is Francine Wheeler. My husband David is with me. We live in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

David and I have two sons. Our older son Nate, soon to be 10 years old, is a fourth grader at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Our younger son, Ben, age six, was murdered in his first-grade classroom on December 14th, exactly 4 months ago this weekend.

David and I lost our beloved son, but Nate lost his best friend. On what turned out to be the last morning of his life, Ben told me, quite out of the blue, “ I still want to be an architect, Mama, but I also want to be a paleontologist, because that’s what Nate is going to be and I want to do everything Nate does.”

Ben’s love of fun and his excitement at the wonders of life were unmatched His boundless energy kept him running across the soccer field long after the game was over. He couldn’t wait to get to school every morning. He sang with perfect pitch and had just played at his third piano recital. Irrepressibly bright and spirited, Ben experienced life at full tilt.

Until that morning. 20 of our children, and 6 of our educators – gone. Out of the blue.

I’ve heard people say that the tidal wave of anguish our country felt on 12/14 has receded. But not for us. To us, it feels as if it happened just yesterday. And in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other Americans have died at the end of a gun. Thousands of other families across the United States are also drowning in our grief.

Please help us do something before our tragedy becomes your tragedy.

Sometimes, I close my eyes and all I can remember is that awful day waiting at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Firehouse for the boy who would never come home – the same firehouse that was home to Ben’s Tiger Scout Den 6. But other times, I feel Ben’s presence filling me with courage for what I have to do – for him and all the others taken from us so violently and too soon.

We have to convince the Senate to come together and pass commonsense gun responsibility reforms that will make our communities safer and prevent more tragedies like the one we never thought would happen to us.

When I packed for Washington on Monday, it looked like the Senate might not act at all. Then, after the President spoke in Hartford, and a dozen of us met with Senators to share our stories, more than two-thirds of the Senate voted to move forward.

But that’s only the start. They haven’t yet passed any bills that will help keep guns out of

From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/13/weekly-address-sandy-hook-victim-s-mother-calls-commonsense-gun-responsi

News, Politics, Government

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 4/12/2013

April 12, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

By The White House

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

12:25 P.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY: Welcome, everyone. Happy Friday. The thunderstorms of the morning have given way to sunny skies — and augurs a beautiful weekend, I hope.

Q Very poetic.

MR. CARNEY: Before I take your questions, I wanted to let you know that as we continue to debate common-sense measures to reduce gun violence and save lives, one thing that has been very clear is that nobody has a more important or powerful perspective on the issue than the families who have lost loved ones because of the scourge of gun violence.

As you know, the President has been in regular contact this week with the families of victims of the 12/14 shootings, and he believes their voices and resolve have been critical to the continued progress we’ve seen in the Senate.

With that in mind, the President has asked Francine Wheeler — who lost her 6-year-old son, Ben, on that terrible day — to speak to the American people in this week’s Weekly Address.

With that, I will take your questions.

Q Was this the first time someone other than the President has done it — not just this President — in history? Is that your understanding?

MR. CARNEY: I can’t speak for previous administrations. It is the case that in this administration, the Vice President delivered the Weekly Address when I was working for him, but I don’t know about past administrations.

Jim.

Q Thank you, Jay. I wanted to ask about North Korea and developments that emerged after the briefing yesterday — reports that North Korea could have weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles, even though reports said the weapon itself might be unreliable. How much of a concern is this to the President? And given the unpredictable behavior by North Korea’s leader, even if weapons aren’t fully developed, is there a danger that this guy could actually act on something that’s not been tested?

MR. CARNEY: Well, first of all, I want to be clear that North Korea has not demonstrated the capability to deploy a nuclear-armed missile. The United States continues to closely monitor the North Korean nuclear program, and calls upon North Korea to honor its international obligations.

So I just want to be clear, out of — in response to your question, that it is our assessment that North Korea has not demonstrated the capability to deploy a nuclear-armed missile. To your broader question, we have responded to the series of provocative actions as well as the stepped-up bellicose rhetoric emanating from Pyongyang by taking a series of prudent measures to ensure that our homeland and our allies are defended. That includes steps to enhance our missile

From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/12/press-briefing-press-secretary-jay-carney-4122013

Bartle Doo Article Archives

Tag Archives: Weekly Address

Weekly Address: Confirming Rich Cordray to Lead the CFPB

Weekly Address: Time to Replace the Sequester with a Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction

Weekly Address: America Stands with the City of Boston

President Obama: "Why I'm not giving the Weekly Address"

Weekly Address: Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother Calls for Commonsense Gun Responsibility Reforms

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 4/12/2013

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