White House.gov Blog Feed: A Strong Middle Class

Vice President Biden Speaks To Seniors About Retirement Security

Brian Levine — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:52:25 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a White House Community Leaders briefing on Seniors Issues, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House, July 16, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Today, the Vice President spoke to more than 100 community leaders from across the country representing over 60 seniors groups that are part of the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations. He told the audience that when it comes to Social Security and Medicare, “the question is what are we going to do to strengthen and sustain these programs now and for the future.” In contrast, Congressional Republicans are trying to weaken or dismantle these programs.

Last year, Congressman Paul Ryan proposed to end traditional Medicare. His plan, which was embraced by his Republican colleagues, would give seniors a voucher to buy private insurance and hold them responsible for any costs that exceed the value of the voucher. As a result, the typical 65-year-old’s out-of-pocket health care costs would double over time. While Congressman Ryan introduced a revised plan this year, it still relies on a voucher system that would increase the financial burden on seniors.

President Obama and Vice President Biden want to strengthen Medicare and secure the program for the future. Our health care law extends the life of Medicare by eight years by taking smart steps like cutting waste and fraud and creating incentives to cut down on hospital readmissions. These steps will save seniors in traditional Medicare an average of $160 on premiums and copays in 2012 alone. In addition, the law has already saved 5.3 million seniors an average of $600 on prescription drugs by closing the “donut hole,” and has ensured that over 30 million have access to free preventive services like cancer screenings and annual wellness visits.

While Social Security is projected to remain solvent through 2033, it will eventually face a shortfall. Some Congressional Republicans have suggested that we should address this shortfall entirely through deep benefit cuts that could cost a typical senior hundreds of dollars every month. We believe that Social Security can be preserved for future generations without slashing benefits and we will oppose any efforts to privatize or weaken the program.

As the Vice President said today, when it comes to preserving these vital programs, we “refuse to shift the burden… onto the backs of the people who worked so darn hard their whole life, who earned their retirement.”

Investing in the Potential of the Next Generation

Maureen Tracey-Mooney — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:50:55 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden holds an event on College affordability with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia, April 3, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Ed note: This post is updated with a correction to the number of children who would lose access to Head Start.

Yesterday, the Vice President had a powerful message for the graduating seniors, parents, and teachers at Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia – one that students across the country should hear and one that drives this Administration’s commitment to higher education. He told the Maury students:

You are the most qualified generation in history. And we have an obligation. We have an obligation to equip you or at least give you the opportunity to go out and plumb that potential.

For months now, Vice President Biden has been traveling around the country talking about the importance of college and the need to make it more affordable. But the graduating seniors and parents the Vice President spoke to and heard from yesterday know all too well that college isn’t as accessible as it used to be. And when college isn’t accessible, the potential of the next generation is at risk. As a result of rising tuitions and the tough economy, more and more families are facing difficult choices about how or even if they can finance a college education for their children.

As the Vice President said yesterday, that’s why this Administration has consistently focused on making college more affordable and accessible for low-income and middle-class families. Since President Obama and Vice President Biden took office, this Administration has supported college affordability and access through multiple measures:

We increased the maximum Pell award from $4,731 in 2008 to $5,550 today. Nearly 10 million students go to college with the help of a Pell grant each year.
We made our education spending go further by ending subsidies for banks that act as middlemen for federal student loans.
We created a tax credit that provides up to $2,500 per year – that’s $10,000 over four years – to help students and their families pay for tuition, fees and books. An estimated 9.4 million families are expected to claim this tax credit for 2011.
We reformed the way students pay back their federal loans, so students will be able to cap their monthly payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income. This will help make sure that graduates aren’t forced to choose between paying for food or rent or their college loans.

And we aren’t done yet. The President and Vice President continue to call on Congress to permanently extend the $2,500-per-year tax credit for college costs, which is set to expire at the end of the year. We want to double the number of federal work-study slots over the next five years and expand the Perkins loan program to serve 3 million students. And we want to stop interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans from doubling this summer, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.

These proposals would mean a lot for the Maury High students the Vice President spoke with yesterday and millions more across the country. Unfortunately, the budget that Republicans just put forward would go in the exact opposite direction by cutting investments in key education programs like Pell Grants and work study.

If enacted, the House Republican proposal would reduce the value of Pell Grants for nearly 10 million students nationwide. In Virginia, students would see their grants cut by an average of $850. Nationwide, almost 1 million fewer students would receive any Pell Grant at all by 2014. And 129,000 work-study positions would be eliminated nationwide, including 2,570 in Virginia.

The cuts Republicans want would hit our youngest kids too – by 2014, 250,000 children would lose access to Head Start, and lose with it the opportunity to start kindergarten ready to succeed. That includes 3,700 children in Virginia. The state would lose over $100 million in funding for elementary and secondary education, including funding for special ed for students who need a bit more help. Nationwide, $4.8 billion in these essential funds would be cut. These kinds of cuts would be felt in states across the country.

Over the coming months, the Vice President will continue to talk about our obligation to invest in the potential of the next generation. And he will continue to fight back against proposals, like the House Republican budget, that roll back investments in our young people and threaten to limit their opportunities to succeed.

Maureen Tracey-Mooney is Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the Vice President

Talking American Manufacturing at Iowa State University

Tobin Marcus — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:32:45 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack make remarks on American manufacturing and innovation at Iowa State University, Des Moines, Iowa, March 1, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Last Friday, Vice President traveled to Ames, Iowa to talk about the importance of strengthening the American manufacturing sector at Iowa State University’s College of Engineering. Speaking to hundreds of students and faculty, the Vice President argued that manufacturing jobs are coming back to the United States and talked about the reasons that manufacturing matters—not just to people who might one day work in manufacturing like the engineering students at Iowa State, but to the entire U.S. economy and to the American middle class.

The Vice President described how between America’s unique economic advantages and the rising costs of doing business in countries like China, more and more companies are choosing to bring jobs back to the America.

He also emphasized that our skilled workers and engineers—like those trained at Iowa State and other leading American universities—are one of our greatest economic assets. The unique environment at America’s research universities equips students not only with strong technical skills, but with an unmatched capacity for innovation.

“Here at Iowa State and every university in America,” the Vice President said, “you understand that change only comes through challenging orthodoxy, challenging the established norm, challenging the system that you’re working on ... And that’s the environment where the next generation of great ideas is going to come from.”

The Vice President also noted how a strong manufacturing sector can impact entire communities—providing decent jobs for everyone from the construction workers who build a factory to the advertisers and salespeople who sell the products. Above all, the manufacturing sector helps support the basic middle-class aspirations of millions of workers, which is why the President and the Vice President are proposing to fix our tax code so it rewards manufacturers for bringing jobs back to America instead of giving them tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. To learn more about our proposals to create more manufacturing jobs here in America, check out the Blueprint for an America Built to Last.

Tobin Marcus is Vice President Biden’s Economic Policy Advisor

Vice President Highlights New College Affordability Proposals at Florida State

Brian Levine — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:56:10 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden speaks to Florida State University students about college affordability, February 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

The Vice President visited Florida State University on Monday to talk with students about our comprehensive plan to address rising college costs. The Vice President began by calling on Congress to permanently extend the $2,500 per year American Opportunity Tax Credit for tuition and other expenses, double the number of work-study jobs over the next five years, and help 7.4 million borrowers by stopping the interest rates on federal student loans from doubling later this year.

These proposals are important, but increasing federal aid is only part of the solution. States and universities also share some responsibility for reining in costs. The Vice President detailed our plan to steer federal campus-based aid to schools that keep tuition affordable – and away from schools that don’t. While we plan to significantly increase the availability of campus-based aid by offering more Perkins loans to needy students and creating more work-study slots, the additional dollars will only flow to colleges that are providing good value to their students.

We are also proposing to create a new “Race to the Top” for college affordability and completion. This competitive grant program will encourage states to reform their higher education systems in ways that lower costs and increase completion rates. And because state funding cuts are one of the primary drivers of tuition increases at public universities, any state that wants a grant will have to promise not to slash funding for higher education.

You can learn more about our plan here.

Higher Education and the Middle Class Bargain

Brian Levine — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:45:05 +0000

The Vice President visited high schools in Columbus, Ohio and Doylestown, Pennsylvania this week to highlight our Administration’s efforts to make college more affordable for all Americans. He was joined by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and by Deputy Secretary of Education Tony Miller in Pennsylvania.

Speaking at Lincoln High School in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, the Vice President called for the “bargain with the middle class” to be restored: “There was a bargain in place for last 50 years that if you worked hard, you played by the rules, you helped increase productivity in America, you got a piece of the action. You benefited.”

President Obama and Vice President Biden believe that making college affordable is an essential part of restoring that bargain. Our Administration has increased the maximum Pell Grant award by more than $800 and created the $2,500 per year American Opportunity Tax Credit. Even with more generous grants and tax credits, most college students borrow money to pay for school, so we are also limiting federal student loan payments to 10% of discretionary income.

Vice President Joe Biden holds a college affordability event with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senator Sherrod Brown, at Lincoln High School in Gahanna, Ohio, January 12, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

The Vice President told the students about his own family’s financial struggle to send him to college and the importance of education to his success: “A college degree was more than a ticket to be able to make a living; it was about who you are… about the American Dream, the dream that your parents could put you in a position where you could do better than they could do.”

Vice President Biden also encouraged colleges to cut costs and operate more efficiently without comprising the quality of the education they provide.

The Vice President will continue to travel across the country talking about the importance of college affordability, and we will keep you updated.

Vice President Joe Biden listens to a question from a student during a college affordability event at Lincoln High School in Gahanna, Ohio, January 12, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

The Vice President Talks College Affordability in Florida

Brian Levine — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:16:47 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hold town hall on college affordability at Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Florida, December 8, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

This week, Vice President Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Florida to talk to students and their parents about college. President Obama and Vice President Biden have focused on making college affordable for middle-class families since the day they took office. We increased the value of the maximum Pell Grant award by more than $800 and created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which is worth up to $10,000 over four years for tuition and other expenses. Even after grants and tax credits, most students still need to borrow money for school. That’s why we are allowing borrowers to cap federal student loan payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income.

The Vice President reminded the audience of all these accomplishments, but he didn’t stop there. As proud as we are of this Administration’s record, increasing student aid is just one part of keeping college affordable. State higher education leaders and individual schools must also do their part. On Monday, the President gathered a group of college presidents at the White House to talk about rising college costs and strategies they can pursue to reduce these costs. In Florida, the Vice President argued that colleges "can cut cost and limit student debt without in any way compromising the quality of an education." He acknowledged that "it won’t be easy" but forcefully concluded that "there is no excuse for complacency."

Finally, the Vice President assured students who might be concerned about rising tuitions and debt loads that going to college is an excellent investment. College graduates earn more money and have a significantly lower unemployment rate than high school graduates with no post-secondary degree. And as the Vice President told the audience, "having a college degree is about a lot more than how much money you make. It’s about the independence it bestows upon you, the significantly broader range of choices it gives you…it’s about your sense of self-worth…it’s about being able to fulfill your potential."

Brian Levine is Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President

"A Victory for the Middle Class" in Ohio

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:35:50 +0000

Yesterday was Election Day across the country, and last night, once the results were known, Vice President Joe Biden issued a statement congratulating the people of Ohio for rejecting Issue 2 -- a law that would have stripped public employees of their collective bargaining rights.

The Vice President said:

Tonight the people of Ohio delivered a gigantic victory for the middle class with their overwhelming rejection of a Republican attempt to strip away collective bargaining rights. Fundamental fairness has prevailed. By standing with teachers and firefighters and cops, Ohio has sent a loud and clear message that will be heard all across the country: The middle class will no longer be trampled on. The people of Ohio are to be congratulated.

Press Secretary Jay Carney echoed those thoughts:

The President congratulates the people of Ohio for standing up for workers and defeating efforts to strip away collective bargaining rights, and commends the teachers, firefighters, nurses, police officers, and other workers who took a stand to defend those rights.

In his joint address to Congress to introduce the American Jobs Act, President Obama touched on the importance of collective bargaining -- and why doing away with those rights is not the way to get people back to work:

I reject the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy. We shouldn’t be in a race to the bottom, where we try to offer the cheapest labor and the worst pollution standards. America should be in a race to the top. And I believe we can win that race.

The Ohio measure lost in a landslide, with 62 percent of voters choosing to reject the law.

Vice President Biden Talks College Affordability in Pennsylvania

Brian Levine — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:29:33 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden answers questions after giving a speech on jobs and education at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 4, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

On Friday, Vice President Biden spoke to a group of students at the University of Pittsburgh. Making it easier to pay for college has been a top priority of the Middle Class Task Force and our entire Administration since the President and Vice President came into office. We stopped paying private lenders to act as middlemen for federal student loans, and invested the savings in student aid. We increased the maximum Pell Grant award by more than $800. And we created the American Opportunity Tax Credit to give students up to $10,000 over four years to help with tuition and other expenses.

Today, the Vice President focused on our latest initiative – capping student loan payments. Current law allows borrowers to limit their federal loan payments to 15 percent of their discretionary income and forgives all remaining debt after 25 years, or 10 years for graduates working in public service jobs. Last year, following a recommendation from the Middle Class Task Force, the President proposed, and Congress enacted, a plan to lower payments even further starting in 2014. But many students can’t wait until 2014 for relief. So last Wednesday, the President announced an executive action that will cap federal loan payments at 10% of discretionary income and shorten the forgiveness timeline to 20 years starting next year.

We estimate that this new cap lower payments for 1.6 million borrowers, including 60,000 Pennsylvanians. Many of these borrowers will save hundreds of dollars every month. For example, a teacher with $25,000 in debt and a $30,000 salary would see her monthly payments drop from $287 under the standard repayment plan to $114 under the new cap. You can learn more about our plan to help students here.

We Can't Wait to Help America's Graduates

Arne Duncan and Melody Barnes — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:27:50 +0000

President Barack Obama waves to the crowd after arriving at the University of Colorado Denver campus, in Denver, Colo., Oct. 26, 2011. The President delivered remarks on the steps the Administration is taking to increase college affordability by making it easier to manage student loan debt. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In this globally competitive, knowledge-based economy, higher education has never been more important. Simply put, America cannot lead in the 21st century without the best educated, most competitive workforce in the world. Nations that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, which is why some form of higher education is an absolute must.

We also know that college costs have never been higher -- or more difficult to manage. The Administration has already provided aid to millions of students with historic investments in programs like Pell Grants and the American Opportunity Tax Credit. But we realize that many borrowers are struggling to both pay off their loans and make ends meet every month. And fear of being saddled with debt in the long run may deter many potential students from enrolling in college. They need help now.

That’s why today, President Obama announced new efforts to make college more affordable by helping millions of borrowers better manage their federal student loan debt. We’re taking executive action with two measures that will bring relief to borrowers by lowering their monthly loan payments -- at no cost to taxpayers.

First, for some students we are proposing to cap student loan repayment at 10 percent of a borrower’s discretionary income, starting next year. For many who worry about managing their debt while working in lower-paying fields -- including teachers, nurses, public defenders, and social workers -- this could reduce their payments by hundreds each month.

We also want to provide immediate relief to borrowers already repaying their loans. While the pay-as-you-earn proposal would only apply to some current students and recent graduates, millions more borrowers may already be eligible for our current income-based repayment plan, which caps payments at 15 percent of a borrower’s discretionary income. We know there are folks who are struggling in repayment now -- and for them the current Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan may be a great option. To learn more about this plan to see if it makes sense for you, visit www.studentaid.ed.gov/ibr.

Second, beginning in January we will offer 6 million borrowers the chance to consolidate their loans and reduce their interest rates. Currently, these borrowers are repaying loans from two different programs, requiring them to submit separate payments and adding red tape that makes them more likely to default. Our special consolidation plan will allow these borrowers to make a single payment each month, with incentives to encourage on-time repayment. Borrowers who take advantage of this option will be eligible to receive a reduction in the interest rate on some of their loans by up to 0.5 percent, lowering their monthly payments and saving hundreds in interest. We will start reaching out to eligible borrowers in early 2012 to introduce them to this program.

In addition to these steps, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education have teamed up to launch a new Know Before You Owe project, and today they are releasing a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet -- a draft model financial aid disclosure form. This form is a tool that colleges can use to help students better understand the type and amount of aid they qualify for, and will allow potential students to easily compare aid packages offered by different institutions.

The form will also make the total costs -- and risks -- of a student’s loans clear before enrollment, by outlining what a student’s monthly loan payment would be and providing an estimate of their total loan debt. Ultimately, this provides students and their families with useful information that can help them make a more informed decision about where to attend college and better understand the debt burden they may be left with.

These are changes that will make a big difference in the lives of college students and recent graduates entering one of the toughest job markets in recent memory. We’re helping provide them with key information on the front end, and we have a way to help them save money by consolidating their debt and capping their loan payments. And all of this will be done at no cost to taxpayers. This is not just a no-brainer – it’s the right thing to do.

President Obama also can't wait for Congress to:

Protecting Consumers and Preventing Cell Phone “Bill Shock”

Brian Levine — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:45:58 +0000

For more than a year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been working on a problem known as “bill shock.” Tens of millions of Americans have opened up their cell phone bills and been surprised by hundreds of dollars in unexpected charges. As President Obama said in a statement today, “we can put an end to that with a simple step: an alert warning consumers that they’re about to hit their limit before fees and charges add up.”

The FCC announced an agreement with the wireless industry that will protect 97 percent of wireless consumers from “bill shock.” As a result of today’s agreement, your wireless provider will send you a free alert when you are about to hit your limit on voice, data or text messaging. You will also get an alert after you reach the limit. And you will be notified of international roaming charges when traveling abroad with your phone. All of these changes are part of what President Obama called “our overall and ongoing efforts to protect American consumers by making sure financial transactions are fair, honest, and transparent.”

Learn more about the agreement here.

Brian Levine is Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President

Vice President Joe Biden Discusses the American Jobs Act in Flint, Michigan

Amy Dudley — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:10:55 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden greets members of the audience after speaking about the American Jobs act at the fire station in Flint, Michigan, October 12, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Vice President Biden traveled to two Michigan cities this week to highlight how the American Jobs Act would help put cops and firefighters back on the beat and help modernize schools.

In Flint, Michigan, the Vice President made clear how the Jobs Act would both create jobs and protect the nation's "most basic obligation" to keep our citizens safe by putting cops and firefighters back to work. Over the past 18 months, Flint has been has been forced to cut its police force in half due to budget cuts at the same time violent crime has increased in the city.

Nationally, in the past 18 months, 10,000 cops have been laid off around the country, while 30,000 police vacancies have gone unfilled. Thousands of firefighters were laid off between 2009 and 2010, and another 7,000 could face possible layoffs this year.

"It's hard enough to do your job in good economic times. It's a tough job in good times," the Vice President told a group of Flint cops and firefighters assembled inside the city's fire department on Wednesday. "But it's almost impossible to serve the total needs of the community in bad economic times when you get cut in half."

The American Jobs Act includes $5 billion to support public safety jobs across the country. It will also dramatically improve the way cops, firefighters and other first responders are able to communicate with each other during emergency situations by deploying a nationwide public safety broadband network.

"I don't buy people who say there is nothing we can do," said the Vice President. "This is a fight for the soul of this country. It's a fight for the middle class. ... It's about making sure America's fire departments, police departments continue to be a large part of the American fabric and be able to do their job. It's about reversing the cycle of crime and fire and unemployment, and starting a new cycle of jobs and prosperity. It's about keeping you safe so you can keep all of us safe. And it's about a President and I who are prepared to fight like crazy to do whatever we can to make sure that you have the resources to be able to protect us."

Vice President Joe Biden talks to students during a visit to Central High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 12, 2011. Vice President Biden visited the over 100 year old school to highlight the need for infrastructure spending as part of the American Jobs Act (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Later on Wednesday Vice President Biden visited Central High School in Grand Rapids. Beyond the roof leaks, water damage, faulty heating system, and shoddy electricity in the 100 year-old building, outdated science and technology labs puts Central High School students at a great disadvantage. As the Vice President observed, teachers at Central are trying to prepare students for the future in a building built for the past. And it's not the only old school in Grand Rapids -- the average age of schools the district is targeting for renovation is 75 years-old.

"You know what you need to do to give these students the equipment they need," Vice President Biden told Mr. Larson, a chemistry teacher at Central High School, "But you don’t have the resources to do it."

With the average age of a school building in America being 40 years old, it’s no wonder there are tens of thousands of schools facing similar conditions around the country. Twenty-five billion dollars in the American Jobs Act would modernize 35,000 public schools nationwide. Speaking to a group of students in Mr. Larson’s chemistry classroom, the Vice President described how the Jobs Act would mean $926 million for school modernization in Michigan, supporting 12,000 construction jobs in the state.

"This is what we used to call in my generation – a twofer,” said Vice President Biden.

Keeping Teachers like Mrs. Keene in the Classroom

Maureen Tracey-Mooney — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:41:00 +0000

Last year, Mrs. Keene’s 5th grade class at Oakstead Elementary in Land O’Lakes, Florida had 19 students in it. This year, she has a class of 25. As a result of state budget cuts, Oakstead lost 8 out of 83 teachers for the 2011-2012 school year, eliminating nearly 10% of the teaching staff at a school that serves over 1000 students.

During his visit to Oakstead on Tuesday, Vice President Biden had the chance to visit Mrs. Keene’s class, as well as speak to a group of parents and teachers about how the American Jobs Act would help keep and put hundreds of thousands of teachers in the classroom.

Vice President Joe Biden visits Mrs. Keene's 5th grade classroom and takes questions from students, at Oakstead Elementary School in Land O' Lakes, Florida, October 4, 2011. (Official White House by David Lienemann)

The 8 teaching positions lost at Oakstead were just a few of the 513 positions eliminated district-wide when Pasco County Public Schools had to close a $54 million budget shortfall this year. After years of budget cuts from the state and declining tax revenues – the district now receives $780 less per pupil in funding than it did in 2007 – and cutting all of the overhead it could, the District was forced to make cuts that impact the classroom. As a result, kids are in bigger class sizes – some over the state limit – and receive less arts, music and physical education.

In his remarks, the Vice President described how smaller class sizes in the early years can increase the likelihood that kids attend and graduate from college as well as how access to arts and music education may help keep kids engaged in school and prevent them from dropping out.
Unfortunately, kids across the country are seeing the kind of cuts that the Vice President saw at Oakstead. In the last 12 months we have lost nearly 200,000 education jobs. That’s why the American Jobs Act includes $30 billion to support 400,000 education jobs nationwide. These critical resources will help prevent lay-offs and allow districts like Pasco County to rehire teachers already laid off, as well as hire new teachers.

Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with students after discussing the American Jobs Act at Oakstead Elementary School in Land O' Lakes, Florida, October 4, 2011. (Official White House by David Lienemann)

“This is about giving these kids a chance,” said Vice President Biden. “We need the Jobs Act to jump start the economy overall, but, in the meantime, we have an emergency need to fill the hole, so we don’t put these kids behind the curve.”

The Vice President concluded by saying there’s no excuse for the nation’s children getting “lost” in our education system due a lack of teachers. “There’s no reason why any child should get lost anywhere if we take the action we should take and make the right priority choices about how we should spend our money right now.”

For more on why passing the American Jobs Act is critical to our children’s future, take a look at the White House report issued earlier this week, and learn about the President’s trip to Texas to highlight this issue.

Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the American Jobs Act at Oakstead Elementary School in Land O' Lakes, Florida, October 4, 2011. (Official White House by David Lienemann)

Vice President Biden Announces Boosts for Small Business in Ohio

Amy Dudley — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:49:14 +0000

Watch Vice President Biden announce $20 billion in additional small business lending here.

Small businesses across the country got a boost yesterday when Vice President Biden announced that 13 of the nation’s largest banks, in partnership with the Small Business Administration, have committed to increase small business lending by a combined $20 billion over the next three years.

Speaking with SBA Administrator Karen Mills at Wrap Tite Inc. – a small packing and shipping material company in Solon, Ohio – the Vice President told the story of how a recent $1.5 million SBA-supported loan allowed Wrap Tite to purchase and renovate a new facility in Solon, as well as hire five new workers. The new lending commitments announced today means more small businesses like Wrap Tite will have access to the capital they need to help grow the nation’s economy at the local level. As Vice President Biden said, "Small business men and women – who are the engine of economic growth in America – create two out of every three jobs in America."

But, as the Vice President said in Ohio, the lending boost for small businesses is only part of the story, and we cannot stop there. Urging Congress to pass the American Jobs Act right away, he described two key ways the bill would help small businesses grow and hire in Ohio and across the country – by cutting their taxes and putting money back in their customer’s pockets:

This is about putting money in the hands of middle-class people, creating jobs for those who don’t have them and giving people a fight chance.

More specifically, the American Jobs Act would cut payroll taxes in half for small businesses like Wrap Tite and give them a 6.2% payroll tax cut for every additional dollar they spend hiring workers or increasing wages.

And the American Jobs Act would allow businesses purchasing new equipment to expense their investments through the end of next year, giving them a tax incentive to invest. Because Wrap Tite made a $250,000 investment in three new machines over the past year, they could benefit from existing expensing provisions; the American Jobs Act would extend that critical tax relief through the end of 2012.

The Vice President concluded by pointing out that, in the end, passage of the American Jobs Act is about choices – whether Congress will choose to preserve tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy or choose to pass new job-creating tax cuts and infrastructure investments.

“We can either keep 280,000 teachers in their classrooms, or we can preserve tax loopholes for oil and gas companies. … We can either keep cops and firefighters on the job, or we can keep giving corporate jet owners special tax breaks,” said Vice President Biden.

Vice President Joe Biden discusses the importance of the American Jobs Act for small businesses, at Wrap Tite Inc, in Solon, Ohio, September 20, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Amy Dudley is Deputy Press Secretary for the Vice President.

Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge

Maureen Tracey-Mooney — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:24:49 +0000

Yesterday Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the release of the application for the Administration’s new Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge. The Challenge is committing $500 million to help states build statewide early learning systems and improve early learning programs. It’s a critical investment in an area that hasn’t gotten enough attention. The Middle Class Task Force has focused on child care because we know that it’s an issue families struggle with every day. With most families dependent on two incomes to get by, families just can’t afford not to have access to child care. But just any child care won’t and shouldn’t do. Parents want and deserve the peace of mind that their children are safe and receiving the high-quality education they need when they drop them off at day care.

For too long parents haven’t been able to make informed decisions about child care because there has been no way to compare the quality of one child care provider to that of another. This program will help change that, incenting states to build statewide tiered quality rating and improvement systems to rate providers and improve early learning programs. Improving programs will require more resources and professional support for early childhood educators. This critical workforce, made up disproportionately of women, works hard to take care of our nation’s youngest, but just doesn’t get the resources they need to be successful. The competition calls on states to provide these educators with appropriate compensation, professional development, career advancement opportunities, and a common set of standards for workforce knowledge and competencies so all educators know what they need to do and have the resources to be successful.

Here is more information from the Department of Education blog:

“Successful early learning programs are not just about education but about the whole child – including their physical and emotional health,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on a conference call this afternoon with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to announce the Obama Administration’s release of the final application for the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC).

The two Departments have worked together over the last four months in an unprecedented effort. Nearly 350 organizations and individuals provided comments to the draft criteria put out in early July.

RTT-ELC will provide $500 million in state-level competitive grants to improve early learning and development programs with States getting about $50 to $100 million. The goal of the Challenge is to ensure more children with high-needs from birth to age five—including those from low-income families—enter kindergarten ready to succeed.

“Brain scientists tell us that the early years are when critical cognitive development takes place. Social scientists tell us that the investments we make in early childhood programs can have a huge payoff down the road,” said Secretary Sebelius.

States chosen for the RTT-ELC will need to demonstrate a commitment to improving their early learning and development programs as well as adopt common standards within the State that will help determine what young children should know and be able to do, as well as define program quality.

States awarded funds under RTT-ELC will also implement appropriate assessments to help monitor students’ progress to inform practice and improve program quality. Secretary Duncan explained that “we are not asking three year olds to take bubble tests.” Just as good early childhood educators are doing now, we are asking that early childhood educators have the observation and documentation skills they need to evaluate a child’s progress along a set of appropriate early learning and development standards.

Read the press release of today’s announcement, and click here to learn more about the RTT-ELC and to view the application.

Maureen Tracey-Mooney is Senior Policy Analyst for the Office of the Vice President.

Bringing Transparency to College Costs

Melody Barnes — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:20:32 +0000

More and more, Americans understand the critical role that earning a college degree plays in their lives, with prospects for higher earnings and further advancements that extend throughout their careers. However, one of the greatest challenges Americans face is the rising cost of higher education.

To help students make informed decisions about their choice for higher education, today the Department of Education launched an online College Affordability and Transparency Center on the Department of Education’s College Navigator website. As part of this Center, the Department posted lists that highlight institutions with the highest tuition prices, highest net prices, and institutions whose prices are rising at the fastest rates. Institutions whose prices are rising the fastest will report why costs have gone up and how the institution will address rising prices. The Department will summarize these reports and make them publicly available to parents and students.

The President has been committed to making higher education more affordable, and today’s announcement complements our ongoing efforts. Since taking office, we have worked to expand student aid, improve options to repay student loans, and give more students access to higher education. We have also enhanced consumer information on the FAFSA and on the College Navigator portal, a resource that can provide information on thousands of institutions of higher education across the nation. These existing tools will complement the informative resources newly available today.

But colleges also have a role to play as we work to ease the financial burden of higher education. In his State of the Union address last year, the President called on colleges to do a better job of keeping costs down. Additionally, state budget constraints present increasing challenges for affordability. Too often the answer has been to cut aid to public colleges and increase tuition, pushing the financial burden on families already struggling to make ends meet.

Ultimately, better information alone will not cure the problem of college affordability. However, it will enhance the choices and decisions made by families as they pursue higher education. The new College Transparency and Affordability Center is just a first step in helping students better understand their path in postsecondary education; the Administration will continue to promote transparency in educational costs that will help all current and prospective students of higher education make a smart investment in their postsecondary studies.

Melody Barnes is Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

A Major Investment In Helping Students Get Off On The Right Foot

Cameron Brenchley — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:14:32 +0000

"Investing in early learning is one of the smartest things we can do as a nation,” said Secretary Arne Duncan earlier this morning at a town hall meeting with US Human and Health Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to announce a new $500 million state-level Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge. Secretary Sebelius explained that “the only way America can out-compete the rest of the world is if we out-educate the rest of the world … And the only way we can do that is if every child gets a healthy start and a rich early learning experience.”

The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge rewards states that create comprehensive plans to transform early learning systems with better coordination and assessment mechanisms, clearer learning standards, and meaningful workforce development and family engagement initiatives.

Providing a strong educational foundation for our nation’s children doesn’t start on the first day of kindergarten. Research makes it clear that excellent early learning programs result in short- and long-term positive outcomes, including better high school graduation rates, higher college enrollment, and improved completion rates. Yet only 40 percent of 4-year olds are enrolled in preschool programs.

The Obama administration has been committed to improving the quality of early learning programs since day one, and the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge continues that commitment by moving the field and supporting breakthrough work that will change the quality of early learning programs across America.

Vice President Biden also noted that these programs help not only kids but whole families. “Expanding access to such early education and child care programs will also make it easier for working parents to hold down a job – a key priority of the Middle Class Task Force – giving them peace of mind that their children are in a high quality learning environment while they are at work.”

As part of this Challenge, we are inviting you to provide ideas, comments and suggestion. Please visit our Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge page and join the conversation.

Cameron Brenchley is Manager of New Media Outreach for the Department of Education

VA Enhances Support of Family Caregivers

Deborah Amdur — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:35:40 +0000

Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the Department of Veterans Affairs blog. The Department of Veterans Affairs is launching a new program that will offer a lifeline to families across the country. The new Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers program, described below, provides a whole new range of direct benefits to caregivers of our nation’s most seriously injured veterans. This is especially good news for women —over 90% of those caring for veterans are women, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving. Read on for more on this crucial new program. The Middle Class Task Force continues to support initiatives to support all caregivers. Yesterday’s announcement marks a real victory for caregivers and an important step in our efforts to support these men and women who support us when we are most in need.

Today, we, at VA, are posting the interim final rule that will allow us to roll out enhanced services, including a monetary stipend, health insurance, expanded training and other support services to a whole new category of people serving our Nation – our Family Caregivers of Veterans who sustained a serious injury in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001. This new program will offer those Veterans the ability to remain in a comforting home environment surrounded by loved ones and supported by a dedicated Family Caregiver.

VA has long known that having a Family Caregiver in a home environment can enhance the health and well-being of Veterans under VA care. Therefore, we are pleased to add this new program to the wide range of services VA already offers to support Veterans and their Family Caregivers at home. The regulation is available on our Caregiver website and the application process for the new program for post-9/11 Veterans injured in the line of duty is also described in a fact sheet. We’re excited to begin accepting applications on May 9th. Look for the application at www.caregiver.va.gov the morning of the 9th or call our Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274. We’re waiting to assist.

We know that this wait has been long for those dedicating so much to provide for nearly every aspect of their beloved Veteran’s well-being. With these resources in place, we mark the beginning of a new era in the delivery of enhanced services for Family Caregivers. Family Caregivers are our partners in providing quality care to our Nations heroes; Caregivers are the heroes on the home front.

Additionally, VA has many other programs and services already in place that support Veterans and their Family Caregivers at home. At www.caregiver.va.gov you will find a description of more than two dozen programs we offer all Caregivers, training tips and advice on care giving, including the importance of taking time to take care of yourself. All Caregivers are also encouraged to utilize the National Caregiver Support Line, 1-855-260-3274, for counseling and information about resources and services. The trained professionals who staff our Support Line will also connect you to your local VA medical center’s Caregiver Support Coordinator who stands ready to offer support and assistance as you navigate this journey of being a Family Caregiver.

We care and are eager to help. I have been with the Department of Veterans Affairs for 20 years and have worked with countless Veterans, Family Caregivers, Veteran Service Organizations, other federal, state and community agencies as well as my VA colleagues; to strengthen VA’s support for all that you do each and every day. You share our commitment to care for those “who have borne the battle.” That makes you our partners in this sacred duty and it is a relationship we at VA plan to keep strengthening for the sake of the Veterans we can all agree deserve our very best on behalf of a grateful Nation.

Deborah Amdur, LCSW, is VA’s Chief Consultant for Care Management and Social Work Service. She has overall responsibility for five national programs including: the Social Work Program, the Caregiver Support Program, the Family Hospitality Program, the Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Care Management Program and the VA Liaison Program.

An Historic Meeting at the White House with Memphis Sanitation Workers

Jared Bernstein — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:04:31 +0000

Civil rights, economic and social justice, the rights of workers to bargain collectively...the air here at the White House was thick with these sentiments today.

They were brought to us by eight of the surviving members of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, who came to the White House today for the first time in their lives.

President Barack Obama talks with participants from the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike, an iconic campaign in civil rights and labor rights history, during a meeting in the Map Room of the White House, April 29, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

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If that long-ago strike sticks out in your mind, it’s because Dr. Martin Luther King went to Memphis to support the almost entirely African-American sanitation workforce as they struck for union recognition, better pay, safer working conditions, and, fundamentally, respect.

It was there, on April 3, that Dr. King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.

And it was there, on April 4, when that amazing man was taken from us.

Please, if you do nothing else today, read (or reread) that speech. Read it to yourself, to your partner, to your parents and to your kids. You would be hard-pressed to find another document that so perfectly weaves together the beautiful yet all too fragile fabric of the historical struggle for basic human rights.

And what’s so remarkable about the way Dr. King told the story that day was not the pain, frustration, and violence of that endless struggle for justice, but the hope, the optimism, the non-violent sensibility, and most profoundly, the faith that he brought, and urged us all, to bring to that struggle.

A key theme of the speech, one that resonates today as well as it did in 1968, is the inseparability of social and economic justice. Dr. King’s civil rights work is of course well remembered, but you may not recall that toward the end of his life, he led the “Poor People’s Campaign,” a movement organized around the need for jobs, health care, and housing for the poor and disadvantaged.

As embodied in those striking workers in Memphis, and stressed repeatedly in his speech to them, the issue was, and remains, one of fairness. These men here today and their former cohort faced hard, even fatal working conditions (weeks before the strike, two men were killed on a city truck). Yet, they also faced deep discrimination and earned poverty-level wages.

So they decided to join a public-sector union—to tap their collective strength in pursuit of the fair treatment that eluded them as individuals. The mayor of Memphis declared the strike illegal but the workers, with Dr. King’s support, never gave up. And ultimately, they succeeded. Less than two weeks after King’s tragic assassination, the union was recognized and the strike ended.

Of course, that’s not the end of the story. The struggle to protect and add to the gains that Dr. King and those Memphis workers fought and died for is a lifelong one. It’s a struggle that President Obama knows well, and one he continues to wage each day. It’s a struggle that persists to this very day, as public-sector workers continue to fight for the right to bargain collectively.

But to see these eight men come to the White House and meet with this President…well, there really are no words to describe the moment other than to say that somewhere, from a distant mountaintop, Dr. King smiled down on the world today.

Jared Bernstein is Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President

Honoring 29 Miners

Maureen Tracey-Mooney — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:06:08 +0000

The last few weeks have been filled with reminders of the dangers Americans face at work – from the 100^th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire to today’s sad anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, where 29 miners were killed. These tragedies remind us that preventable workplace accidents are still all too common in this country. In 2010, 4,300 workers died on the job in this country.

Improving workplace safety for miners and all workers has been a priority of the Administration’s Middle Class Task Force, chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. Over the last year, the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) have been working to enforce and improve our workplace safety laws.

MSHA initiated strategic “impact” inspections at mines it believes could be at risk for an explosion, have poor compliance histories or poor safety systems. Since April 2010, MSHA has conducted 228 impact inspections, resulting in 4,200 citations and 396 orders. The Department of Labor has also taken steps to reduce backlogs and delays in enforcement by allowing quicker identification of mines with patterns of violations.

Because MSHA and inspectors can’t be at every mine all the time, the Department has proposed a rule that would require mine operators to regularly identify and correct violations of health or safety standards on their own, with MSHA inspectors regularly checking in on their progress. Together, these actions have and will continue to make a real difference in the daily work of miners.

OSHA has also been hard at work. In 2010, OSHA inspected the workplaces of over 5.9 million Americans and provided free on site compliance assistance to over 26, 000 businesses. The agency also launched a program to identify and concentrate resources on the most egregious and severe violators.

Working with the Middle Class Task Force, OSHA and the Department of Justice have expanded the Worker Endangerment Initiative. Under the Initiative, DOL and DOJ work together to evaluate employers who repeatedly violate workplace safety laws in order to identify those that may also have violated environmental or other criminal statutes that carry stronger penalties. This kind of collaboration makes sure the full force of the law is brought in cases where workers are put in harm’s way.

Even with all these efforts to increase enforcement and compliance, both OSHA and MSHA need better tools to effectively protect workers. That’s why we support Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin and House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline in their efforts to strengthen our mine safety laws.

As the Vice President said at a memorial service for the 29 miners who lost their lives last year, “the men we remember today went into the darkness so that we could have light. They embraced a life of hard work and a career full of peril. It was dangerous – it was dangerous work and they knew it, but they never flinched. … Many of them loved it; some of them dreaded it. But all of them, all of them approached it with dignity, resolve, and strength.”

Today we honor their memory by continuing to make progress in improving the safety of our workplaces.

Maureen Tracey-Mooney is Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the Vice President.

A Call to Action on College Completion

Brian Levine — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:59:01 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Grad Nation Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park, in Washington, DC, March 22, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann).

College access and affordability has been a key area of focus for the Middle Class Task Force over the last two years. On this blog, we have frequently updated you on our Administration’s commitment to expanding student aid through Pell Grants and the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

Providing every American child with the opportunity to go to college is critically important, but we can’t stop there. We need more American students to graduate from college. The President has set a clear goal: By 2020, America will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Right now we are ninth.

70 percent of students go on to pursue some kind of postsecondary education after high school, but less than half actually get a degree or certificate within 6 years. Why is this so important? Because more than half of all new jobs created in the next decade will require a postsecondary degree. And college graduates make more money and are less likely to be unemployed than individuals with only a high school diploma. Ensuring that more students graduate from college is essential to maintaining a strong middle class.

Today the Vice President challenged every Governor to host a state college completion summit, and promised that the Department of Education would help any state develop a plan to boost completion.

The Vice President also announced the release of a new “College Completion Tool Kit,” produced by the Department of Education. The tool kit includes information on seven low-cost or no-cost strategies that states can use to boost completion. For example:

Aligning high school exit standards with college expectations. Forty percent of college students have to take remedial classes in college. It makes college more expensive, because it takes more time to finish. And it increases the likelihood students will dropout in college.
Making it easier for students to transfer. Two out of three students transfer at least once. Arizona, for example, helps ensure transfer students don’t fall through the cracks by making sure introductory course credits transfer fully among all public colleges in the state.
Linking state higher education funding to levels of or improvement in college completion. Right now, the vast majority of colleges get funded based on enrollment numbers, not success.

Finally, the Vice President announced that the Department of Education is launching a new grant competition to reward colleges that come up with innovative plans for boosting completion, like summer academic boot camps for students between high school and their freshman year; redesigned courses that make learning more interactive; and emergency financial aid for unexpected crises. We are looking for plans with the potential to become national models.

As the Vice President said today, “right now we’ve got an education system that works like a funnel when we need it to work like a pipeline. We have to make the same commitment to getting folks across the graduation stage that we did to getting them into the registrar’s office.”

Brian Levine is Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President

You've Got A Friend In the Trend

Jared Bernstein — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:43:03 +0000

On this first Friday of every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the nation with a close look at what’s been going on in the job market. While you don’t want to put too much weight on any one month of data, the report is bursting with valuable info on stuff that matters a lot to real people, like job growth, unemployment, and earnings.

One useful thing to do with these data is to average over a few months, to smooth out some of the jumpiness in the monthly numbers. And when you apply this smoothing to private sector job growth, a promising pattern emerges.

The figure below takes an average of monthly job growth in the private sector over the past three months (Dec, Jan, Feb), and compares that to the same average last year and two years ago.

Two years ago, when President Obama took office, we were hemorrhaging jobs at a rate of over 700,000 per month. Our Administration attacked the problem, first with the Recovery Act, and later with a broad set of initiatives to put more money in family budgets, free up credit for small businesses, and most recently, boost paychecks with a temporary payroll tax cut.

As you can see, the rate of job loss diminished significantly by last year at this time, down to 55,000 a month. Then, in March of last year, the private sector began adding jobs on net, and has been doing so every month since, to the cumulative tune of 1.5 million so far. And as you can see, over the past three months, private sector employers have been adding 152,000 per month, on net.

Now, let’s be clear about this: we’ve still got a long way to go. While the unemployment is also trending the right way—down from 9.8% last November to 8.9% last month (although these numbers are also jumpy month to month)—the jobless rate remains much too high, and employers need to add millions more jobs before working Americans face the opportunities they need and deserve.

We also need to protect these friendly trends by avoiding policy mistakes, like cutting back on investments that will propel economic growth, such as the President’s innovation, education, and infrastructure initiatives. It’s measures like these that will help kick the jobs trend in high gear and win the future.

Like I said, we’re not there yet, but the only way to get there is to head in the right direction. And as the figure below shows, that’s what we’re doing.

Jared Bernstein is Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President

Labor and Management Working Together For Student Success

Maureen Tracey-Mooney — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:33:48 +0000

School reform is often portrayed as an unavoidable conflict between labor (teachers) and management (superintendents and principals). Well, earlier this week I joined a conference of local teachers’ union presidents, school district superintendents and school board presidents that are working together to make important inroads against that conventional wisdom.

These educators represent 150 school districts, and they came together to talk about how to use labor-management collaboration to improve student achievement and transform schools. Each participating district was required to bring each of these kinds of leaders, so that all the decision makers were at the table. Even more, in order to be selected each team had to commit to continuing this work beyond just a few days in Denver, pledging to address tough issues like evaluation, professional development and top to bottom accountability.

Too often we talk about what divides teachers and school district leadership. This conference, called by the Department of Education and co-sponsored by the national organizations of many of the stakeholders represented, showed the enthusiasm for this kind of collaborative work. In some places, collaboration between labor and management on these issues has been working for years or even decades, sometimes at the very cutting edge of reform. At the conference, I got to hear many of the stories, too often not told, of this kind of successful work between school districts and unions.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan participates in a panel with heads of some of the conference’s co-sponsors: George Cohen, Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools; Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association and Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. Denver, Colorado, February 18, 2011. (by Department of Education)

The team from Montgomery County Public Schools, in Maryland, was particularly inspiring. While Montgomery County has historically been a wealthy community, a decade ago the district saw that the county had become highly urbanized, with the county as a whole becoming a majority minority community. Schools were divided into two de facto districts: one very wealthy set of schools with good student performance and one very poor set of schools with low student achievement. In response to this inequity, a broad team of district leadership – including labor (representing teachers, support staff and administrators), the superintendent and the school board began to put in place a plan to close the achievement gap in their district. The group met every two weeks to make decisions together about the budget and school policies, so every member of the team had a full understanding of where there were resources (and where there were not).

This team gradually put into place a professional growth system for teachers, administrators and support staff, with the aim of improving performance at all levels of the district. For teachers, the evaluation system is focused on improving teaching, with a year of evaluation – which includes student data -- followed by two years of targeted professional development. Evaluation is used not as a tool to punish teachers but to improve teaching and student performance. As a result of these growth opportunities for support staff, the district has seen 454 support staff move into careers as teachers or supervisors.

Their work is achieving results. In 2000, Broad Acres Elementary School, the highest poverty school in the district, was also the lowest performing elementary school. The district and the unions together designed a plan to transform the school, including training, teachers working together in teams and teacher leadership. In just three years, Broad Acres Elementary went from being one of the worst performing schools in the district, to having student achievement levels on par with schools serving far wealthier parts of the county.

Another powerful example was ABC Unified School District in Los Angeles County. In response to a 1993 teacher strike, the local teachers union and ABC Unified decided they had to find a better way, and began the difficult discussions necessary to forge a partnership. The partnership has particularly focused on teacher recruitment and retention and funding teacher-selected, school-specific, research-based instructional programs. Their work together is yielding results. Every year since the partnership began, the district’s score on California’s Academic Index has increased. In a district with 41% of students on free or reduced priced meals, the graduation rate is 89%, well above the national rate of 74.9%.

The trust built by this partnership has also created the space for additional needed reforms. One middle school in the district was recently identified as eligible for the Department of Education’s School Improvement Grant funding, which helps fund transformations at the nation’s 5% lowest-achieving schools. In accepting the grant, 100% of the teachers within the school voted to move to a system where student achievement would become part of the teacher evaluation and compensation – something ABC Unified had not previously done. Recognizing this choice could bring needed resources to students and teachers, the partnership supported this as an opportunity for improvement, rather than as an aberration to be blocked.

All these achievements for students were brought about not by telling teachers what to do but by giving them a seat at the table. As Secretary Duncan has said, “When folks build trust, when everyone moves outside of their comfort zones, collective bargaining itself can be a tool for positive change, rather than a tool to maintain the status quo. That's the kind of forward thinking we need.”

This week’s conference lifted up great examples of districts where management and teachers unions are working together to turnaround schools. The partnerships on display at the conference prove that progress is being made through collaboration. In fact, some of the best outcomes come when teachers, staff, principals, superintendents and school boards collaborate together. Too often that’s not the story that gets told. The Middle Class Task Force will continue to lift and highlight these successes.

For more information on this week’s conference, go to http://www.ed.gov/labor-management-collaboration/conference.

Maureen Tracey-Mooney is Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the Vice President.

What Have You Learned from ARRA, Dorothy?

Jared Bernstein — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:25:39 +0000

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act turns two years old today, thus prompting the Tin Man’s question: what have we learned from the implementation of the economic stimulus?

Some interesting and provocative answers to that question can be found in a new report out today, entitled A New Way of Doing Business: How the Recovery Act is Leaning the Way to 21^st Century Government.

Now, I understand that implementation of government programs is not a topic that immediately grips the attention of a normal person. But even if you’re not a propeller-beanied policy wonk, this report is worth a look.

Why? Because it presents a chapter in the story of rebuilding faith in the ability of the Federal government to get things done effectively and efficiently.

We live in an era where folks too easily expect government programs to be badly run, but one of President’s top priorities on coming to Washington was to change this expectation. And there’s only one way to do that: by running things right.

The Recovery Act met every one of its goals on or ahead of schedule, including, most importantly, the saving or creating of 3.5 million jobs. Thousands of projects came in under budget, thus allowing for more projects to be undertaken. Tax cuts lifted the incomes of millions of families, loan guarantees reached thousands of small businesses, and investments in the future are planting the seeds of vital new industries.

The report documents four lessons learned in the process: constant oversight is essential, transparency drives accountability, collaboration breaks bureaucratic barriers, and competition brings results.

Let me say a little bit about the last lesson—introducing competition into the process—because, as an economist, I view this as a particularly important innovation for government work (check out this article for more on this point). It’s also a lesson you’re going to see a lot more of as we work to promote the President’s innovation agenda.

There was not one earmark in the Recovery Act. Instead, many of the grant programs in the Act used merit-based competitions as a way to get the biggest bang for the buck. These competitions incentivized bureaucrats to get off of the old formula-based approaches and get their creativity on.

The Department of Education’s Race to the Top is perhaps the most widely cited example. The department set out broad, common sense goals and asked states to develop plans that fit the specific challenges they faced. Not only did this unleash the creative juices of educators across the land, it sets up dozens of laboratories conducting natural experiments so we can evaluate what works best. This never would have happened under the old cookie-cutter approach.

The Energy Department got into the game as well, introducing competitions to transform the energy sector in ways that would promote clean energy, create good, private-sector jobs here at home, and start sliding down the marginal cost curve as quickly as possible. As one result of this work, the department now expects that the cost of a 100-mile-range electric vehicle battery could drop from $33,000 to $10,000 by the end of 2015. (See here for a new report on green jobs created by the Recovery Act.)

There are many more examples in the report and the article linked to above. But the point is simple—by introducing competition into the mix, we engender a very different kind of stimulus: one that stimulates brain cells and creative, outside-the-box, non-formulaic thinking.

That just so happens to be the story of American innovation. And it’s one way the President is re-inventing government for the 21^st century.

Jared Bernstein is Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President

A Budget that Meets Two Goals

Jared Bernstein — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:16:58 +0000

On Monday, the Administration released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2012. It’s a Budget that meets two goals: it makes tough but necessary cuts that put our nation on a sustainable fiscal path. And it’s a budget that invests wisely to ensure economic opportunity for working Americans.

As the President said Monday, this is a budget designed to help America win the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building our global competition. But in order to afford those investments, the government needs to start living within our means. So we’re proposing over $1 trillion in deficit reduction, of which two thirds comes from spending cuts.

Yet we cannot abandon the needs of working families at this point in our economic recovery. Yes, our cuts have involved tough choices, and they will require sacrifices from many Americans. But there’s also a lot in this budget to help middle-class families get back to work, afford college, to protect them at work, and strengthen their retirement.

A few examples:

Cutting Taxes for the Middle Class: Late last year, the President and Congress reached a bipartisan deal to cut taxes on middle-class families, which is reflected in the President’s budget. The deal included income tax cuts and a temporary payroll tax holiday that, taken together, will mean that typical families will see thousands of dollars more in their paychecks this year.
Helping Keep Child Care Affordable: The Budget proposes to expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which helps families cover the rising cost of child care. Our proposal will nearly double this tax credit for families making less than $75,000 a year, and nearly all eligible families making less than $103,000 a year will see their credit increase.
Helping Students and Their Families Pay for College: The Budget proposes to build on the gains we’ve made over the last two years in boosting college affordability, including permanently extending the President’s new American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides students and their families with a tax credit of up to $2,500 a year to help pay for college. The Budget also makes the tough choices necessary to maintain the $5,550 maximum Pell Grant award.
Strengthening Retirement Security for American Workers: The Budget proposes to give more workers access to better retirement savings options by requiring employers who don’t already offer a retirement plan at the workplace to automatically enroll their workers in a direct-deposit IRA. Workers will be able to opt out of these automatic IRAs if they choose, and the smallest employers will be exempt, but this proposal will help provide an easier and better way to save for the 78 million Americans who don’t currently have a retirement plan at work.
Providing Support for Family Caregivers: The Budget proposes to devote $96 million to the Administration's Caregiver Initiative, an effort to expand assistance for families and seniors so that caregivers can better manage their multiple responsibilities and seniors can live in the community for as long as possible.
Investing in Infrastructure and Clean Energy to Create Jobs Here in America: The Budget proposes several major investments in infrastructure and clean energy that will increase American competitiveness and create jobs. These proposals include making major investments in roads, rail, and high-speed internet, extending a highly effective clean energy manufacturing tax credit, and improving incentives for purchasing electric cars.

Some will argue that the goals of fiscal discipline and investing in the middle class are mutually exclusive. President Obama does not believe so, which is why this budget embodies the reality that we must do all we can to meet both of those goals.

Jared Bernstein is Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President

Bringing High-Speed Rail to America

Tobin Marcus — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:52:47 +0000

Download Video: mp4 (288MB) | mp3 (28MB)

Imagine the last time you took a trip between two American cities. Maybe you had to wait in line at a crowded airport; maybe you spent hours in traffic in a car or a bus. Or maybe you made the trip on a train that had to slow down over and over because it was running on outdated tracks.

Now think about the fact that over the next 40 years, the population of the US is projected to grow by 100 million, and consider how much that’ll increase the use of our roads, airports, and rail. Now imagine what that same trip you took will be like if we don’t build the transportation infrastructure we need to accommodate those extra travelers.

The fact is, those folks are going to travel one way or another. But it’s up to us whether they travel on the infrastructure of the past, or whether they travel on new 21^st century transportation infrastructure that’s fast, modern, efficient, and environmentally friendly.

That’s why Vice President Biden traveled to Philadelphia today to announce a comprehensive plan to help the nation reach President Obama’s goal of giving 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years. The President is proposing to invest $53 billion over the next six years to continue construction of a national high-speed and intercity passenger rail network, which will create tens of thousands of private-sector jobs while helping to lay a new foundation for our economy.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood board an Amtrak Acela train in Washington, D.C., February 7, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Building a national high-speed rail network is a key part of this Administration’s plan to out-build, out-innovate, and out-compete the rest of the world. As Vice President Biden said in Philadelphia today, public infrastructure investment increases private-sector productivity, promotes growth, and creates jobs. Transportation infrastructure is the lifeblood of the global economy; if we can’t move goods and people faster and more efficiently than our competition, there’s no way we’re going to remain the most prosperous and productive country in the world.

But why high-speed rail? Why not build more highways and airports?

Look at it this way: in dense, highly populated regions like the Northeast Corridor, building just one mile of one lane of highway costs $40 to $50 million. And it doesn’t get any easier when you look at airports; adding a single extra runway at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport recently cost $1.3 billion. Worse yet, many of the airports in our most congested areas are surrounded by development and can’t be expanded, which makes it almost impossible to add more flights in and out of cities like New York.

And beyond the dollar costs of highways and airports, you have to consider their environmental cost in terms of increased carbon emissions: an Amtrak train between Philadelphia and New York can carry up to 500 passengers, and if those folks drove instead, they would use more than 1,900 gallons of gas. Not only is that roughly double the energy used by that train, but most of it comes from foreign oil.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood talk about high speed rail expansion while traveling from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia, PA on an Amtrak Acela train, February 7, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

But most important of all are the human costs of our aging transportation system. As the Vice President said today, “Think about the difference rail travel makes in people’s lives. I know, because when I was in the senate, it made an incredible difference in mine. Every minute you’re not stuck in traffic, or working your way through airport security, is a minute more that you can spend with your families.”

Billions of hours were wasted last year in congestion on American highways. And in our airports, the percentage of flights landing at least two hours late has more than doubled since 1990. Even on the Acela Express – the fastest train in the Northeast Corridor, which the Vice President rode today – it takes 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to New York City. That’s only about 45 minutes faster than in the 1940s.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood deliver remarks on building a 21st century infrastructure at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 7, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

We want to change that. Through our investments in high-speed rail, we’re hoping to cut the time for that trip to just 96 minutes. Over the next 25 years, our goal is to build high-speed and intercity passenger rail capacity equivalent to 1,900 miles of new highway, but with trains zipping along at up to 220 miles per hour in our most densely populated corridors. And we’re proposing to expand faster rail service to emerging and regional corridors as well, so that we can ultimately give 80 percent of Americans access to these core high-speed rail lines.

This is already happening in countries around the world, and as the Vice President said in Philadelphia today, there’s no reason we can’t do it here. Building a cutting-edge transportation system is the only way we’re going to keep leading the world. So let’s start building.

Tobin Marcus is the Deputy Economic Policy Advisor in the Office of the Vice President

Living Up To the Mine Act

Maureen Tracey-Mooney — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:36:05 +0000

Today the Department of Labor proposed a new rule that would help better protect Americans with one of the most dangerous jobs: miners.

For years, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has been overly restricted in its use of a powerful tool to protect the health and safety of our nation’s miners: putting a mine on a “Patterns of Violations” (or POV) status and using the additional enforcement tools that determination brings with it. The current system makes it much too difficult to identify such patterns -- too hard for both mine operators and the workers who need the protection this new rule would provide.

In the 30 years since the Mine Act’s passage no mine has ever been placed on a POV. That means that mines we know are consistently putting workers in danger are allowed to continue bad practices without making the needed systemic changes to protect workers. The current regulatory interpretation of the Mine Act fundamentally undermines its intent: to provide MSHA with the tools it needs to protect workers.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking takes critical steps to address flaws in the current rule and reflects the intent of Congress when it wrote the POV statute. Current regulation says that only final orders or citations against a mine can be used to determine if there is a POV. MSHA hasn’t been able to put mines on a POV because mines often contest their citations, leading to lengthy delays before a citation is made final.

To fully understand the scale of these challenges and the way they are used to avoid enforcement, you have to look at the numbers. In November of 2010, there was a backlog of roughly 88,000 contested violations; as a result of this backlog, the average contested violation took over 500 days to become final (even with substantial new resources dedicated to resolving the backlog). From 2006-2010, fewer than 1% of these citations were reversed. As a result, it’s virtually impossible for MSHA to review a mine’s recent compliant history when determining whether there is a POV. The proposed rule would eliminate the requirement that MSHA use only final citations, eliminating lengthy delays in enforcement that endanger workers.

For mine operators that want to do the right thing, the new proposed rule would make it easier for them to comply with the law and avoid a POV. It would simplify the POV criteria, improve consistency in its application and provide a searchable database mine operators can use to track their compliance. It would also provide special consideration for operators that monitor their compliance while taking proactive measures to protect workers.

Too often, we let the myth persist that work place accidents just happen; that they are unavoidable, particularly in industries like mining. That’s just not true. With effective safety measures and strong enforcement, accidents can be avoided. Today’s proposed rule represents a significant step towards providing miners with the safe workplaces that they deserve and that is their right.

Maureen Tracey-Mooney is Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the Vice President

Our Plan to Put One Million Advanced Technology Vehicles on America’s Roads

Brian Levine — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:37:18 +0000

Last night, President Obama set a goal of making the United States the first country in the world to put one million advanced technology vehicles on the road. This goal is part of the President’s plan to rebuild our economy by investing in innovation to create the jobs and industries of the future.

Vice President Joe Biden tours the Ener1 Inc. battery factory with Director of Manufacturing David Hahn and worker Wendy Howard in Greenfield, Indiana, Jan. 26, 2011. (Official White House photo by David Lienemann) January 26, 2011.

Today, Vice President Biden visited Ener1, Inc., a manufacturer of advanced batteries for electric vehicles, in Greenfield, Indiana to announce our plan to reach this one million vehicle goal by 2015. The facility that the Vice President visited would not exist if not for a $118.5 million grant from the Department of Energy, which was part of a $2.4 billion Recovery Act investment in electric vehicles . Ener1 added 120 jobs across the company in 2010 and the future looks bright. They expect to expand the manufacturing and assembly operation in Greenfield from 80 workers today to over a thousand by the start of 2013.

The Vice President got a first-hand look at Ener1’s assembly line and had a chance to chat with several workers. The Vice President was introduced by Wendy Howard, a mother of three, who joined Ener1 after being laid off from her previous job. Wendy proudly said that she now makes "hi-tech batteries for electric cars that don’t disturb the environment and don’t drink up oil that we don’t have."

Vice President Joe Biden tours the Ener1 Inc. battery factory with CEO Charles Gassenheimer and COO Richard Stanley and is shown a THINK City, an electric car that uses Ener1 batteries, in Greenfield, Indiana, Jan. 26, 2011. (Official White House photo by David Lienemann) January 26, 2011.

Wendy and her co-workers at Ener1 will surely benefit from the three-part plan that Vice President Biden announced today, which will support electric vehicle manufacturing and adoption in the United States through generous new consumer rebates, investments in research and development, and a new competitive program to encourage communities to knock down regulatory barriers and invest in electric vehicle infrastructure, like public charging stations. You can learn more about the plan here.

As the Vice President said today, Ener1 and other companies like it are "building a brighter, cleaner, and more prosperous American future."

Brian Levine is Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President

Victories For Working Families and Jobs in the Agreement on Tax Cuts and Unemployment Insurance

Jason Furman — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 20:24:34 +0000

The President is committed to promoting a strong, growing economy – one that’s creating jobs, fostering a thriving middle class, and extending opportunity to all American workers. That’s why he fought so hard to ensure that the priorities of working families were advanced in the agreement introduced today in the Senate.

December 10, 2010.

As the chart above demonstrates, the bipartisan agreement we’ve forged delivers several key victories – victories that will give the average American family assurance that there will be more money to pay the bills each month:

An Employee-Side Payroll Tax Cut of Approximately 2%: The agreement includes an employee-side payroll tax cut for over 155 million workers – providing tax relief of about $112 billion next year.
Extension of Unemployment Benefits: The agreement extends emergency unemployment benefits at their current level for 13 months, preventing an estimated 7 million workers from losing their benefits over the next year as they search for jobs.
The Child Tax Credit: The $3,000 refundability threshold established in the Recovery Act for the Child Tax Credit will be extended under the agreement, ensuring an ongoing tax cut to 10.5 million lower-income families with 18 million children.
The Earned Income Tax Credit: The agreement continues a Recovery Act expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit worth, on average, $600 for families with 3 or more children, and reduces the “marriage penalty” faced by working married families. Together, these enhancements to the EITC will help 6.5 million working parents with 15 million children.
The American Opportunity Tax Credit: The new American Opportunity Tax Credit – a partially refundable tax credit that helps more than 8 million students and their families afford the cost of college – would be continued under the agreement.
100 Percent Expensing: The agreement includes the President’s proposal to temporarily allow businesses to expense 100% of their investments in 2011, potentially generating more than $50 billion in additional investment in 2011, which will fuel job creation.
1603 Renewable Energy Grants: The agreement extends the 1603 program, which is helping to support tens of thousands of jobs in the wind and solar industries.

These victories all come on top of the extension of lower income tax rates for middle-class Americans.

Helping Middle-Class Families Pursue Justice

Brian Levine — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:31:16 +0000

This morning, the Vice President spoke at a Middle Class Task Force Event that was co-hosted by the Department of Justice’s Access to Justice Initiative. He announced new steps that our Administration is taking in partnership with the legal community to strengthen foreclosure mediation programs, help veterans cope with legal challenges, and make it easier for workers to find a qualified attorney when they believe their rights have been violated.

First, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) are launching a new partnership to help workers resolve complaints received by DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, such as not getting paid the minimum wage or overtime, or being wrongfully denied family medical leave. DOL resolves more than 20,000 of these complaints every year, but because of limited resources, there are thousands more they are unable to pursue. Starting next month, people whose cases cannot be pursued will be provided with a newly created toll-free number that will connect them with an ABA-approved attorney referral service so they can find a qualified lawyer to help with their claims.

Second, the Vice President announced a collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). In communities across the country, the VA’s Vet Centers provide counseling services to combat veterans. We are now connecting more than 50 of these Vet Centers with the LSC’s network of local legal aid offices, which provide free legal advice to folks who can’t afford to hire a lawyer. So when veterans come to Vet Centers and need help with problems ranging from foreclosure to employment issues, the staff will know where to send them.

The Legal Services Corporation also announced the launch of a new website – www.statesidelegal.org. This website is designed specifically for veterans and their families and they will be able to find information on everything from estate planning to disability benefits to the GI Bill.

Finally, the Vice President announced new steps to strengthen foreclosure mediation programs, which allow homeowners to meet face-to-face with lenders and discuss alternatives to foreclosure under the supervision of a neutral third-party mediator. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Access to Justice Initiative issued a report on mediation strategies that are working. In addition to outlining some best practices, the report includes a list of jurisdictions with successful programs that are eager to share their experiences with communities that are developing or expanding mediation programs.

HUD and NeighborWorks, the nation’s largest funder of foreclosure counseling services, also announced that they will each be providing new training for housing counselors, homeowners, attorneys, and mediators in order to make mediation programs even more effective.

As the Vice President said today, “In difficult economic times, we want to make sure all Americans—regardless of income or status—have access to the resources they need to pursue justice.”

Brian Levine is the Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President

The Importance of Equal Pay For Women

Terrell McSweeny — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I picked up my Wall Street Journal and read an opinion piece “Washington’s Equal Pay Obsession” arguing that the Paycheck Fairness Act is unnecessary because, in a nutshell, women don’t face rampant pay discrimination. Instead, the author asserted, the wage gap exists because women are mothers.

So let’s break this down.

First, there is ample evidence that women – regardless of their parental status - do face pay discrimination. Yes, part of the wage gap is a result of occupational choices and other factors. No one denies that. Most economists agree, however, that no matter how many variables you control for an unexplained wage gap between men and women persists. For example, Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn did an excellent breakdown of the wage gap in 2007 and identified that 41% of the wage gap between men and women could not be explained by controlling for variables. Regardless of the precise percentage of the wage gap, we have a responsibility to ensure that no one in this country makes less as a result of his or her gender.

Wage discrimination is real.

Just ask Lilly Ledbetter. She is a mother. She didn’t seek a “less stressful work environment” than her male counter parts. And she was paid roughly 30% less. If she had been allowed to share information about her pay with her colleagues she would have realized she was being paid less than men with less experience.

But Lilly couldn’t bring that case. She could have lost her job if she discussed her pay with her colleagues. The Paycheck Fairness Act would provide that protection. The author is right there are a lot of laws aimed at this problem – but because they don’t provide basic tools like pay transparency, discrimination persists.

Where employees know how their pay compares to that of their peers they are better able to advocate for themselves and ensure discrimination does not occur. For example, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research recently conducted a survey that shows that only 14% of public sector workers feel that discussions of pay are discouraged or prohibited. In the federal government, the wage gap between men and women is only 11%. Conversely, in the private sector, the survey showed that 61% of employees are discouraged or prohibited from talking about salary information. The wage gap in the broader economy is much larger. It’s common sense that in order to identify and prevent discrimination, employees have to know how their pay compares to that of their peers and that pay would be more equal where workplaces are more open.

Second, lots of women who are parents don’t take time off or seek flexible schedules. This is particularly true in tough economic times when families increasingly rely on women’s income. That’s one of reasons why, for the first time, women now make up nearly half of all workers on US payrolls. In fact, now more than ever women are the primary breadwinners for their families. As families depend more on women’s wages, eliminating wage discrimination is also critical for middle class economic security - families who are working hard can hardly afford to lose part of a paycheck to discrimination.

Motherhood should not be used as a scapegoat here. BLS reports that in 2009, 64% of women in the workforce were not parents at all. And many still are paid less than their male counter parts.

Third, “career breaks” do not necessarily equate with loss of skill. Taking a year or ten off to stay home with kids doesn’t necessarily mean a parent has lost skills.

The Paycheck Fairness Act gives women more tools to get fair pay in the workplace. For example, the legislation allows employees to inquire about wages or share salary information without fear of reprisals. The Act closes loopholes that make it harder for women to challenge being paid different wages for the same work, and it ensures that women who prove their case are compensated fairly.

Women deserve these protections.

Terrell McSweeny is Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President