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Weekly
Address: Preserving and Strengthening Medicare
President
Obama speaks to the American people about the critical need to
strengthen and preserve Medicare for our seniors and future
generations.
Watch
President Obama's weekly address.
President
Barack Obama tapes the Weekly Address in the East Room of the
White House, Aug. 23, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck
Kennedy)
Weekly
Wrap Up
First
Lady Michelle Obama Hosts First-Ever Kids' State Dinner: On
Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the first-ever Kids’
“State Dinner” at the White House,
welcoming 54 budding chefs to a formal luncheon in the East Room
as part of her Let’s
Move! initiative.
The guests, all between the ages of 8 and 12, represented all U.S.
states, three territories and the District of Columbia.
Each
of the guests, along with their parents, submitted a healthy
recipe as part of Epicurious’ Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, which
invited families to create an original lunchtime recipe that is
healthy, affordable and delicious, and follows the nutritional
guidelines of MyPlate.
President
Obama Held a Press Conference: Also
on Monday, President Obama took
questions from reporters
and discussed a big new announcement from the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).
"Today,
HHS announced that thanks to the health care law that we passed,
nearly 5.4 million seniors with Medicare have saved over $4.1
billion on prescription drugs. That’s an average savings of more
than $700 per person," he said. "This year alone, 18
million seniors with Medicare have taken advantage of new
preventive care benefits like a mammogram or other cancer
screening at no extra cost."
Assisting
Iranians in Need: On
August 11, strong earthquakes in northwest Iran destroyed and
damaged hundreds of villages, causing the loss of many lives,
leaving thousands without electricity, water, health care and
other essential services. The United States immediately sent the
Iranian people our condolences and offered direct earthquake
relief to the government of Iran. Despite our strong differences
with the Iranian government, we have a deeply held obligation to
help those in need in times of disaster. To learn more about the
United States’ assistance to the Iranian people, please
read Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough’s
comments.
First
Lady Announced a Major Milestone for Joining Forces: On
Wednesday, at Naval Station Mayport near Jacksonville, Florida,
First Lady Michelle Obama announced that 2,000 companies had
hired
or trained an amazing 125,000 veterans and military spouses
in the past year through Joining Forces. This effort, combined
with policies and legislation put in place by the President have
resulted in a 20 percent decrease in veteran unemployment compared
to this time last year.
International
Traveler Spending On Pace For a Record Setting Year: Also
on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released data
showing that international
visitors have spent an estimated $82.2 billion on U.S. travel
and tourism-related goods and services year to date, an increase
of 11 percent when compared to the same period last year. The new
data indicate that the first half of 2012 set a new record for
U.S. travel and tourism exports, and, if these trends continue,
international visitors could end up injecting close to $170
billion into the U.S. economy by year-end.
The
Department of the Interior recently redesigned Recreation.gov to
engage visitors with enhanced interactive web content and more
multimedia, mobile, trip-planning tools. Check out the
new Recreation.gov website
to see the 90,000 federal sites, including national parks,
wildlife refuges, waterways, and forests for you and your family
to explore in the United States.
#InnovateGov: On
Thursday, the inaugural class of Presidential
Innovation Fellows,
top innovators from all over the country who are working to create
solutions that will boost government innovation for the American
people, was welcomed by US Chief Technology Officer Todd Park.
Learn about these projects at wh.gov/innovationfellows and
read Todd
Park's blog post.
Open-Sourcing
We the People: Also
on Thursday, the White House published the source
code for We the People,
the online petitions system for the public to connect with the
White House. When President Obama talked about We
the People at the Open Government Partnership last
year, he promised to, "share that technology so any
government in the world can enable its citizens to do the same."
Now anybody, from other countries to the smallest organizations to
civic hackers can take this code and put to their own use. One of
the most exciting prospects of open sourcing We the People is
getting feedback, ideas and code contributions from the public.
First
Lady Michelle Obama Visited Sikh Community in Wisconsin: Also
on Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama visited with the Sikh
American families affected by the tragedy on August 5 in Oak
Creek, Wisconsin. She not only expressed her condolences but also
underscored how strong those who died were, and how strong the
Sikh community continues to be. The First Lady expressed her pride
in the community, and looked into the eyes of the children in the
room and said that she expects them to achieve ever greater things
as well. The First Lady also greeted the family of Oak Creek
Police Lt. Brian Murphy, who was shot and injured while defending
the temple. Learn more about First
Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to the Sikh Community.
Stay
Connected
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