Buenos Tardes … Julie Rodriguez, The White House

Buenos Tardes,

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz rolled out a new report on the Obama Administration’s agenda and its impact on the Hispanic Community this week.  ‘An America Built to Last: President Obama’s Agenda and the Hispanic Community’ was first previewed during a policy conversation at the Center for American Progress on keeping the ladder of opportunity strong for Latinos.

The report highlights the fact that the successes and challenges of the Hispanic community are closely intertwined with the future economic well-being of our nation, and how the policies and programs this Administration has worked on over the past three years affect this growing segment of the American population.

To read the new report in English, please click here. To read the new report en español, click here.

On July 20th, the White House was honored to host Colombian American Community Leaders on the 202nd Colombian independence.  Key White House and other Administration officials joined the Colombian-American participants for this important exchange.

Ricardo Zuniga, the recently appointed Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs in the National Security Staff, delivered welcoming remarks highlighting the importance of the relationship between the United States and Colombia, from our shared common values, to our long history dating back to Simon Bolivar and George Washington’s exchange on their common struggle for independence.

To read more about their visit, click here.

Dan Restrepo, Dario Gomez, Kevin Whitaker, Alejandra Castillo, and Gustavo Arnavat speak on a panel titled “Promoting Exports and Trade Opportunities for Small Business,” July 20, 2012. (Photo by the White House Office of Public Engagement)

Our nation is only as strong as our middle class, and Congress would be putting the middle class at risk by failing to act on extending middle-class tax cuts. That is why the President is calling on congress to do the right thing and extend middle-class tax cuts for ninety-eight percent of American families and ninety-seven percent of small businesses. Check out the infographic for a breakdown of what these middle-class tax cuts means for millions of families.

The United States of America made history this week as ‘Curiosity’ successfully landed on Mars. The President released a statement and said:

“…tonight’s success reminds us that our preeminence – not just in space, but here on Earth – depends on continuing to invest wisely in the innovation, technology, and basic research that has always made our economy the envy of the world.”

To read the complete press release, click here.

Lastly, the President’s thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the shooting in Wisconsin.

As always, please share with your networks!

Julie Chavez Rodriguez Associate Director White House | Office of Public Engagement

Agency Updates

U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Announces More than $363 Million in Grants for State Highway Projects August 2, 2012 The U.S. economy is working its way back from the Great Recession. One indication has been that unemployment insurance claims have steadily fallen since September and they are now at the same level as in March of 2008. Additionally, layoffs are at the same level as in 2006.

Secretary Duncan, White House, Smithsonian Officials to Celebrate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Anniversary July 23, 2012 Education Secretary Arne Duncan, along with officials from White House and the Smithsonian Institution will join high-school student leaders from New York and Washington D.C., today for a series of events celebrating the 48th anniversary of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts August 07, 2012 President Obama announced his intent to appoint individuals to the Arctic Research Commission.

Health care law gives women control over their care, offers free preventive services to 47 million women July 31, 2012 Forty-seven million women are getting greater control over their health care and access to eight new prevention-related health care services without paying more out of their own pocket beginning Aug. 1, 2012, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Announces $787 Million to Repair, Modernize Nation’s Aging Transit Infrastructure July 23, 2012 U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced $787 million that will put Americans to work modernizing and replacing aging transit facilities and vehicles to meet the growing demand from millions of riders across the country. This third round of federal funding will support 255 projects in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

New “Border Initiative” to help communities along U.S/Mexico region confronting chronic poverty June 12, 2012 Today the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Rural Development (USDA-RD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced a joint “Border Community Capital Initiative” (Border Initiative), a collaboration designed to increase access to capital in the U.S./Mexico border region which includes some of the poorest communities in the country.

Blog Highlights

New Report Highlights the Impact of the President’s Agenda on the Hispanic Community August 8, 2012 A new report, “An America Built to Last: President Obama’s Agenda and the Hispanic Community,” takes a close look at how President Obama’s policies have made a difference for Hispanics and all Americans as we work to move our country forward out of the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

An Issue Beyond Debate: Congress Should Act Now to Protect Women Vice President Biden discusses the importance of congressional action to protect women. He stresses the importance of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization.

International Religious Freedom: A Human Right, A National Security Issue, A Foreign Policy Priority As the President’s 2012 Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day stated, this Administration will continue to stand with all who are denied the ability to choose, express, or live their faith freely, and we remain dedicated to protecting this universal human right and the vital role it plays in ensuring peace and stability for all nations.

Marking the 22nd Anniversary of the ADA Valerie Jarrett delivered remarks at the 22nd anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act and discusses a report from the Office of Personnel Management on the progress that the Federal government has made.

U.S. Department of State Hosts Spanish-language Twitter Briefing The U.S. State Department held a Spanish-language Twitter Briefing covering a wide range of U.S. foreign policy issues.

Spreading the Word about Doing Business in Latin America Francisco Sanchez, Under Secretary for International Trade, discusses the advantages of doing business in Latin America.

Inventing a Sustainable Future for Latin America Luis Aguirre-Torres, a recent White House Champion of Change, blogs about re-inventing the future and finding solutions to issues like climate change.

Goals for a Better Life A. Patricia Janiot, a recent White House Champion of Change, discusses community development and education as key components of a brighter future.

Get Involved

Apply for the Spring 2013 White House Internship Program The application for the Spring 2013 White House Internship Program is now open. This hands-on program is designed to mentor and cultivate today’s young leaders, strengthen their understanding of the Executive Office of the President and engage them in public service opportunities. Learn more about the program and the application process. The deadline to apply is September 23, 2012.

Get Updates

West Wing Week …

West Wing Week 08/10/12 or “We Have A Moral, Sacred Duty”

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, the President continued to push for middle class tax cuts, spoke with both the AAPD Summer interns with disabilities and with the White House Summer Interns of 2012, signed the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act, and convened his Rural Council to discuss ways to ease the burden of drought. That’s August 3rd to August 9th or “We Have A Moral Sacred Duty.”More

Choices … they are clear: Women have the RIGHT TO safe quality & affordable HEALTH CARE – BarackObama2012

Join Women for Obama: http://OFA.BO/3C7BeJ

President Obama held a grassroots event in Denver, Colorado where he highlighted how health reform has helped women get access to the care they need.

Thanks to Obamacare:

-Over 868,600 women will now have access to free preventive care.  That means things like mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer and pap smears are available to women without any cost-sharing.

-Over 22,100 Colorado women who find themselves in the Medicare doughnut hole coverage gap will have received a discount on their prescription drugs, saving them an average of $577 each.

-On August 1, insurance companies began to cover eight new women’s health services — including contraception, well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, and more.

If Mitt Romney wins, the middle class loses.

a message from .. NARAL Pro-Choice America

Rush Limbaugh is at it again. He came to Mitt Romney’s defense by calling NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood “death squads.” Tell Romney a real leader would stand up to a bully like Limbaugh. We’ve all heard about Rush Limbaugh’s rants attacking strong women. Thanks to pro-choice people like you, he faced an onslaught of criticism for his offensive language against Sandra Fluke. Well, he is at it again. Yesterday, he came to Mitt Romney’s defense by calling NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood “death squads.” First, he claimed that the “Democrats [are] funded and underwritten by Planned Parenthood and NARAL,” and then said, “If they’re not death squads, I don’t know what is.”1 Limbaugh’s inflammatory rhetoric is outrageous and needs to be condemned. Join me in calling on Romney to stand up to Limbaugh’s remarks. It’s alarming that a politician who is running for the highest office in the nation fails to address Limbaugh head on. When Limbaugh went after Sandra Fluke, Mitt Romney refused to call for Limbaugh to apologize. Instead, Romney cowardly said, “it’s not the language I would have used.”2 Will Romney duck Limbaugh’s incendiary language a second time? Tell Romney that a real leader would stand up to a bully like Limbaugh. Make sure he knows that when he refuses to denounce Limbaugh for his offensive language, he fails women. We’re not going to let these outrageous attacks on women’s freedom and privacy go unanswered. In solidarity, Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America 1 – “Limbaugh On Planned Parenthood And NARAL Pro-Choice: ‘If They’re Not Death Squads, I Don’t Know What Is’,” Media Matters, August 8, 2012 2 – “Romney Fails the Leadership Test,” The Root, March 5, 2012

A political organization, NARAL Pro-Choice America is the nation’s leading advocate for privacy and a woman’s right to choose.

Support Congressman Keith Ellison

Thomas Jefferson’s Koran.

Congressman Keith Ellison started life outside the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant English-Speaking Straight mainstream.  He is African-American, and he was raised as a Catholic.

Many people who find themselves out of the mainstream swim desperately toward it.  They seek the shelter and comfort of conformity.
Not Keith.

At the age of 19, Keith Ellison converted to Islam.  He has raised his four children within Islam.  He explained it this way:  “When I looked at my spiritual life, and I looked at what might inform social change and justice in society . . . I found Islam.”

Converting to Islam is perhaps not the best way to further political aspirations in America today.  But in Keith Ellison’s case, it shows the courage of his convictions.

When Keith Ellison was sworn into Congress, he took the oath of office with his hand on the Koran – specifically, Thomas Jefferson’s personal copy of the Koran.  And remember, he’s a Muslim; what did you expect him to put under his hand, “Green Eggs and Ham“?  (That would definitely not be halal.)

And that’s when the hating started.  The poorly-named Congressman Virgil Goode from Virginia bleated: “If American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office, and demanding the use of the Koran.”  It’s interesting to think about what kind of immigration policy would have kept Keith Ellison’s ancestors out, since they arrived in America in chains.

Glenn Beck, then on CNN, invited Keith Ellison on his show, and asked this not-so-perspicacious “question”:  “Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.”  Keith responded with a quiet dignity utterly foreign to that show:  “I have a deep love and affection for my country.”

Think about how much easier it would have been for Keith Ellison to change his religion not to Islam, but to Protestantism, and to go along, and to get along, and to try to fit in.  But that just wouldn’t be Keith Ellison. He draws his strength, and his courage, from not being just like everyone else.

Keith Ellison understands that the things that make us special are not the things that make us the same – they’re the things that make us different.  That our differences are not something to overcome, or even to tolerate, but something to cherish.

Keith Ellison is facing a primary next Tuesday.  I hope that you will support his campaign.  Because the mere existence of Congressman Keith Ellison represents a very important principle:

E Pluribus Unum.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

Center for American Progress

August 10, 2012| View Online
	Soot Pollution 101
	What You Need to Know and How You Can Help Prevent It By Jackie Weidman, Susannah Marshall Ask the Expert: How Reducing Soot Pollution Can Save Lives Dr. Christopher Lillis explains why soot is hazardous to our public health, how it affects regular people and the benefits of reducing soot pollution through new Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Watch the video here. Earlier this summer the Environmental Protection Agency proposed updated clean-air standards that will prevent tens of thousands of premature deaths. The proposal comes in response to legal action calling upon the EPA to update final regulations for particle pollution. This rule is in line with the Clean Air Act’s requirements to protect public health and improve air quality. Particle pollution, commonly referred to as “soot,” is one of the deadliest forms of air pollution. This 101 details why it is essential that the EPA adopts the strictest rules possible to protect Americans from the dangers of breathing these particles.

a message from Maggie L. Fox, Climate Reality

It’s hot. It’s too hot! For many of us, it’s one of the hottest summers ever. 2012 is so far the hottest year on record in the United States. It’s WAY too hot to ignore the role of manmade climate change.

Yet climate deniers continue spreading the same tired falsehoods we’ve heard over and over again. But, we’re fighting back and connecting the dots to show that climate change is happening now. And we need your help.

Last week, we took our “I’m Too Hot” campaign into Austin, Texas — where the temperature shot past 100 degrees each day and it was impossible to ignore the heat. We talked to the people we met about how the climate crisis is affecting their lives. We invited them to post messages on Twitter or Facebook using our “I’m Too Hot!” hashtag. Along with sharing some of our ice cream accompanied by climate messages, people in Austin were connecting the dots and sharing the truth about climate change.

This campaign was a success. We helped spark an urgent and necessary conversation about the reality of our changing climate. And now, with your help, we want to take our “I’m Too Hot!” campaign to more cities where the temperatures are soaring.

Help us take our “I’m Too Hot” campaign to reach more cities across America. Donate $5 today to support this important campaign.

The best way to engage people is to make the connection to what they experience every day — to bring the connections home. So we’ve created a simple, innovative campaign with a serious purpose: Helping more and more people understand how climate change impacts their everyday lives.

In Austin, one person after another told us that while they’re used to hot summers in Texas, this year is exceptional – and worrisome. As word of mouth spread, more and more people came up to us carrying on the conversation about climate change.

And the conversation spread online. Thousands of people posted to their social networks about the reality of climate change in their communities. That is leading to thousands more people who are sharing the truth about climate change and the need for us to take action without delay.

Climate change isn’t something that could happen in the future. It’s happening now, today. Globally, 9 of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 2000. This fact is sobering. It’s absolutely essential for all of us to grasp the reality of climate change and share the need for action with others.

And that means we need to continue our “I’m Too Hot!” campaign beyond Austin to other cities experiencing extreme heat across America.

Help us bring our “I’m Too Hot!” campaign to more cities across the country. Donate $5 today and support The Climate Reality Project.

With your help, we can make a difference!

Thanks for all you do,

Maggie L. Fox
President and CEO
The Climate Reality Project

the Progress Report … Meet Some Right-Wing Attack Groups

| By ThinkProgress War Room

To Better the Know Right-Wing Groups Trying to Buy the Election

A small number of right-wing billionaires are trying to buy this election. And they’re doing it using a variety of right-wing attack groups that have unleashed avalanche of negative ads attacking the president and Democratic Senate and House candidate. These groups may spend as much as $1 BILLION before everything is said and done.

Here’s the rundown on three of these groups: Crossroads GPS, American Crossroads, and Americans for Prosperity.

Crossroads GPS

Created in 2010, Crossroads GPS is a tax-exempt501(c)(4) organization co-founded by former George W. Bush campaign architect Karl Rove and Mitt Romney campaign adviser and former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie. Ironically, Gillespie in 2007 blasted the growing role of similar outside political groups, telling the Center for Public Integrity that independent spenders now “run wild, unfettered, unregulated, not subject to the same rules and regulations as the national parties. And I think that’s been incredibly unhealthy.”

As a 501(c)(4), the group is not legally required to identify its donors — unlike its affiliated Super PAC, American Crossroads. Crossroads GPS notes on its website that its policy is “to not provide the names of its donors to the general public.” It has spent millions of dollars running attack ads against Democrats, including a $25 million blitz against President Obama announced last month.

Media Matters for America

This week is all about whitewashing: the Wall Street Journal whitewashing the environment, Bill O’Reilly whitewashing his entire network, Rush Limbaugh whitewashing an entire presidency, and more. John Whitehouse Twitter: @existentialfish TheWall Street Journal: Dismissing Environmental Threats Since 1976 Once upon a time, the 1970s were supposed to be the decade of the environment, but not for the Wall Street Journal. (Nor were the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, or 2010s thus far either).  A special Media Matters analysis ofWSJ editorials from 1976 to the present demonstrates theWSJ editorial board recycling the same three excuses to dismiss environmental problems like acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer, and climate change. Read the full study here: http://mm4a.org/NcKqIB Rush Limbaugh Wants You To Forget How Bad The Bush Economy Was Do you remember when America lost 2 million jobs during the final three months of 2008? Or do you recall the economy shrinking by 8.9% during the same period? Die-hard Bush defender Rush Limbaugh would prefer you not remember these sorts of things. Get the facts (not the redacted Limbaugh version) here: http://mm4a.org/O5CICG How Ohio‘s Early Voting Debate Went Awry In 2004, voting in Ohio was a disaster: due to weather, too few machines, and too few polling places, tens of thousands of people were unable to vote. In 2008, the state pushed early voting for everyone to alleviate the problem. This year, the right-wing pushed to restrict early voting except for members of the military. The Obama campaign filed a lawsuit to keep early voting open to everyone. Conservatives somehow presented this as an attack on the military  – even though the military’s ability to vote early was never questioned by anyone.  The full research report on this chicanery is here: http://mm4a.org/OI5kDo Non-Birther Sean Hannity Is Just Birther-Curious Sean Hannity swears up and down that he’s not a birther. But Hannity has promoted no less than ten different birther segments on his prime-time Fox show. And Hannity did it again! This time he hosted a hosting a Las Vegas oddsmaker who is “betting” that Obama is not a citizen. Sean Hannity reacted to this claim by challenging Obama to disprove it. Watch the video and learn about Hannity’s other curiousities here: http://mm4a.org/NBxnjh

FEATURED VIDEO “Obama is now out of the closet. He used to be hiding, he’s officially gay for class warfare.” That’s how Fox co-host Greg Gutfeld described the focus on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain. Watch here:  http://mm4a.org/Ni4pHr DOES BILL O’REILLY WATCH FOX NEWS? Bill O’Reilly incredulously  proclaimed “I don’t think we’re promoting Mitt Romney on this network.” Does he even watch Fox? Watch the full clip here: http://mm4a.org/MvhiSg BY THE NUMBERS 43: The number of minutes Fox spent smearing Elizabeth Warren over a two day period, after she made recent comments that America needs more infrastructure investment. 13.7%: The percentage of media stories mentioning climate change in coverage of recent wildfires, according to a Media Matters study. This is a fourfold increase in climate change coverage from a previous study. 58%: The percentage of voters in Colorado who favor a ban on high capacity magazines, compared to 38 percent who favor “stricter gun laws” in the abstract. Polling has consistently shown people favor specific common sense gun regulation, but not “gun control” in general.