Help is on the way

$15 billion of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be available in just two days, the President announced this morning, just a week after the act was signed into law.

"By the time most of you get home; money will be waiting to help 20 million vulnerable Americans in your states keep their health care coverage," he told a gathering of the nation's governors in the State Dining Room of the White House. "Children with asthma will be able to breathe easier, seniors won't need to fear losing their doctors, and pregnant women with limited means won't have to worry about the health of their babies."

But as with all the money in the ARRA, it's "not a blank check," the President said. (Learn more about the grant-making process.) He hammered it home by announcing that he's tasked Vice President Biden to oversee the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and that he's named Earl Devaney to keep an eye on every dollar as head of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.

A former Secret Service agent, Devaney has worked since 1999 as the Inspector General of the Interior Department, where he exposed the Abramoff scandals and a deep culture of corruption among Bush officials and appointees.

"For nearly a decade as Inspector General at the Interior Department, Earl has doggedly pursued waste, fraud and mismanagement," the President said, "and Joe and I can't think of a more tenacious and efficient guardian of the hard-earned tax dollars the American people have entrusted us to wisely invest.

The appointment of Devaney follows on a tough memo from OMB director Peter Orszag to the heads of federal departments and agencies, explaining the high standards that are expected of them in reporting use of ARRA funds.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-and-Vice-President-to-the-National-Governors-Association/

THE BRIEFING ROOM

Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Remarks by the President and Vice President to the National Governors Association

For Immediate Release February 23, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AND THE VICE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
State Dining Room

10:29 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Everybody, please have a seat.

First of all, thanks for not breaking anything last night. (Laughter.) Thank you also for waiting until I had left before you started the Congo line. I don’t know whether Rendell was responsible for that — (laughter) — but I hear it was quite a spectacle. Michelle and I just had a wonderful time last night and I hope all of you enjoyed it. It was a great kick-off of what we hope will be an atmosphere here in the White House that is welcoming and that reminds everybody that this is the people’s house. We are just temporary occupants. This is a place that belongs to the American people and we want to make sure that everybody understands it’s open.

Almost three months ago, we came together in Philadelphia to listen to one another, to share ideas, and to try to push some of our ideology rigidity aside to formulate a recovery plan that would bring some relief to your states and to the American people.

And I want to thank so many of you who were active throughout this process to get the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act done. I don’t want to single out too many folks, but Governor Rendell, Governor Douglas, worked tirelessly. We had people like Governor Patrick and Governor Schweitzer, Schwarzenegger, Crist, who were out there consistently promoting the plan. And as a consequence we got this passed through Congress in record time.

Because of what we did together, this plan will save or create at least 3.5 million jobs in every state across the country. It will keep your police officers on the beat, your firefighters on the job, your teachers in the classroom. It will provide expanded unemployment insurance and protect health care for your residents who have been laid off. And beginning April 1st, it will put more money back into the pockets of 95 percent of your working families.

So this plan will ensure that you don’t need to make cuts to essential services that Americans rely on now more than ever. And to show you we’re serious about putting this recovery plan into action swiftly, I’m announcing today that this Wednesday, our administration will begin distributing more than $15 billion in federal assistance under the Recovery Act to help you cover the costs of your Medicaid programs — I know something that is going to be of great relief to many of you.

That means that by the time most of you get home; money will be waiting to help 20 million vulnerable Americans in your states keep their health care coverage. (Applause.) Children with asthma will be able to breathe easier, seniors won’t need to fear losing their doctors, and pregnant women with limited means won’t have to worry about the health of their babies. So let me be clear, though: This is not a blank check. I know you’ve heard this repeatedly over the last few days, but I want to reiterate it: These funds are intended to go directly towards helping struggling Americans keep their health coverage, we want to make sure that’s what’s happening and we’re going to work with you closely to make sure that this money is spent the way it’s supposed to.

We will get the rest of this plan moving to put Americans to work doing the work America needs done, making an immediate impact while laying the foundation for our lasting growth and prosperity.

These are the steps we’re taking to help you turn this crisis into opportunity and pave the way for future prosperity. But I know that many of you, rather than wait for Washington, have already made your states. You are innovators and much of the work that you’ve done has already made a lasting impact and change in people’s lives. Instead of debating the existence of climate change, governors like the seven of you of you working together in the western climate initiative, and the 10 of you who are working together on the regional greenhouse gas initiative are leading the way in environmental and energy policy. Instead of waiting around for the jobs of the future, governors like Governor Gregoire and Governor Granholm have sparked the creation of cutting-edge companies and tens of thousands of new green jobs. And instead of passing the buck on accountability and efficiency, governors like Martin O’Malley and Governor Kaine, have revolutionized performance management systems, showing the American people precisely how their governments are working for them.

The point that I made yesterday, or last night, is something that I want to reiterate, though. You shouldn’t be succeeding despite Washington; you should be succeeding with a hand from Washington, and that’s what we intend to give you in this administration. In return, we’ll expect a lot from you as the hard work of making the recovery plan’s promise a reality begins.

And that’s why I’m announcing today that I’m asking my Vice President, Joe Biden, to oversee our administration’s implementation efforts. Beginning this week, Joe will meet regularly with key members of my Cabinet to make sure our efforts are not just swift, but also efficient and effective. Joe is also going to work closely with you, our nation’s governors, as well as our mayors and everyone else involved in this effort, to keep things on track. And the fact that I’m asking my Vice President to personally lead this effort shows how important it is for our country and our future to get this right, and I thank him for his willingness to take on this critical task. (Applause.)

In the coming weeks, we’re also going to appoint some of the nation’s best managers and public officials to work with the Vice President on this effort. And I’m pleased to make the first of those announcements today with the appointment of Earl Devaney as the chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board. Where did Earl go? There he is. Stand up, Earl, so everybody can see you. (Applause.)

For nearly a decade as Inspector General at the Interior Department, Earl has doggedly pursued waste, fraud and mismanagement. He has the reputation of being one of the best IGs that we have in this town. And Joe and I can’t think of a more tenacious and efficient guardian of the hard-earned tax dollars the American people have entrusted us to wisely invest. I pointed out just when I saw him — he looks like an inspector there — (laughter) — he’s tough, you know, he barely cracks a smile. Earl is here with us today. I thank him for his willingness to take on this difficult new assignment.

And I expect each of you to approach implementation of this recovery plan with the same seriousness of purpose and the same sense of accountability — because the American people are watching. They need this plan to work. And they expect to see their money spent in its intended purpose.

And that’s why we’ve created recovery.gov — a web site so that every American can go online to see how their money is spent, and hold their federal, state, and local officials to the high standards that they expect. And I want to applaud Governors Kaine, Patrick, and Strickland for already having created their own recovery implementation web sites to allow for the monitoring and accountability at the local level. I encourage every one of you to follow suit.

Let me be clear: We cannot tolerate business as usual — not in Washington, but also not in our state capitals. With Mr. Devaney’s leadership, we will use the new tools that the recovery act gives us to watch the taxpayers’ money with more rigor and transparency than ever.

If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will put a stop to it. But I want everybody here to be on notice that if a state government does the same, then I will call them out on it, and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it.

We are addressing the greatest economic crisis we have seen in decades by investing unprecedented amounts of the American people’s hard-earned money. And with that comes an unprecedented obligation to do so wisely, free from politics and personal agendas. And on this I will not compromise or tolerate shortcuts. The American people are looking to us for leadership, and it falls on us now to reward their faith and build a better future for our country. And I have every confidence that we can all do this.

Let me make one last point and then I’m going to bring Joe up. There has been some healthy debate over the last few weeks, last few days, about this stimulus package, even among the governors. And I think that’s a healthy debate. And that keeps me on my toes. It keeps our administration on our toes. But I just want us to not lose perspective of the fact that most of the things that have been the topic of argument over the last several days amount to a fraction of the overall stimulus package. This sometimes gets lost in the cable chatter.

For example, I think there are some very legitimate concerns on the part of some about the sustainability of expanding unemployment insurance. What hasn’t been noted is, is that that is $7 billion of a $787 billion program. And it’s not even the majority of the expansion of unemployment insurance. So it is possible for those who are concerned about sustaining a change that increases eligibility for part-time workers to still see the benefit of $30 billion-plus that is going even if you don’t make the change.

So the reason I make that point is, I just want to make sure that we’re having an honest debate and presenting to the American people a fulsome accounting of what is going on in this program. You know, when I hear people say, well, there’s a lot of waste in this program — well, from my perspective at least, keeping teachers in the classroom is not wasteful. From my perspective, tax cuts to 95 percent of working families is not wasteful. From my perspective, providing all of you additional resources to rebuild roads and bridges and levees and dams that will enhance the quality of life of your state but also make it more economically competitive, that’s not wasteful.

And so if we agree on 90 percent of the stuff, and we’re spending all our time on television arguing about 1, 2, 3 percent of the spending in this thing and somehow it’s being characterized in broad brush as wasteful spending, that starts sounding more like politics — and that’s what right now we don’t have time to do.

So I will always be open to honest disagreements, and I think there are some legitimate concerns that can be raised on a whole host of these issues. And you’re responsible at the state level, and if the federal government gives you something now, and then two years later it’s gone, and people are looking to you and starting to blame you, I don’t want to put you in that position. And so you need to think about how this money is going to be spent wisely.

What I don’t want us to do, though, is to just get caught up in the same old stuff that inhibits us from acting effectively and in concert. There’s going to be ample time for campaigns down the road. Right now we’ve got to make sure that we’re standing up for the American people and putting them back to work. All right. (Applause.)

Joe.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. Thanks for this assignment. I look forward to working with all of you. Earl Devaney is probably the best-known Inspector General we have in the whole operation. And I think you’ll find him very helpful. And the Cabinet is ready to go to work. We’re ready to work with all of you. And so, I have a simple message: Let’s get to work, let’s make this work. (Applause.)

END 10:44 A.M. EST

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-and-the-Vice-President-at-Opening-of-Fiscal-Responsibility-Summit-2-23-09/

THE BRIEFING ROOM

Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Remarks by the President and the Vice President at Opening of Fiscal Responsibility Summit, 2-23-09

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release February 23, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AND THE VICE PRESIDENT
AT OPENING OF FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY SUMMIT
East Room

1:03 P.M. EST

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Mr. President, I want to begin by thanking all of you for being here today. Represented in this room — with notable exception is some of my old friends — what’s represented here in this room are the finest minds in the country, representing a wide range of views across the political, ideological and academic spectrum. And today we’re asking you to help us begin to tackle the challenges of our nation’s long-term fiscal situation.

We explore — we are going to explore how we got where we are and begin to debate where we need to head. We hope this summit will generate a healthy debate, because we truly believe that the best course is — to arrive at the best answers is to have that debate. It won’t be easy, to state the obvious.

I think we all know that we have inherited unprecedented budget deficits. And this has made all the more difficult the nearly unprecedented economic challenges the country is facing today.

So the problem will not be solved overnight — that’s news to no one in this room. But we want to be clear: As we take the steps that we must to get through the crisis we’re in now, we will not lose sight of the long term. We will not lose sight of the need to tackle unmet needs for health care reform, to deal with the energy policy that we need, and so many other challenges that are going to determine what the 21st century looks like. We must be direct with the American people about the budget difficulties and the choices we have to make. And we should be straightforward with them throughout this whole process.

I have always believed that in the toughest moments we are presented with the greatest opportunities as a nation. There’s no question this is a very tough moment. But it’s also a real opportunity to both put our economy back on track and restore fiscal responsibility — and that’s why we need all of you.

Our first speaker will be Dr. Mark Zandi. Dr. Zandi is the chief economist and cofounder of Moody’s Economic — excuse me — Moody’s Economy.com, where he directs the company’s research and consulting activities. He’s one of the best big picture guys in the business. His most recent book, “Financial Shock,” was widely praised for its lucid explanation of the housing bust. What’s less well known about Mark is that he donated the royalties from that book to a fund to invest in low-wealth neighborhoods. He was also an economic advisor to John McCain’s campaign. And I’m glad he’s here with us today.

Following Mark will be Robert Greenstein, founder and executive director of the invaluable Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Bob and the Center are very well known to us, as they have been the go-to resource for consistently reliable analysis on matters of budgets and fiscal policy at every level of government. Bob was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 1996, and last year he received both the John W. Gardner Award for independence — from Independent Sector and Heinz Award for Public Policy in recognition of his work to improve the economic outlook for many Americans — of many of America’s poorer citizens.

And as I understand it, we’re going to — I’m now turning the program over to Mark, if I’m not mistaken. Mark, welcome. (Applause.)

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Please, have a seat. Thank you very much. Thank you to Mark and Bob and to Peter. It is wonderful to see the Speaker here. And we’ve got our — I don’t see Harry here, but we’ve got Dick Durbin in his stead. Mitch, thank you for being here. John Boehner, to all the congressional leadership, thank you.

My administration came into office one month ago in the depths of an economic crisis unlike any that we’ve seen in generations. And we recognized that we needed to act boldly, decisively and quickly — and that is precisely what we did.

Within our first 30 days in office, we passed the most sweeping economic recovery package in history to create or save 3.5 million new jobs, provide relief to struggling families, and lay the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity. And I had an opportunity to talk to the nation’s governors today — both Republicans and Democrats have ideas about how they are going to use that money to make sure that people are put back to work and that we can stem some of the job loss that’s taking place.

I also laid out my housing plan to break the cycle of falling home values and rising foreclosures that has devastated so many communities. And we put forth a Financial Stability Plan to start shoring up our banks, so we can free up credit and jumpstart lending and restore confidence in our financial system.

These are all extraordinary — but necessary — measures to address this economic emergency, and as has already been noted, they will come at a cost. This administration has inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit — the largest in our nation’s history — and our investments to rescue our economy will add to that deficit in the short term. We also have long-term challenges — health care, energy, education and others — that we can no longer afford to ignore.

But I want to be very clear, if the message was not effectively delivered by the three previous speakers: We cannot, and will not, sustain deficits like these without end. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years, we cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration, or the next generation.

We are paying the price for these deficits right now. In 2008 alone, we paid $250 billion in interest on our debt — one in every 10 taxpayer dollars. That is more than three times what we spent on education that year; more than seven times what we spent on VA health care.

So if we confront this crisis without also confronting the deficits that helped cause it, we risk sinking into another crisis down the road as our interest payments rise, our obligations come due, confidence in our economy erodes, and our children and our grandchildren are unable to pursue their dreams because they’re saddled with our debts.

And that’s why today I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office. This will not be easy. It will require us to make difficult decisions and face challenges we’ve long neglected. But I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay — and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.

We’ll start by being honest with ourselves about the magnitude of our deficits. For too long, our budget process in Washington has been an exercise in deception — a series of accounting tricks to hide the extent of our spending and the shortfalls in our revenue and hope that the American people won’t notice: budgeting certain expenditures for just one year, when we know we’ll incur them every year for five or 10; budgeting zero dollars for the Iraq war — zero — for future years, even when we knew the war would continue; budgeting no money for natural disasters, as if we would ever go 12 months without a single flood, fire, hurricane or earthquake.

We do ourselves no favors by hiding the truth about what we spend. In order to address our fiscal crisis, we’re going to have to be candid about its scope. And that’s why the budget I will introduce later this week will look ahead 10 years, and will include a full and honest accounting of the money we plan to spend and the deficits we will likely incur.

To start reducing these deficits, I’ve committed to going through our budget line by line to root out waste and inefficiency — a process that Peter and our administration, our team, has already begun. And I’ll soon be instructing each member of my Cabinet to go through every item in their budgets, as well. And already we’ve seen how much money we can save, just in the last 30 days.

Take one example — the Department of Agriculture has moved some of its training programs online, saving an estimated $1.3 million a year. They’re modernizing their financial management system, saving an estimated $17.5 million. They’re saving tens of thousands of dollars by cutting back on conferences and travel and other small expenses that add up over time.

So we will replicate these efforts throughout the federal government, eliminating programs that don’t work to make room for ones that do — and making the ones that we keep work better. We’ll end the payments to agribusiness that don’t need them and eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq. We’ll end the tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas and we’ll stop the fraud and abuse in our Medicare program.

And we will reinstate the pay-as-you-go rule that we followed during the 1990s — the rule that helped us start this new century with a $236 billion surplus. In recent years, we’ve strayed from this rule — and the results speak for themselves. The pay-go approach is based on a very simple concept: You don’t spend what you don’t have. So if we want to spend, we’ll need to find somewhere else to cut. This is the rule that families across this country follow every single day — and there’s no reason why their government shouldn’t do the same.

Now, I want to be very clear: While we are making important progress towards fiscal responsibility this year in this budget, this is just the beginning. In the coming years, we’ll be forced to make more tough choices and do much more to address our long-term challenges, from the rising cost of health care that Peter described, which is the single most pressing fiscal challenge we face by far, to the long-term solvency of Social Security.

In the end, however, if we want to rebuild our economy and restore discipline and honesty to our budget, we will need to change the way we do business here in Washington. We’re not going to be able to fall back into the same old habits, and make the same inexcusable mistakes: the repeated failure to act as our economy spiraled deeper into crisis; the casual dishonesty of hiding irresponsible spending with clever accounting tricks; the costly overruns, the fraud and abuse, the endless excuses. This is exactly what the American people rejected when they went to the polls.

They sent us here to usher in a new era of responsibility in Washington — to start living within our means again, and being straight with them about where their tax dollars are going, and empowering them with the information they need to hold all of us, their representatives, accountable.

So that’s why I have called this summit today, and why I have invited leaders from both sides of the aisle — because we all have a role to play in this work. I believe it is time for a frank conversation about the fiscal challenges we face. They’re challenges that concern every single one of us, no matter where we are on this political spectrum.

So today I want to — I hope that all of you will start talking with each other and exchanging ideas. I want you to question each other, challenge each other, question me and my team, challenge us, and work together not just to identify problems but to identify solutions.

And that’s the purpose of the breakout sessions that are starting right now. I know that each of you bring a wealth of experience and expertise on a broad range of topics. I appreciate your willingness to participate in these sessions. I expect that this process will be engaging and productive, and I look forward to hearing the results when you report back later this afternoon.

So thank you very much, all of you, for participating. (Applause.)

END 1:32 P.M. EST

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