"But broadly speaking, the package is the right size, it is the right scope, and it has the right priorities to create 3 to 4 million jobs and to do it in a way that lays the groundwork for long-term growth -- by fixing our schools, modernizing our health care to lower costs, repair our roads and bridges and levees and other vital infrastructure, move us towards energy independence. That is what America needs. It will take months, even years, to renew our economy, ((NOT before the 2012 campaign)) but every day that Washington fails to act, that recovery is delayed."
Also, check out all the executive orders he's already signed, under Pres. Actions in The Briefing Room.
And check this out:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release
February 5, 2009
Washington (February 5, 2009) – President Barack Obama today signed an executive order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs.
"Over the past few days and weeks, there has been much talk about what our government’s role should be during this period of economic emergency.
That is as it should be – because there is much that government can and must do to help people in need," said President Obama. "But no matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone.
There is a force for good greater than government. It is an expression of faith, this yearning to give back, this hungering for a purpose larger than our own, that reveals itself not simply in places of worship, but in senior centers and shelters, schools and hospitals, and any place an American decides."
The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer. ((Acorn))
President Obama appointed Joshua DuBois, a former associate pastor and advisor to the President in his U.S. Senate office and campaign Director of Religious Affairs, to lead this office. "Joshua understands the issues at stake, knows the people involved, and will be able to bring everyone together – from both the secular and faith-based communities, from academia and politics – around our common goals," said President Obama.
The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will focus on four key priorities, to be carried out by working closely with the President’s Cabinet Secretaries and each of the eleven agency offices for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships:
* The Office’s top priority will be making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete.
* It will be one voice among several in the administration that will look at how we support women and children, address teenage pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion.
* The Office will strive to support fathers who stand by their families, which involves working to get young men off the streets and into well-paying jobs, and encouraging responsible fatherhood.
* Finally, beyond American shores this Office will work with the National Security Council to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world.
As the priorities of this Office are carried out, it will be done in a way that upholds the Constitution – by ensuring that both existing programs and new proposals are consistent with American laws and values.
The separation of church and state is a principle President Obama supports firmly – not only because it protects our democracy, but also because it protects the plurality of America’s religious and civic life.
The Executive Order President Obama will sign today strengthens this by adding a new mechanism for the Executive Director of the Office to work through the White House Counsel to seek the advice of the Attorney General on difficult legal and constitutional issues.
The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will include a new President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds. There will be 25 members of the Council, appointed to 1-year terms.
Members of the Council include:
Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America Philadelphia, PA
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and noted church/state expert - Washington, DC
Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention - Taylors, SC
Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA Alexandria, VA
Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church - Cleveland, OH
Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Corps - Chicago, IL
Fred Davie, President, Public / Private Ventures, a secular non-profit intermediary - New York, NY
Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA - Philadelphia, PA
Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and expert on church/state issues - Winston-Salem, NC
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed - Lakeland, FL
Dr. Arturo Chavez, Ph.D., President & CEO, Mexican American Cultural Center - San Antonio, TX
Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners Washington, DC
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church - Knoxville, TN
Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco, a secular national operating intermediary - New York, NY (((what is a national operating intermediary ???))
Richard Stearns, President, World Vision - Bellevue, WA
~~~
I HATE the new WH site, and I despise our new world. Will be important to frequently check the Presidential Actions section as well as the other sections, to see what they're up to. I have a feeling much will go on in stealth fashion.
Dunno bout the rest of msm, I’ve been watching fauxnoose—but they (faux) sure have been giving “h” a heaping of free air time to make their case to the herd out there!
And this from those want to impose the fairness doctrine on the rest of us!!!!!
If the Founders of this country had been scaremongers like Obama, we would never have had a country.
How did a ragtag bunch of revolutionaries fight off the huge British Army, Obama? Was it because George Washington, their general, stood before them and cried out about how hard it was going to be, and how hopeless?
Or did he build them up toward shedding blood for the freedom of all of them and generations to come (including you, Obama)?
As I recall, he rode on his beautiful horse BEFORE the troops into battle, putting HIMSELF FIRST into harm's way to INSPIRE the troops with his heroism. Now that is leadership.
His hair was noticably darker today. I guess he did a rinse last night!
Please keep it up. To all responsible US Senators, just vote NO.
Turning the U.S. into a third world socialistic country will really kill all of us!
"YES WE CAN!"
Did everyone read today that it will be much more than a trillion for the porkulus? Because once the social entitlement programs are enacted it is hard to stop them so they will go on and on. The trillion will be multi trillions in new welfare long term programs.
I believe this is the plan of the neo marxist. It is exactly what they want. Huge government no one can turn back.
Sure Obama... Feed us the pork while you eat wagyu.
Dems are afraid the economy will recover on its own.
That’s why they want this bill passed ASAP, so they can claim credit.
They know the average person doesn’t know it takes months, if not years, between bill passage and actual economic effect.
Is this about last night or did that child go back on TV again this morning????
“The sky is falling, the sky is falling because obozo doesn’t have his trillion dollar porkulus. Oh woe is him & lying pelosi.
It’s raining right now but we really DO need a pork BBQ. Woodward Park?
Malaise Alert
He's in a bummer. Possibly drug-induced.
A president should never be this negative and depressing.
He's getting like Jimmy Carter with the malaise speech.
Any social psychologists and psychiatrists out there?
Learned helplessness by a child abandoned by his father?
Dr. Krauthammer?
Did he actually say that?
PROPHET OF DOOM
Well, as long as it’s chopped and someone else is chopping it. I don’t cotton to pulled bbq. My teeth don’t work with the pulled stuff.