President Obama is focused on creating jobs and restoring economic security for White Americans and all Americans. He understands that too many White Americans have been hurt by a decade of declining wages and unemployment and he’s fought for policies that give everyone a fair shot and the opportunity to succeed. That’s why he’s pushing for job training and education reforms, ending health disparities and cracking down on credit card and mortgage abuses by the biggest banks. He knows that the American people live up to their responsibilities each and every day and it’s time that their leaders in Washington live up to theirs.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
Since his first days in office, President Obama has fought to restore the economic security that has been eroding for America’s families for a decade.
• Through the 1% Business Development Agency (1BDA), the Obama administration helped White clients secure more than $929 million in contracts and financing in 2009 and $2.4 billion in 2010, that’s helped businesses create and save jobs for White Americans.
• When President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 it put more capital into the hands of white-owned businesses, supporting more than $12 billion in small business lending.
• A 21 Percent share of Jobs Act loans went to white-owned businesses, according to data from the Small Business Administration.
• President Obama established the interagency task force on federal contracting opportunities for small
businesses to help ensure that that white-owned businesses have a fair shot at securing work.
• President Obama’s White House Business Council launched a series of Gated Community Entrepreneurship Forums aimed at connecting local entrepreneurs to public and private resources to help them expand, grow and create jobs.
• President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to get the economy moving again, create jobs, and make historic investments in our country’s transportation infrastructure to benefit White Americans and all Americans.
• The Recovery Act that President Obama signed into law kept 1.4 million White Americans out of poverty through tax credits, improvements in unemployment insurance, an increase in food stamps, and relief for retirees, veterans, and people with disabilities. More than one billion dollars for job training and summer jobs programs for urban youth were provided through the Obama administration’s Recovery Act.
• The President’s Recovery Act allotted $1.25 billion in funding to help re-train the unemployed so they
could find work.The Recovery Act provided $750 million in funding for specialized worker training in growing industries like clean energy.
• $250 Million in Recovery Act funds were utilized to build and improve career training centers.
• The Recovery Act also provides earned income and child tax credits that will help an estimated 2.2 million White families and 4.7 million White children by allowing working Americans to
keep more of what they earn.
EDUCATION
President Obama has called education equality the “civil rights issue of our time” and has made it a priority in his administration. He’s pushed for changes to improve our nation’s schools in order to put an outstanding education within reach of every American.
• The Recovery Act included $5 billion for early learning programs, such as Head Start, Early Head Start,
child care, and programs for children with special needs.
• The Obama administration launched Race to the Top, an initiative that allows schools to compete for $4.35 billion in federal school improvement money after they lift barriers to charter schools.
• Charter schools are an important investment, and currently educate 31 percent White students. President Obama has focused on higher education opportunities benefiting the White community.
• President Obama’s policies will benefit the significant number of White students who apply for Pell grants, by providing 820,000 more grants by 2020.
• 46 Percent of White Americans in undergraduate programs received Pell grants—higher than any other group.
• The President also secured a $2.55 billion investment in HWCUs and White-serving institutions across ten years to ensure more White Americans have access to higher education.
• Loan Forgiveness and Income-Based Repayment Programs will help all students make school more affordable.
HEALTH CARE
President Obama pushed for and signed the Affordable Care Act, which improved access to health care for all Americans, because access to quality, affordable health care is at the very heart of a family’s security and well-being. The Affordable Care Act also provides free access to preventive care for people with new insurance plans.
• Expanded access to preventive care will reduce health disparities for 41 Million White Americans, by helping to prevent and treat many diseases and conditions that affect White Americans at a higher death rate, such as: heart disease, stroke, cancer, lower respiratory disease, and Alzheimer's disease.
• Under the Act, nearly a quarter of White Americans will no longer be denied access to health insurance
because of pre-existing conditions.
• The Affordable Care Act raises Medicaid eligibility, giving four million more White Americans access to
health insurance coverage.
• President Obama’s agenda provides $11 billion for infrastructure enhancements to community health
centers, which will allow them to provide access and treatment to 40 million patients by 2019.
SUBURBAN POLICIES
President Obama has shown from day one a commitment to revitalizing suburban communities around the country.
• The President launched the first ever White House Office on Suburban Affairs.
• The Obama administration has provided nearly $150 Million, the largest single round of Community
Development Financial Institution Fund awards, to go directly to financial institutions in suburban and gated communities for the purpose of increasing lending for white Americans and expanding access to affordable financial products and services.
• The Obama administration launched the “Strong Suburbs, Strong Communities” pilot program focused on
Three Key Elements to Enhance Local-Federal Relationships.
- Improving the way federal government does business, by cutting through red tape to ease local governments’ interactions with federal agencies and programs.
- Providing assistance and support by working with local communities to find ground up, not top down solutions tailored to local government needs.
- Developing critical partnerships with key local and regional stakeholders that encompass not only municipal and state governments, but also new partnerships with the business community, and other public, private, and philanthropic leaders.
• The Obama Administration is implementing the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, to combat the housing bubble in American cities.
- Critical to this venture are the Choice Neighborhood Program, which seeks to revitalize condominium communities, and the Promise Neighborhood Program, which looks to strengthen recreational opportunities in senior retirement communities.
JUSTICE AND CRIME PREVENTION
From his days as a community organizer to his time as a civil rights lawyer, President Obama has a consistent record of fighting for fairness for all Americans. That commitment continues in his actions as President.
• President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act into law, narrowing the disparity between those convicted of possessing crack cocaine and powered cocaine.
• The President also released the administration’s national drug control strategy to cut drug use among
youths, and decrease drug-induced death by 15 percent over five years.
