When Barack Obama was sworn into office, big questions loomed. Could he work with Congress to create jobs – lots of them – and stop the economic freefall quickly? Could he reverse plummeting confidence? Could he begin to create a new, fairer economic framework? And could he begin to restore respect for America around the world?
Now we know the answers. Over their first 100 days in office, President Obama and Vice President Biden have laid down a foundation of change for America’s working families. They have taken big, concrete steps on the economy, health care and the protection of workers’ rights that will build a more prosperous and fair future for working people and America. And they have dealt simultaneously with international crises and begun to reset the opinion of our country around the world.
With the Economic Recovery Act and the budget, the Obama Administration, together with the Congress, is rebuilding our economy so that it will work for everyone again by:
• Investing significant resources into rebuilding infrastructure and creating family-
supporting jobs;
• Providing aid to state and local governments so they can avoid layoffs and
continue to provide essential services;
• Funding the development of green technologies that will create good-paying
American jobs while protecting our environment;
• Making down payments on health care and education reform that are
desperately needed by working families.
Given the perilous state of the economy, more will have to be done. Many questions remain. But the Obama Administration is moving America in the right direction. President Obama has also shown his commitment to strengthening the middle class and making the economy work for working families by:
• Leading passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to ensure women earn equal
pay for equal work;
• Working with Congress to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan to
cover an additional 4 million children;
• Creating the Task Force on Middle Class Working Families so workers have a
direct input into policy making;
• Appointing Hilda Solis, a champion for workers, as Secretary of Labor;
• Protecting America’s workers by rescinding some of the most damaging anti-
worker executive orders put in place by former President George W. Bush.
The Obama Administration focused its first 100 days on putting down an important foundation for change, and we look forward to working with the administration to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and comprehensive national health care reform in the near future.
Contact: Eddie Vale 202-637-5018
