Video: You Asked the White House, They Answered
Marta Perales of Flossmoor and Jaime Gill of Glenwood had questions for Barack Obama following the State of the Union Address party at Flossmoor Station. Patch got them answers.
Videos
In January, the White House Office of Digital Strategy reached out to Patch to get questions from Patch users. In return, Homewood-Flossmoor Patch put the call out for questions from H-F.
One of the questions came from Flossmoor resident Marta Perales. Perales happens to be the Illinois statewide metropolitan planning organization [MPO] coordinator.
She asked, "Can we get more details on how President Obama is going to move forward with improving our transportation infrastructure? How is (President Obama going to get this on the fast track and cut the red tape?"
In the first accompanying video, you can see the response from Jason Furman, principal deputy director of the National Economic Council.
According to Furman, President Obama has been focused on infrastructure since the beginning of term and invested considerably in it. He does, however, acknowledge that a lot more needs to be done, and on a sustained basis. Furman says Obama intends to reallocate half the money saved from winding down the wars in the Middles East to reinvest on infrastructure maintenance and improvement. More details will be revealed when their budget is released, according to Furman.
The White House also addressed a question from Glenwood resident and local radio host Jaime Gill.
She said, "I'd love to hear more about (President Obama's) plan for women's health issues and laws against sexual predators."
The second accompanying video includes responses from Special Assistant to the President, Racquel Russell and White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, Lynn Rosenthal.
Russell's portion focuses on the Affordable Care Act, something she says the president pushed hard to secure. According to Russell, come 2014, many current practices that discriminate against women will become outlawed. An example she sites is the denial of insurance coverage for women based on things like a history of cancer or even haven given birth. Russell also goes into some detail about the Obama supported Teen Pregnancy Initiative and the Pregnancy Assistance Fund.
Rosenthal says the president has made ending sexual violence a top priority. The White House is specifically concerned with predators on college campuses, where one in five women are sexually assaulted, according to Rosenthal. She said Vice President Joe Biden recently announced new and more stringent guidelines for colleges to follow in hopes to curb sexual violence. Additionally, the FBI will be adopting a new definition of rape which will include a broader range of sexual assaults, among other things, Rosenthal said.
Patch reached out to representatives from the Republican party for a response, but received no reply.
nick
10:25 am on Friday, February 10, 2012
When past first ladies had 1 personal staff member, why does Michele need TWENTY TWO?
Michele Obama's personal staff:
One.. $172,200 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
Two.. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)
Three.. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary for Mrs. Obama)
Four.. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)
Five.. $100,000 - Winter, Melissa (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
Six.. $90,000 Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
Seven.. $84,000 - Lilyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)
Eight.. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)
Nine.. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Project for the First Lady)
nick
10:26 am on Friday, February 10, 2012
Ten.. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
Eleven.. $64,000 - Reinstein, Joseph B.(Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
Twelve.. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)
Thirteen.. $60,000 Fitz, Alan O.(Deputy Direc tor of Adance and Trip Director for the First Lady)
Fourteen.. $57,500 - Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)
Fifteen.. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)
Sixteen... $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)
Seventeen.. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)
Eighteen... $43,000 - Tubman, Samanth a (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
Nineteen.. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
Twenty.. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
Twenty-One.. $35,000 - Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
Twenty-Two.. $35,000 - Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)
Total $1,591,200 in annual salaries
crowny2
12:43 pm on Friday, February 10, 2012
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/michelle-obamas-staff/
And Laura had at least 16, if not more.
Nice derail on the article, BTW.
Dennis Robaugh
3:08 pm on Friday, February 10, 2012
The first lady's office has had a staff for a long while. We won't quibble with your list here (though I bet some folks would appreciate if you cite a source for this info), but saying past first lady's had a single staff assistant just isn't true.
John J.
2:07 pm on Friday, February 10, 2012
Infrastructure is a major problem today, I am glad that issue was addressed. The right thing to do is to take the money from overseas and spend it here. I read a couple days ago we are giving Egypt and other countries that don't like us billions in aid, in return their governments mock our country and claim we are responsible for everything that has gone wrong with their governments. Let's take that money and fix bridges, highways and rail networks...or better yet lets give it to private industry so they can offer new jobs and start new projects.
Hernendo RevolveR
4:05 pm on Friday, February 10, 2012
I would like to ask the president when the federal government is going to complete its takeover of the medical system so we can all get free doctor visits. I am tired of paying money for doctors when I am sick. It takes away from the money I can spend on videos.