Archive for the ‘Obama’ Category

Michelle Obama to be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame – WXII The Triad

former first lady Michelle Obama will be inducted into the National Woman's Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2021. The organization referred to her as Quote one of the most influential and iconic women of the 21st century, the National Woman's Hall of Fame wrote both in and out of the White House. Michelle Obama has accomplished her initiatives and so much more, becoming an advocate for healthy families, service members and their families, higher education, international adolescent girls' education and serving as a role model for women and young girls everywhere. The ceremony is expected to take place in person on October 2nd, although the organization noted it is monitoring the Covid 19 pandemic and planning accordingly to ensure the in person portion is safe for all attendees.

Michelle Obama to be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame

Updated: 3:43 PM EST Mar 9, 2021

Former first lady Michelle Obama will be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame this year.The organization announced its nine-member Class of 2021 on Monday. Along with Obama, it includes soccer icon Mia Hamm, NASA's first African American female engineer Katherine Johnson and PepsiCo's first female CEO, Indra Nooyi.This year's edition of the biennial induction ceremony will take place on Oct. 2 in person, with COVID-19 protocols, at the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. A free live stream of the ceremony will be available.The National Women's Hall of Fame relies on the public to nominate women who have been important in defining American history and those nominations are sent to a panel which picks the inductees.As first lady of the United States, and the first Black person to serve in the role, Obama "has emerged as one of the most influential and iconic women of the 21st century," according to a statement on the organization's website.Obama has established herself as "a strong advocate for women and girls" in the U.S. and around the world, the statement says.Obama has helped create multiple advocacy groups. They include Let's Move!, a program aimed at ending childhood obesity; the Reach Higher Initiative, which seeks to help students navigate and understand job opportunities; and Joining Forces, an initiative she led with current first lady Jill Biden, which supports service members, veterans and military families.In 2018 Obama released her first memoir, "Becoming." The book sold millions of copies worldwide and an audio version earned its author a 2020 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. She launched her own podcast In July 2020. "The Michelle Obama Podcast," features deep conversations with friends and family on how relationships shape who we are.A full list of the 2021 inductees can be found on the National Women's Hall of Fame website.

Former first lady Michelle Obama will be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame this year.

The organization announced its nine-member Class of 2021 on Monday. Along with Obama, it includes soccer icon Mia Hamm, NASA's first African American female engineer Katherine Johnson and PepsiCo's first female CEO, Indra Nooyi.

This year's edition of the biennial induction ceremony will take place on Oct. 2 in person, with COVID-19 protocols, at the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. A free live stream of the ceremony will be available.

The National Women's Hall of Fame relies on the public to nominate women who have been important in defining American history and those nominations are sent to a panel which picks the inductees.

As first lady of the United States, and the first Black person to serve in the role, Obama "has emerged as one of the most influential and iconic women of the 21st century," according to a statement on the organization's website.

Obama has established herself as "a strong advocate for women and girls" in the U.S. and around the world, the statement says.

Obama has helped create multiple advocacy groups. They include Let's Move!, a program aimed at ending childhood obesity; the Reach Higher Initiative, which seeks to help students navigate and understand job opportunities; and Joining Forces, an initiative she led with current first lady Jill Biden, which supports service members, veterans and military families.

In 2018 Obama released her first memoir, "Becoming." The book sold millions of copies worldwide and an audio version earned its author a 2020 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. She launched her own podcast In July 2020. "The Michelle Obama Podcast," features deep conversations with friends and family on how relationships shape who we are.

A full list of the 2021 inductees can be found on the National Women's Hall of Fame website.

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Michelle Obama to be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame - WXII The Triad

A former Obama economic advisor says inflation warnings about the new stimulus bill are ‘absurd’ – here’s why – msnNOW

Provided by Business Insider People shopping at an outdoor market in New York City in December 2020. Noam Galai/Getty Images

Every time an elected leader proposes a progressive policy that will cost money - expanding health care, for instance, or the wildly popular American Rescue Plan that the Biden White House is championing to combat the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic - the inflation hawks loudly warn that another Great Inflation is on the way.

To anyone below the age of 50, "inflation" sounds like a kind of boogeyman, a campfire ghost story used to warn against government spending.

I've never personally encountered hyperinflation in my life - I was born in 1976 - but the word triggers nightmares for those in my parents' generation. During The Great Inflation, which spanned the years between 1975 and 1982, prices skyrocketed out of control in grocery stores and gas stations around the country, surpassing wage growth by a huge margin and putting everyday necessities out of reach for many.

After nearly four decades without an inflation crisis, is hyperinflation still a danger? Could a $1.9 billion COVID relief bill set off a spate of higher prices around the United States? This week on "Pitchfork Economics," hosts Nick Hanauer and David Goldstein ask Austan Goolsbee, who served as chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers and is now a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, whether too much government spending could result in a $10 gallon of milk.

"I consider much of the inflation-mongering to be absurd," Goolsbee said, adding that rank partisanship is fueling most of the loudest claims. "90% of the inflation-mongering comes from the same people who deficit-hawk when Democrats are in office, but were absolutely for increasing the deficit when Donald Trump was president."

That said, the return of hyperinflation is always within the realm of the possible. Serious economists do warn that too much government spending might increase the output gap, which Goolsbee explained as "the difference between what we think is the potential is for the economy, and what the actual economy is."

In other words, if the government starts pumping more money into the economy than the economy is actually worth, the actual value of the American dollar begins to lose coherence, throwing the prices of imports and exports out of whack and potentially driving the cost of goods up.

"In a normal stimulus environment, you're trying to fill the output gap to get us back to where we were in unemployment and output and wages," Goolsbee explained.

Video: Economist Mark Zandi: Investors haven't fully grasped inflation 'dead ahead' (CNBC)

Economist Mark Zandi: Investors haven't fully grasped inflation 'dead ahead'

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Because the stock market has largely done very well, and because the wealthiest Americans have amassed over a trillion dollars in additional wealth since the beginning of the pandemic, some economists don't believe the current economic crisis is big enough to warrant spending.

Goolsbee believes it's a mistake to consider the American Rescue Plan to be a stimulus package in the first place. Unlike Obama's stimulus package, he explained, the plan that the Biden administration is pushing "isn't about trying to generate a big multiplier on government spending to raise the GDP, the way normal stimulus is. This is absolutely disaster relief money, in which you're trying to prevent permanent damage."

This spending isn't trying to offset generalized harm to the American economy as a whole. Instead it's counteracting the specific financial harm absorbed by the American people as they followed public health protocols to stop the spread of coronavirus. The money in the American Rescue Plan will go directly toward keeping small businesses open, keeping Americans housed without ruining their credit ratings, and feeding American families who have lost one or both sources of income.

Say the government gives someone $1,000 to make a rent payment that she otherwise wouldn't have been able to make, preventing her eviction. That's a very different kind of government spending than, say, propping up the GDP through high-level stimulus spending on financial institutions. It avoids the negative impact on the economy that a wave of mass evictions would represent, and that rent money is immediately recirculated through the economy in the form of consumer spending.

Goolsbee points to recent economic analysis of the American Rescue Plan, which projects that the output gap would probably grow by about 1% by the end of 2022 - an amount lower than the output gap after both President Trump's $2 trillion corporate tax cuts and the dot com bust of the George W. Bush Administration.

"We've had three times in the last 30 years where we were, for an extended period, running hotter than what [the economy under the American Rescue Plan] would run, without inflation," Goolsbee said.

But what if, for one time in four decades, the inflation hawks are right and prices do start to rise?

"We as societies, as economies, have a lot of tools for fighting inflation," Goolsbee said, "and we have virtually no tools for fighting deflation."

It's better for our leaders to risk a little bit of inflation that they can then alleviate through higher interest rates and other economic mechanisms, because that price would be nothing compared to what we would all pay if the economy tanks because too many businesses close, too many Americans lose their homes, and consumer spending plummets.

"But that said," Goolsbee said, "I think the case for inflation is a lot smaller than they say."

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A former Obama economic advisor says inflation warnings about the new stimulus bill are 'absurd' - here's why - msnNOW

Michelle Obama hooked on knitting, thinking about retirement – ABC News

Michelle Obama is knitting and thinking about retiring from public life

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

March 11, 2021, 4:32 AM

2 min read

WASHINGTON -- Michelle Obama is knitting and thinking about retiring from public life.

The former first lady says in a new People magazine interview that she picked up knitting needles to pass time during the coronavirus pandemic. And now she's hooked.

Knitting is a forever proposition," she said. You dont master knitting, because once you make a scarf, theres the blanket. And once you do the blanket, youve got to do the hat, the socks.

She's working on her first crewneck sweater for her husband, former President Barack Obama.

Im figuring out how to make sleeves and a collar, she said. "I could go on about knitting!"

The former first lady also talks about how the pandemic helped her and her husband reclaim stolen moments" with Malia, 22, and Sasha, 19, who both returned home from college to quarantine with their parents at the family homes in Washington and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Obama also discusses what she says is the low-grade depression she experienced during the pandemic lockdowns and after George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police last May, along with her shift away from high-impact exercise and what she wants out of retirement.

The woman whose buffed biceps and exercise workouts went viral during her time as first lady said she taught herself to be a better lap swimmer during quarantine because Im finding in my old age that the high-impact stuff I used to do doesnt work. Michelle Obama is 57.

Now that Malia and Sasha are independent, young adults, Mrs. Obama said she enjoys that their conversations have become more peer-oriented than they are mother-to-daughter.

Ive been telling my daughters Im moving towards retirement right now," she said, adding that she's choosing her projects and chasing summer. Her new Netflix childrens food show, Waffles + Mochi, premieres Tuesday, and the Obama Presidential Center is under construction in Chicago.

Barack and I never want to experience winter again, Mrs. Obama said. "Were building the foundation for somebody else to continue the work so we can retire and be with each other, and Barack can golf too much, and I can tease him about golfing too much because hes got nothing else to do.

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Michelle Obama hooked on knitting, thinking about retirement - ABC News

Michelle Obama to be inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame this year – KSNF/KODE – FourStatesHomepage.com

"One of the most influential and iconic women of the 21st century."

by: Liz Chandler

NEW YORK On Monday, International Womens Day, it was announced that former first lady Michelle Obama will be inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame (NWHF) later this year.

Advocate, author, lawyer, and 44th First Lady of the United Statesthe first Black person to serve in the roleMichelle Obama has emerged as one of the most influential and iconic women of the 21st century, states NWHFs website.

As first lady, Obama developed multiple advocacy groups. They include the Lets Move! program that aimed to end childhood obesity, the Joining Forces organization to support military veterans, the Reach Higher Initiative to help students better understand job opportunities, and Let Girls Learn, a program that supports girls education around the world.

In 2018, Obama released a memoir titled Becoming, selling over 15 million copies and winning the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

In 2020, she launched The Michelle Obama Podcast, which features the former First Lady alongside friends and loved ones as they dive into conversations about the relationships that make us who we are, according to NWHFs statement.

Obama and several other inductees will be honored at an induction ceremony on October 2, 2021, at the recently revitalized 1844 Seneca Knitting Mill building located in Seneca Falls, New York the birthplace of the American Womens Rights Movement.

Other inductees include author Octavia Butler, activist during the temperance movement Emily Howland and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.

The Hall, founded in 1968, has a mission to showcase great womeninspiring all, according to their website. The organization honors women of the past and the present, hoping to inspire women of the future.

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Michelle Obama to be inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame this year - KSNF/KODE - FourStatesHomepage.com

Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Rosalynn…

"Over the past year, thepandemic has taken an immeasurable toll on families all across the country and upended everyone's lives," said President Barack Obama. "Michelle and I got vaccinated against COVID-19 because we know it's the best way to get the country back up and running againand get us back to the moments we miss. We hope every American will do the same and get a vaccine as soon as it's available to them. It could save your life."

"Laura and I are grateful for the dedicated scientists and researchers who enabled safe and effective vaccines to be developed so quickly. As the country moves toward recovery and renewal, we look forward to seeing our families, friends, and even a baseball game. We hope everyone joins us in getting a vaccine when it's available to them," said President George W. Bush.

"America has always been at its best when we are looking out for one another and pulling together in common cause. Now, with the development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines,we have the chance to rise to the moment again," said President Bill Clinton. "I encourage every American to get vaccinated as soon as it becomes available to youand to feel confident, as Hillary and I did when we got ours, that it will protect you and your loved ones, and bring us all one step closer to ending this pandemic."

"Rosalynn and I are very happy to be vaccinated so, together with other public health measures, we can get back to church, see our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and eventually be active in our community again. I encourage everyone to get a vaccine when it's their turn," said President Jimmy Carter.

VIDEO: Former Presidents and COVID-19 Vaccine Facts | COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative | Ad Council

This project began in December 2020 and is being released as vaccines are becoming available to more Americans. The first of the PSAs, developed pro bono by creative agency Group SJR, aims to educate and empower Americans with information about the COVID-19 vaccines. In it, former Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton and Carter discuss the moments they miss and are eager to get back to and features the First Ladies. The second PSA, developed pro bono by creative agency Pereira O'Dell, features Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton speaking about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination, reminding Americans that the life-saving vaccines will protect individuals and those they love. In both PSAs, audiences are encouraged to visit GetVaccineAnswers.orgto get answers to the top questions Americans have about the COVID-19 vaccines.

"Today marks one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and, while there is a light at the end of the tunnel, there's a lot of work still to be done to help our country recover. We're grateful to Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton and Carter and the First Ladies for coming together in this historic moment to encourage Americans to get the most accurate information on the vaccines so they can make the right decisions for themselves and their families," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council.

According to Ad Council research fielded by Ipsos in February, approximately 40% of the American public remain undecided about getting a COVID-19 vaccination. Of that undecided population, only 56% say they feel confident they have enough information to guide their decision about getting a COVID-19 vaccination, compared to 96% of those already committed. Whether or not a vaccine is available to them, a majority of those undecided (73%) still want information to address their questions now, underlining the need for an urgent mass education initiative.

"In this pandemic, we need every American to help so that all Americans can recover," said former Republican Governor Dirk Kempthorne and former Democratic Governor Deval Patrick, Co-Chairs of the COVID Collaborative. "These former Presidents and First Ladies have come together to show that each of us, regardless of political party, has a stake in beating this virus."

The PSAs are a part of one of the largest public education campaigns in U.S. history and will appear nationwide in time and space donated by the media across TV and digital media platforms beginning this week.

The launch of this content follows the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative's recent launch of the "It's Up To You" initiative, which includes creative assets developed by Pereira O'Dell, JOY Collective, iHeartMedia, Group SJR, Values Partnerships and other partners to ensure the American public has the latest and most accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccines.

Vetted by experts at CDC, HHS and COVID Collaborative, content at GetVaccineAnswers.orgis available in seven languages (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Russian, Haitian Creole, and Vietnamese) and serves as an information hub to help consumers make an informed decision for themselves and their families about COVID-19 vaccination. Resources on the website will be continually updated as new information and data become available.

The Ad Council and COVID Collaborative have partnered to ensure public service messages reach deeply into local communities through trusted messengers and institutions. COVID Collaborative's dissemination network reaches millions of Americans through its many associations representing health, education and the economy and the diversity of the United States, supported by the Skoll Foundation, Allstate Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Macy Foundation, Pure Edge, and Walton Family Foundation.

To date, the Ad Council has raised over $52 million for the communications effort to help turn the tide of the pandemic and provide critical education surrounding COVID-19 vaccination. Leading contributors to date include Amazon, Apple, Bank of America, Cisco, CVS Health, Facebook, General Motors, Google and YouTube, the Humana Foundation, NBCUniversal/Comcast, Salesforce, Verizon, Walgreens and Walmart. Significant contributions have also been provided by Adobe, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, BNY Mellon, Business Roundtable, Citi, Ford Motor Company, Honeywell, JPMorgan Chase, the New York Life Foundation, Stanley Black & Decker, Synchrony, Target, Unilever, Wells Fargo and ViacomCBS.

Since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, the Ad Council has mobilizedthe industry to launch an unprecedented, multi-pronged communications effort to combat COVID-19. To date, the Ad Council's COVID-19 response efforts have resulted in 47 billion impressions, $445 million in donated media value, and nearly 33 million visits to Coronavirus.gov.

The Ad Council

The Ad Council has a long history of creating life-saving public service communications in times of national crisis, starting in the organization's earliest days during World War II to September 11th and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. Its deep relationships with media outlets, the creative community, issue experts and government leaders make the organization uniquely poised to quickly distribute life-saving information to millions of Americans.

The Ad Council is where creativity and causes converge. The non-profit organization brings together the most creative minds in advertising, media, technology and marketing to address many of the nation's most important causes. The Ad Council has created many of the most iconic campaigns in advertising history. Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk. Smokey Bear. Love Has No Labels.

The Ad Council's innovative social good campaigns raise awareness, inspire action and save lives. To learn more, visitAdCouncil.org, follow the Ad Council's communities onFacebookandTwitter and view the creative onYouTube.

COVID Collaborative

COVID Collaborative is a national assembly of experts, leaders and institutions in health,education and the economy and associations representing the diversity of the country to turn the tide on the pandemic by supporting federal, state and local COVID-19 response efforts.

The COVID Collaborative is co-chaired by former Governor and U.S. Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) and former Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA) and led by CEO John Bridgeland and President Gary Edson. COVID Collaborative includes expertise from across Republican and Democratic administrations at the federal, state and local levels, including former FDA commissioners, CDC directors, and U.S. surgeon generals; former U.S. secretaries of Education, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services; leading public health experts and institutions that span the country; the Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the NAACP,UnidosUSand the National Congress of American Indians; the Skoll Foundation, Allstate Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation; and associations representing those on the front lines, from the American Public Health Association, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, andVaccinateYourFamily to the Council of Chief State School Officers, Chiefs for Change, and the Council of the Great City Schools.

SOURCE The Ad Council

http://www.adcouncil.org

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Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Rosalynn...