This article is the thirty-first in a continuing series chronicling the unfolding history of the Obama Administration. The writer's opinions are not offered, leaving the readers to arrive at their own conclusions.
"It's a lot easier to spend a dollar than to save one. That's what, at root, led to these exploding deficits. And that is what will lead to a day of reckoning."__Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, April 27, 2010
Day448/April16th/Friday: The President delivered remarks at the White House Conference on America's Great Outdoors at the United States Department of the Interior. Transcript Presidential Memoranda Video
The President met with his national security team for his monthly update on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Source
The President hosted a meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Job creation and the President's proposal to double the number of exports over the next five years were discussed, along with the need to pass strong financial reform legislation. Transcript Video1Video2
The President issued a statement that declared, "Americans from all walks of life are gathering in Washington today to remind members of Congress that although DC residents pay federal taxes and serve honorably in our armed services, they do not have a vote in Congress or full autonomy over local issues. And so I urge Congress to finally pass legislation that provides DC residents with voting representation and to take steps to improve the Home Rule Charter." Source
The President declared a major disaster existed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ordered Federal aid to supplement the Commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe winter storms and snowstorms during the period of February 5-11, 2010. Federal funding was made available to the Commonwealth and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storms and snowstorms in the counties of Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Philadelphia, Somerset, Westmoreland, and York. Assistance was also made available to the Commonwealth and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for emergency protective measures, including snow assistance, for a continuous 48-hour period during or proximate to the incident period in the counties of Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Philadelphia, Somerset, Westmoreland, and York and for a continuous 72-hour period during or proximate to the incident period in Delaware County. Federal funding was also made available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures in the counties of Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Philadelphia, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland, and York. Source
The President declared a major disaster existed in the State of New York and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding during the period of March 13-15, 2010. Federal funding was made available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding in the counties of Nassau, Orange, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester. Federal funding was also made available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. Source
The President proclaimed April 17 through April 25, 2010, as National Park Week. Source
The President proclaimed April 18 through April 24, 2010, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week. Source
The President proclaimed April 18 through April 24, 2010, as National Volunteer Week. Source
The President proclaimed April 19, 2010, as National Day of Service and Remembrance for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism, calling upon all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to display the flag of the United States at half staff on this day in honor of the individuals who lost their lives as a result of terrorism. Source
United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced a Federal Grand Jury returned a 15-count Indictment charging four employees from Blackwater Worldwide. Included in the Indictment are Gary Jackson, 52, former President; William Wheeler Mathews, Jr., 44, an attorney and former Executive Vice President and Vice President of Operations; Andrew Howell, 44, General Counsel; Ana Bundy, 45, former Vice President of Logistics and Procurement; and Ronald Slezak, 65, a former armorer. The charges came out of a raid on Blackwater's North Carolina headquarters in 2008, which turned up 22 automatic weapons, including 17 Russian-made AK-47s. Federal law prohibits private parties from buying fully automatic weapons registered after 1986. Source
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Goldman, Sachs & Co. and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was beginning to falter. The SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. "The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple," said Robert Khuzami, Director of the Division of Enforcement. "Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party." Source
The United States Justice Department withdrew its request that a federal magistrate judge in Denver compel Yahoo! to turn over the contents of a Yahoo! email user's email account without the government first obtaining a search warrant based on probable cause, filing a brief claiming that it no longer had an investigative need for the demanded emails and withdrawing the government's motion. Source
