Can you tell me how to prevent the spread of swine flu?
September 1st, 2009 | Education HHS Homeland Security White House | Posted by Elise Castelli
For 40 years Sesame Street has been teaching children their letters and numbers, but this year the residents of the famed street are teaching kids a new lesson: how to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, better known as swine flu.
The White House, the Homeland Security Department, the Health and Human Services Department and the Education Department have teamed with the makers of Sesame Street to produce four public service announcements to teach children and families healthy habits that will prevent the spread of the potentially deadly virus. The PSAs can be viewed at www.flu.gov.
The 20-second spots feature Gordon and Elmo talking about topics as how to wash your hands and how to sneeze into your elbow.
Of the spots, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said:
Younger children and their parents are some of the people most at risk from the new H1N1 flu virus and with schools starting back up again and the weather starting to get colder, we need to do everything we can to get these important messages about how to prevent the spread of the flu out there.â€
This FedLine blogger’s Sesame Street experience predates Elmo, but I understand he’s pretty popular with the preschool set, so perhaps this will be an effective campaign. But to add authority, I think the spots should have included a visit from the one and only Dr. Grover.
Tags: Elmo, Gordon, Grover, H1N1, Kathleen Sebelius, National Preparedness Month, Sesame Street, swine flu
2010 Budget: Program cuts
February 26th, 2009 | 2010 Budget Agency Management Agriculture Education Interior Procurement | Posted by Tim Kauffman
During a news briefing this morning at the Old Executive Office Building to roll out his 2010 budget, President Obama provided a little more detail about some of the nearly $2 trillion in proposed cuts he mentioned during his joint session to Congress on Tuesday.
The highlights — or lowlights, depending on your view:
- Nearly $200 million at the Interior Department by cutting programs to clean up abandoned coal mines that have already been cleaned up.
- Nearly $20 million by modernizing programs and streamlining bureaucracy at the Agriculture Department.
- Tens of millions of dollars by cutting an Education Department student mentoring program whose mission is being carrried out by 100 other programs in 13 other agencies.
- Nearly $50 billion by cutting out benefits to citizens who aren’t entitled to them and closing tax loopholes to businesses.
Additionally, Obama said the budget would save billions by ending no-bid contracts in Iraq, ending tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas and rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
The $2 trillion is just what has been identified during the first 30 days that the administration has been in office, Obama said. Further cuts will be proposed as part of the full budget Obama said will be released this Spring.
Tags: President Barack Obama
Senate confirms seven Cabinet nominees
January 20th, 2009 | Agencies Agriculture Congress Education Energy Homeland Security Interior OMB Veterans Affairs | Posted by Rebecca Neal
President Barack Obama’s Cabinet now has eight official members.
The Senate voted by voice vote just before 4 p.m. today to confirm the following seven nominees: Steven Chu for Energy, Arne Duncan for Education, Janet Napolitano for Homeland Security, Peter Orszag for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Ken Salazar for Interior, Eric Shinseki for Veterans Affairs and Tom Vilsak for Agriculture.
His Cabinet already included Robert Gates, whom Obama asked to stay on as Defense secretary.
But things aren’t moving so quickly for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s secretary of state nomination. After her smooth hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, many expected Clinton to be confirmed today.
Enter Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who had questioned donations made by foreign groups and individuals to the foundation run by Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton. He threatened a filibuster and said he was not convinced steps she outlined to prevent conflicts of interest between herself and potential donors were enough, and that was enough to stall Clinton’s vote for at least a day.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., made it clear on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon he had little patience for Cornyn’s moves. He announced the scheduling of a three-hour executive session of the Senate Wednesday to discuss Clinton’s confirmation and scheduled a roll call vote at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Tags: Barack Obama, Cabinet, Congress, Hillary Clinton