Related Rural Blog Posts

  • Secretary Announces Refinancing Help for Rural USDA Home Loan Borrowers in Select States

    Posted by Tammye Trevino on February 2, 2012 at 4:34 PM EDT

    Ed. note: This blog is cross-posted from the USDA Blog.

    Today, rural homeowners in 19 states across the nation are getting some much-needed and long-awaited help to cope with declining home values and a sluggish housing market.

    Secretary Vilsack announced today a pilot program to help rural borrowers with loans made or guaranteed by USDA refinance their mortgages to reduce their monthly payments. This initiative is part of the president’s on- going efforts to help middle class families, create jobs, and strengthen the economy. Since the Obama Administration took office three years ago, Secretary Vilsack has worked closely with the White House to ensure that rural Americans continue to enjoy the many benefits of homeownership.

    This is part of President Obama’s plan to help responsible homeowners.  In his recent State of the Union address, the President laid out a Blueprint for an America Built to Last, calling for action to help responsible borrowers and support a housing market recovery. While the government cannot fix the housing market on its own, the President believes that responsible homeowners should not have to sit and wait for the market to hit bottom to get relief when there are measures at hand that can make a meaningful difference, including allowing these homeowners to save thousands of dollars by refinancing at today’s low interest rates.

    Streamlined Refinancing for Rural America: USDA, which supports mortgage financing for thousands of rural families a year, is taking steps to further streamline its USDA-to-USDA refinancing program. This program is designed to provide those who currently have loans insured by the Department of Agriculture with a low-cost, streamlined process for refinancing into today’s low rates.

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  • Twitter Office Hours Marathon: State of the Union

    Posted by Erin Lindsay on January 26, 2012 at 5:49 PM EDT

    Chris Lu Twitter Office Hours

    Chris Lu, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary, enjoys himself during his special State of the Union session of White House Office Hours. (by Joanna Zhang)

    This week, senior White House officials have been answering your questions about President Obama’s State of the Union Address through a series of Office Hours on Twitter. Miss the speech?  Visit Whitehouse.gov/SOTU to watch and learn more and then check out the full line up of engagement events below. 

     You can ask a question using the hashtag #WHChat and don’t forget to follow along with the conversation all day at @WHLive. 

     Missed a session? Click on the chat below to check out the full Q&A on Storify.

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    Learn more about Defense, Economy, Education, Energy and Environment, Fiscal Responsibility, Health Care, Immigration, Rural, Seniors and Social Security, Taxes, Technology, Women

  • USDA's Blueprint for Stronger Service

    Posted by Tom Vilsack on January 10, 2012 at 11:11 AM EDT

    Ed note: This post was originally published on the USDA blog

    Yesterday at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 93rd Annual Meeting, I thanked about 10,000 farmers for helping to make U.S. agriculture a bright spot in our nation’s economy.

    In the past few decades, U.S. agriculture has become the second most productive sector of the American economy, thanks to farmers adopting technology, reducing debt, and effectively managing risk. In 2011, America’s farmers, ranchers and producers achieved record farm income, record exports, and have helped to contribute to an unemployment figure in rural America that has fallen faster than in other parts of the country. Over the last three years, as USDA has made significant investments in rural America, we have also looked closely at the way we do business so that we are sustaining and enhancing the farm economy for generations to come. That is why today I introduced USDA’s Blueprint for Stronger Service—a plan that will help to preserve this success in the long term. 

    The Blueprint for Stronger Service takes a realistic view of the needs of American agriculture in a challenging budget climate, and lays out USDA’s plans to modernize and accelerate service delivery while improving the customer experience through use of innovative technologies and business solutions. To manage the $3 billion—or 12 percent—reduction Congress has made to discretionary funding for the Department since 2010, USDA looked closely at the way we do business.  For example, some agencies put hiring controls in place and instituted early separation programs. These efforts, when coupled with regular retirement, meant nearly 7,000 employees have retired from USDA over the past 15 months. The plan is also part of the Administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste, launched by President Obama and Vice President Biden to make government work better and more efficiently for the American people. The end result is a plan that will create optimal use of USDA’s employees, better results for USDA customers, and greater efficiencies for American taxpayers.

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  • Community Leaders Briefing Series – The ONE Campaign

    Posted by Esther Ngumbi on December 20, 2011 at 8:07 PM EDT

    December 9, 2011 will forever remain ingrained in my memory. It happens to be the day I stepped in the White House and participated in my first White House Community Leaders Briefing Series with the ONE Campaign.

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    Learn more about Education, Poverty, Rural, Service, Women

  • Regional Planning – Key to Rural Economic Strength

    Posted by Kathleen Merrigan and Bob Perciasepe on November 28, 2011 at 12:08 PM EDT

    Ed. note: This blog is cross-posted from USDA.gov.

    Both of us grew up in small towns, Kathleen in Greenfield, MA and Bob in Ancram, NY.  From our own experiences, we understand the challenges and the importance of a strong rural economy.

    We recently visited Brevard, a town of about 6,000 people in North Carolina’s Transylvania County. While there we held a White House Rural Council meeting at the Transylvania County Library with leadership from the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, the regional economic development commission AdvantageWest, business leaders from Asheville and Brevard, and several local elected officials. We released a report from the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities, at Brevard College, which focuses on how the federal government can help rural areas to be economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable.

    One theme that was discussed at the Rural Council roundtable was the need for communities to be solution oriented by setting priorities and realistic goals for the direction they want their region to head. In Transylvania County, about 1/6th of the residents used to work in the paper mill business, an industry that is no longer there. So the county is working within the region to figure out how they can build a sustainable community for the future, one that recognizes the great economic value of the water, farmland and forests in Western North Carolina.

    Participants asked about how communities can continue economic growth with declining Federal, state and local resources.  We spoke about the need for regional planners to get the right people around the table in order to create a clear vision in the community so that they can make the best use of Federal funding to form partnerships and leverage private sector development. Because ultimately, the economy in Brevard, like the small towns we grew up in, is linked to the rest of the region.

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  • Local Students Get Up Close to Country Music's Biggest Stars

    Posted by Colleen Curtis on November 22, 2011 at 5:07 PM EDT

    Some of the biggest names in country music gathered in the East Room at the White House on Monday night for a concert that honored the history and traditions of a uniquely American musical genre. Musicians including Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, James Taylor, Dierks Bentley and Darius Rucker paid tribute to many of country music’s most legendary figures through live performances that were enjoyed by President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden and numerous administration officials. The event is part of a series called “In Performance at the White House” which has been produced by PBS throughout every administration since its launch in 1978.

    Earlier in the day, Lovett, Rucker and Kristofferson joined the First Lady and local schoolchildren in the State Dining Room for a workshop called “The History of Country Music: From Barn Dances to Pop Charts.” Mrs. Obama welcomed the students to “the People’s House” and reminded them of her vow to make sure everyone, not just“senators and diplomats and CEOs who have a chance to come here but … all Americans, especially young people” feels welcome. 

    The First Lady encouraged the young audience to explore the surroundings, ask questions and take inspiration from the talented and accomplished musicians who were there to tell their stories:

    And that is really my biggest hope for all of you, is that as you sit here and you listen to these fine gentlemen, that you figure out how you can turn something that you love into one of those real jobs, right?  I mean, think about the things that really drive you and give you passion.  And it might not be music.  It might be business, it might be technology, it might be teaching or medicine, or anything else.  For me it was working with young people that gave me passion.  But no matter what sparks your imagination, I want you to take that energy and then follow it.  Follow it with every little piece of energy that you have, because whatever you do, it does take work.  And that’s the one thing you have to get in your mind, that even when you love something, if you’re going to be good at it and get good enough at it, you have to invest in it. 

    And I also want you all to imagine yourselves coming back to the White House maybe years from now, sitting up on this stage and hearing from some future First Lady or future President.  And I want you to be thinking about telling your story to the next generation of young people.  And you have to be able to see yourselves in these places to begin to imagine and to dream and to work towards those dreams. 

    "Country Music: In Performance at the White House" will air on local PBS stations on Wednesday, November 23 at 8 p.m. ET

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