Jobs & The Economy: Putting America Back to Work
“It is our generation’s task, to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth —
a rising, thriving middle class,”
Security for the Middle Class
The Obama Administration is working together with policymakers and private industry to safely grow our economy, while creating jobs and helping small businesses thrive.
The President overcame furious lobbying by big banks to pass the most far reaching reform of Wall Street in history, which will prevent the excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis while providing common-sense protections to American families for their mortgages and credit cards. The law created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to prevent mortgage companies and pay-day lenders from exploiting consumers.
Learn more
For decades, rising health care costs have hurt American competitiveness, and forced too many individuals into bankruptcy to get their families the care they need. That’s why President Obama took on the insurance companies to pass comprehensive health insurance reform, giving Americans the security of knowing that insurance companies will be required to cover preventive care, can’t drop them if they get sick, and won’t be able to bill them into bankruptcy because of an illness or injury.
Learn more
To create true middle class security, we need to out-educate the competition. That’s why President Obama set the goal that by 2020, the United States will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world, and has fought to lower the cost of college for parents and students by passing a tax credit worth up to $10,000 and making Pell Grant awards larger and more widely available. And he reformed the student loan system, ending government subsidies for banks and using the savings to help more Americans afford their loan payments.
Learn more
The housing market suffered a dramatic collapse caused by irresponsible lenders who tricked buyers into signing subprime loans and in some cases irresponsible homeowners who took out loans they knew they could not afford. To address this crisis, President Obama and his Administration have taken a broad set of actions to stabilize the housing market and help responsible American homeowners.
Learn more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will set and enforce clear, consistent rules to hold banks, credit cards, mortgage lenders, and others accountable and protect consumers from abuses and deceptive practices. Learn More ...
To help make college more affordable, President Obama created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth $10,000 over four years and currently helping 9 million families cover the cost of college, and doubled investments in Pell Grants. Learn more...
President Obama negotiated a bipartisan agreement that led to a payroll tax cut for 160 million working Americans, giving them in effect a 2 percent raise through the end of 2012. A family earning $50,000 got a tax cut of around $1,000, or about $40 with every paycheck. Learn more...
The Affordable Care Act – President Obama’s landmark health reform law – is already making the health system more secure for American families. Nearly 17 million children can no longer be denied care due to a pre-existing condition, 6.6 million young adults can stay on their parent’s insurance through age 26 and more than 5 million seniors have saved an average of $768 each on the cost of their prescription drugs. Learn more...
Simplifying and expanding access to refinancing at today's low interest rates could save millions of responsible homeowners about $3,000 a year on their mortgage payments. Learn more ...
