The nation's capital was temporarily distracted from the continuing avalanche of horrible economic news when Brangelina swooped into town last week. In a town known for people with sizable egos of their own, there was a lot of swooning going on. Brad Pitt pretty much brought the U.S. Capitol to a dead halt as he lobbied on behalf of green homes for Katrina victims. Pitt also popped over to the White House for a private meeting with President Barack Obama.
His partner, Angelina Jolie, came with him to film scenes for her new movie, "Salt." Part of the filming took place outside the office of NDN's own Dr. Rob Shapiro, who unfortunately, was traveling.
By week's end, though, reality was back in DC and across the nation. New unemployment figures showed more than 650,000 jobs were lost in February, bringing the nation's unemployment to the highest rate in a quarter century.
In his weekly radio radio and Web video address released today, Obama continued his focus on economic recovery and keeping the nation's spirits up. Associated Press summed up today's address:
Obama recapped the work of the latest hectic week in his young presidency. His goal was to reassure the country that he and his team are taking specific steps to create jobs in the short term and begin to address huge issues such as health care.
His rundown of the past week: the launch of a more detailed plan to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure; a new credit plan to spur lending for people and businesses; an overhaul of the way the government hands out private contracts to reduce waste; and a summit on how to overhaul health care.
Obama also made clear that he would not be discouraged by the challenges ahead:
President Barack Obama on Saturday challenged his country to see its hard times as a chance to "discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis."
"That is what we can do and must do today. And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address, taped a day earlier at the White House.
U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt offered up the GOP response. It was all talk, no ideas. The Republican Party continues to implode (check out this great read by New York Times op-ed columnist Charles Blow).
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