President Obama’s Inauguration
This week saw the 57th Presidential inauguration and the second inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. As mandated by the 20th Amendment, President Obama was sworn in to begin his new term at noon on the 20th, but as that fell on a Sunday a public ceremony was also held on Monday. The inaugural theme was “Faith in America’s Future”, however two objects from the past also played a prominent role as Obama recited the oath of office while he placed his hand on bibles owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.
The inaugural speech itself referenced the importance of math and science; building roads, networks and research labs; the creation of sustainable energy sources; and the school reform movement. These issues are very closely linked with Career Technical Education (CTE), so the next four years look like being significant and exciting times in the CTE sphere.
House Votes to Suspend Debt Limit
Earlier this week, the House voted to suspend the nation’s debt limit thereby allowing the Treasury Department to ignore the $16.4 trillion cap on government borrowing. The measure would allow additional debt to be incurred in order to allow government to keep on functioning and making payments until May 18th, at which point the debt limit would reset at a higher level.
The House measure requires the Senate to pass a budget by April 15th or have their pay withheld and kept in escrow until the current Congressional term ends in 2015. Still on the horizon are the sequestration cuts, scheduled to come into effect on March 1st unless a deal can be reached between the two parties.
David Beckett, Advocacy Manager