During a press conference earlier today, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood spoke from the White House briefing room. As a long-time member of the House, Secretary LaHood made it clear that Congressional Democrats and Republicans have often disagreed in the past, but they have resolved those issues through compromise. Watch:

During his press conference this morning, President Obama urged Democrats and Republicans to set politics aside and act swiftly to raise the debt ceiling—and to approach this process with the goal of reducing the deficit and strengthening our economy. Nearly all experts agree that the government defaulting on our obligations would have catastrophic ripple effects, but some on the other side continue to make misleading claims that such warnings are baseless.

The non-partisan think tank Third Way assembled this infographic that shows some of the potential consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling:

Washington Post writer Ezra Klein draws on an analysis by the Center for American Progress to refute Speaker Boehner’s claim that a lower tax rate for the wealthy somehow means more jobs for all Americans:

In theory, the GOP is so committed to resisting tax hikes because it’s so committed to creating jobs. “The fact is you can’t tax the very people that we expect to invest in the economy and create jobs,” says Speaker John Boehner. But Michael Linden’s chart comparing average annual job creation at different marginal tax rates begs to differ:

Washington Post writer Ezra Klein draws on an analysis by the Center for American Progress to refute Speaker Boehner’s claim that a lower tax rate for the wealthy somehow means more jobs for all Americans:

In theory, the GOP is so committed to resisting tax hikes because it’s so committed to creating jobs. “The fact is you can’t tax the very people that we expect to invest in the economy and create jobs,” says Speaker John Boehner. But Michael Linden’s chart comparing average annual job creation at different marginal tax rates begs to differ:

Washington Post writer Ezra Klein draws on an analysis by the Center for American Progress to refute Speaker Boehner’s claim that a lower tax rate for the wealthy somehow means more jobs for all Americans:

In theory, the GOP is so committed to resisting tax hikes because it’s so committed to creating jobs. “The fact is you can’t tax the very people that we expect to invest in the economy and create jobs,” says Speaker John Boehner. But Michael Linden’s chart comparing average annual job creation at different marginal tax rates begs to differ:

Debate is ramping up in Washington and across the country over the federal debt and the legislative decision to raise the national debt ceiling. But even for economists or budget experts, this debate can be obscure and wonkish. So in the hope of distilling the basics, here’s a quick primer on the federal debt – its legal limits, its history, and the current debate.

In short, the federal debt is the difference between the amount the U.S. government spends and earns over time – “deficit” is annual, “debt” is cumulative. Federal debt is issued (mostly) by the U.S. Treasury Department and consists of publicly-held debt – meaning that it’s owned outside the government – and debt held by government accounts, such as the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

Usually, government takes on debt when it spends more than it makes. But there can also be imbalances that come from an unexpected economic downturn – when the government expects to make more than it actually does and isn’t able to adjust in time.

When the government runs a deficit, it borrows money to manage short-term cash flow or to finance that deficit. Put more directly, the government must borrow money to pay its obligations. And there’s a limit to how much it can borrow.

That limit is called the debt ceiling, which is the “total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments.”

Although the United States has incurred a growing federal debt over the past 30 years, our country has nearly always carried a debt throughout its history. According to the Bureau of Public Debt, the American colonies incurred a debt of $75,463,476.52 from the Revolutionary War, a balance that topped $2.7 billion in 1864 during the Civil War.

The time period around World War I saw the next major swell of debt – to roughly $22 billion; it grew again to $260 billion in 1941, and then remained steady until 1980. Between 1980 and 1990, however, U.S. debt more than tripled. And by 2008, it reached $10.3 trillion.

Congress has always limited the amount government can borrow. But since 1960, Congress has acted 78 times to raise, extend, or revise the federal debt limit, under both Democratic and Republican presidents.

On May 16 this year, Treasury Secretary Geithner announced that the U.S. debt had reached its legal limit. Through a “debt issuance suspension period,” however, Congress has until August 2011 before the government defaults on its obligations – something that's never before happened in our nation’s history.

A government default would be a “self-inflicted financial crisis potentially more severe than the one from which we are now recovering,” according to the Treasury Department.  It would mean that the government had to stop, limit, or delay Social Security and Medicare benefit payments, military salaries, families’ tax refunds, as well as myriad other financial commitments.

President Obama supports raising the debt limit as part of a broader effort to reduce America’s deficit, long-term debt, and strengthen our economy. The President is committed to ensuring America lives within its means, but we must not paralyze the current progress of our economic recovery by failing to raise the debt ceiling.

Click here to read a Congressional Research Service report on the federal debt limit.

Debate is ramping up in Washington and across the country over the federal debt and the legislative decision to raise the national debt ceiling. But even for economists or budget experts, this debate can be obscure and wonkish. So in the hope of distilling the basics, here’s a quick primer on the federal debt – its legal limits, its history, and the current debate.

In short, the federal debt is the difference between the amount the U.S. government spends and earns over time – “deficit” is annual, “debt” is cumulative. Federal debt is issued (mostly) by the U.S. Treasury Department and consists of publicly-held debt – meaning that it’s owned outside the government – and debt held by government accounts, such as the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

Usually, government takes on debt when it spends more than it makes. But there can also be imbalances that come from an unexpected economic downturn – when the government expects to make more than it actually does and isn’t able to adjust in time.

When the government runs a deficit, it borrows money to manage short-term cash flow or to finance that deficit. Put more directly, the government must borrow money to pay its obligations. And there’s a limit to how much it can borrow.

That limit is called the debt ceiling, which is the “total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments.”

Although the United States has incurred a growing federal debt over the past 30 years, our country has nearly always carried a debt throughout its history. According to the Bureau of Public Debt, the American colonies incurred a debt of $75,463,476.52 from the Revolutionary War, a balance topped $2.7 billion in 1864 during the Civil War.

The time period around World War I saw the next major swell of debt –to roughly $22 billion, it grew again to $260 billion in 1941, and then remained steady until 1980. Between 1980 and 1990, however, U.S. debt more than tripled. And by 2008, it reached $10.3 trillion.

Congress has always limited the amount government can borrow. But since 1960, Congress has acted 78 times to raise, extend, or revise the federal debt limit, under both Democratic and Republican presidents.

On May 16 this year, Treasury Secretary Geithner announced that the U.S. debt had reached its legal limit. Through a “debt issuance suspension period,” however, Congress has until August 2011 before the government defaults on its obligations – something that's never before happened in our nation’s history.

A government default would be a “self-inflicted financial crisis potentially more severe than the one from which we are now recovering,” according to the Treasury Department.  It would mean that the government had to stop, limit, or delay Social Security and Medicare benefit payments, military salaries, families’ tax refunds, as well as myriad other financial commitments.

President Obama supports raising the debt limit as part of a broader effort to reduce America’s deficit, long-term debt, and strengthen our economy. The President is committed to ensuring America lives within its means, but we must not paralyze the current progress of our economic recovery by failing to raise the debt ceiling.

Click here to read a Congressional Research Service report on the federal debt limit.

On Sunday, Peter Diamond, a Nobel Prize–winning economist, withdrew his nomination to serve on the Federal Reserve Board (Fed). First nominated in April 2010, Dr. Diamond won the 2010 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for academic excellence in research relating to unemployment and the labor market. 

But for almost a year, Republican Senator Richard Shelby has blocked Diamond's nomination, arguing that the Nobel Prize winner isn't qualified. 

In an op-ed published in yesterday’s New York Times, Diamond describes his field of study, Senator Shelby’s opposition, and the role played by the Fed in shaping monetary policy: 

The leading opponent to my appointment, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the committee, has questioned the relevance of my expertise. “Does Dr. Diamond have any experience in conducting monetary policy? No,” he said in March. “His academic work has been on pensions and labor market theory.”

But understanding the labor market—and the process by which workers and jobs come together and separate—is critical to devising an effective monetary policy. The financial crisis has led to continuing high unemployment. The Fed has to properly assess the nature of that unemployment to be able to lower it as much as possible while avoiding inflation.

The Republican claim that Peter Diamond is unqualified is as transparent as it is wrong. The only thing that blocked his appointment was Republican partisanship.

And the truly sad thing is that this doesn't hurt the President so much as it hurts all of us who would benefit from Diamond's expertise.

This morning, the Labor Department announced that our private sector added 83,000 jobs during the month of May.

There's no denying that the catastrophic events in Japan and higher energy prices have both had an impact on our economy, but since the recession ended, private employers have added more than 2.1 million jobs. May marks the 15^th consecutive month of private-sector growth.

Knowing that there's more to be done to accelerate economic growth, President Obama has enacted a payroll tax cut that puts more money in the pockets of 155 million workers and provided businesses added incentive to invest – both part of the tax compromise passed in December last year. The President has cut taxes for small businesses at least 17 times, launched a National Export Initiative to expand the global market for U.S. Products. The Obama administration continues to streamline regulation that creates unnecessary obstacles for businesses to grow.

As we have seen, monthly job reports can be volatile and estimates can always be revised based on new and updated information.

But over the past two years, the overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically. And President Obama has made clear that he will not be satisfied until there is a job for every worker who wants one.

Click here to learn more about Democrats’ efforts to improve the economy.

Earlier in the year, President Obama established a Jobs Council as a forum for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and job creators to advise him on U.S. economic competitiveness. Yesterday, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke joined other Jobs Council members to visit a Minnesota company that has “grown from a simple machine shop into a state-of-the-art facility” – and he used this opportunity to talk about President Obama’s efforts to help American businesses grow and connect with customers around the world.

Based in Burnsville, just outside of Minneapolis, Permac Industries has become a model for the transformation, development, and competitive potential of American business. Now a leading manufacturer of precision parts for all industries, including hydraulics, avionics, and medical technology, Permac has adapted its business to be competitive in the 21^st century economy.

It’s a company that has benefited from the Obama administration’s efforts to provide firms the tools they need to compete. As Secretary Locke said yesterday: 

On the one hand, we’re aggressively incentivizing investment here in America, as highlighted by key provisions that President Obama insisted be included in the December tax package, such as a new expensing benefit that will let companies write off 100 percent of their machinery and equipment purchases made in 2011.This, the largest temporary investment incentive for businesses in American history, will help create demand for new equipment and will mean new factory orders – which in turn means companies will need to hire more workers to keep up with the demand.

At the same time, the administration is making unprecedented efforts to help companies grow by breaking into new foreign markets. That’s why early last year President Obama announced his National Export Initiative, which mobilizes departments throughout the federal government to help double U.S. exports by 2015 and support millions of jobs. The reason for this is simple. The more American companies export, they more they produce. And the more they produce, the more workers they need. And that means jobs.

American exports account for nearly half of our country’s economic growth since mid-2009 and directly support more than 9 million U.S. jobs. Just as it has benefited Permac, the administration’s commitment to investment in American business has also helped other companies throughout the country grow and hire.

The jobs chart below shows the enormous shift in private-sector employment from when President Obama took office through April 2011.

The jobs chart below shows the enormous shift in private-sector employment from when President Obama took office through April 2011.

Today, the U.S. Labor Department announced that the American economy added 244,000 jobs during the month of April. Right now, private companies are creating jobs at the fastest pace in five years. 

The news marks 14 consecutive months of growth, during which time the economy added 2.1 million total jobs. Today’s report is better than many experts expected and signals that the economy is continuing to pick up speed.

While the net job growth during April was 244,000, the private sector added 268,000 jobs – the fastest rise in private-sector growth since February 2006. And in 2011 so far, the economy has added more than 800,000 jobs. Additionally, the Labor Department revised upward the number of jobs created during the previous two months, estimating that 261,000 jobs were created in February and 231,000 in March.

Today’s news indicates a positive trend that the American economy is on the right track, though many in our country are still looking for work. That's why President has said that he will not rest until everyone who wants a job has one. 

When President Obama took office, the economy was on life-support. Since then, his policies have helped generate millions of jobs, and have made targeted investments in America’s short and long-term growth. Still, Democrats continue do everything in their power to accelerate the economy recovery. 

The jobs chart below shows the enormous shift in private-sector employment from when President Obama took office through April 2011.

Today, the U.S. Labor Department announced that the American economy added 244,000 jobs during the month of April. Right now, private companies are creating jobs at the fastest pace in five years. 

The news marks 14 consecutive months of growth, during which time the economy added 2.1 million total jobs. Today’s report is better than many experts expected and signals that the economy is continuing to pick up speed.

While the net job growth during April was 244,000, the private sector added 268,000 jobs – the fastest rise in private-sector growth since February 2006. And 2011 so far, the economy has added more than 800,000 jobs. Additionally, the Labor Department revised upward the number of jobs created during the previous two months, estimating that 261,000 jobs were created in February and 231,000 in March.

Today’s news indicates a positive trend that the American economy is on the right track, though many in our country are still looking for work. That's why President has said that he will not rest until everyone who wants a job has one. 

When President Obama took office, the economy was on life-support. Since then, his policies have helped generate millions of jobs, and have made targeted investments in America’s short and long-term growth. Still, Democrats continue do everything in their power to accelerate the economy recovery. 

The jobs chart below shows the enormous shift in private-sector employment from when President Obama took office through April 2011.

Today, the U.S. Labor Department announced that the American economy added 244,000 jobs during the month of April. Right now, private companies are creating jobs at the fastest pace in five years. 

The news marks 14 consecutive months of growth, during which time the economy added 2.1 million total jobs. Today’s report is better than many experts expected and signals that the economy is continuing to pick up speed.

While the net job growth during April was 244,000, the private sector added 268,000 jobs – the fastest rise in private-sector growth since February 2006. And in 2011 so far, the economy has added more than 800,000 jobs. Additionally, the Labor Department revised upward the number of jobs created during the previous two months, estimating that 261,000 jobs were created in February and 231,000 in March.

Today’s news indicates a positive trend that the American economy is on the right track, though many in our country are still looking for work. That's why President has said that he will not rest until everyone who wants a job has one. 

When President Obama took office, the economy was on life-support. Since then, his policies have helped generate millions of jobs, and have made targeted investments in America’s short and long-term growth. Still, Democrats continue do everything in their power to accelerate the economy recovery. 

If you haven't already done so, there's one thing you really should do before the end of the day: file your tax return. But after that, you should check out the White House tax receipt.

The tax receipt fulfills President Obama's commitment from his state of the union address, that American taxpayers can go online and see exactly how their federal tax dollars are spent. From Social Security to health care, national defense to veterans' benefits--the tax receipt offers a clear and easy way for you to see how your money makes a difference.

Don't forget to file your tax return--then do take a minute to check out the federal tax receipt.

After 100 days of Republican control in the House of Representatives, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) asks, "Where are the jobs?"