President Barack Obama's jobs creation bill has been stalled in Congress since he introduced it two months ago. In recent weeks, the White House has announced a series of executive actions the president has taken to create jobs and otherwise influence the economy under authority he has from federal law and the Constitution.
Here's a look at some of those actions:
Veterans
According to Businessweek, Obama signed three executive orders Monday that aided veterans in finding jobs. A Veteran's Gold Card was created for any post-Sept. 11 veteran to download from the Internet. The card entitles the veteran to six months of free career counseling at any Labor Department career center. The Veterans Department also is launching a website to match veteran's military occupations and cross-match them against a civilian jobs database that will store more than 500,000 available jobs in the private sector.
Student Loan Repayment
Obama accelerated the beginning of a program to help individuals lower their student loan payments and eliminate the debt in a faster time. Under the new rules reported by the New York Times, student loan payments can be reduced as low as 10 percent of discretionary income and would be considered paid-in-full after 20 years. Nearly 1.6 million students are expected to benefit from the changes. Other provisions of the executive order make it easier to consolidate federal student loans into a single payment to ease in processing.
Foreclosures
Last month, Obama relaxed rules governing how some homeowners could refinance their mortgages, eliminating some processing fees and applying lower interest rates. New York Times said he also changed the length of time (from four months to 12 months) that an unemployed homeowner can suspend mortgage payments prior to foreclosure proceedings. Borrowers in financial distress also will find an easier process to apply for help with their mortgage loans, including restructuring the terms of repayment. The White House estimates one million homeowners could benefit from these changes.
Exports
In an effort to double U.S. exports by 2014, the president signed an executive order making it easier for U.S. companies to navigate through the government bureaucracy to export their products. Reuters said the same order also simplified the research and federal agency approval processes for selected categories of products.
Designated a new monument
Fort Monroe in Virginia was designated a national monument by presidential proclamation. The nation's third-oldest military post was an escape safe house for runaway slaves during the Civil War. The national designation could create as many as 3,000 jobs in the local area, according to USA Today.
Dan McGinnis is a freelance writer, published author and former newspaper publisher. He has been a candidate, campaign manager and press secretary for state and local political campaigns for more than 30 years.
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