President Obama declared the spread of H1N1 influenza a national emergency, more of a procedural move than a cause for alarm.

The declaration enables health care facilities facing H1N1 outbreaks to more quickly implement new procedures or set up alternative care sites. These facilities will be able to submit waivers that will excuse them from certain regulations.

“H1N1 flu is moving rapidly throughout the country and the majority of states now have widespread influenza activity,” the White House says. More information about the emergency declaration is available on the White House Web site.

Following the president’s speech before Congress on health care, the Obama administration is pushing for Americans’ support.

Encouraging citizens to learn more about the president’s proposals, the White House has published a list of facts about Obama’s proposed plan that explain how those both with or without insurance would be impacted. The White House has changed the look of its front page to prominently feature videos of Americans who have struggled to pay medical bills when dealing with serious illnesses.

The Democratic Party is also trying to rally supporters. Soon after the president’s speech, they sent an e-mail from Obama. “Change this big will not happen because I ask for it,” Obama writes. “It can only come when the nation demands it. Congress knows where I stand. Now they need to hear from you.”

The e-mail also includes a link to an online form enabling supporters to notify their member of Congress that they support Obama’s health care plan.

Thousands of visitors stream through the White House everyday – and soon we will know who these people are.

“For the first time in history, records of White House visitors will be made available to the public on an ongoing basis. … Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process,” Obama said in a statement.

With a few exceptions, every person who comes to the White House – whether for an official meeting with the president or simply for a White House tour – will find their name on a public list. Exceptions include names that cannot be released for security reasons or personal guests of the Obama family not at the White House for business purposes.

What do you think of this idea? Should this information be made public?

The White House announced today that on Tuesday, September 8 – the first day of the new school year for many American students – President Obama will give a speech to school children. The president will give a speech at an Arlington, Virginia high school that will be broadcast live on the White House Web site.

The White House hopes schools across the country will tune into the speech and even use the classroom activities it has prepared about the importance of education.

But some schools say they won’t be allowing their students to watch the speech. As The Washington Post reported, critics of the speech say it is “an attempt to indoctrinate, rather than motivate, young people.” Those against it argue that the classroom activities, which ask questions like “how will [President Obama] inspire us?” are too political.

A White House spokesman said the speech is solely about the importance of education and will not touch on policy or politics.

What do you think? Is this an appropriate school activity?

“With passion and courage, women have taught us that when we band together to advocate for our highest ideals, we can advance our common well-being and strengthen the fabric of our nation.”

This quote from President Obama is on the home page of a new White House Web site for the Council on Women and Girls. “The mission of the White House Council on Women and Girls is to ensure that every part of the federal government takes into account the needs of women and girls in the policies we draft, the programs we create, the legislation we support,” according to the Web site.

What do you think about President Obama’s statement?

President Obama awarded sixteen people with the 2009 Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian medal in the United States. This year’s recipients came from a variety of backgrounds and are “pioneers in science and in medicine. They are gifted artists and indominatable athletes. They have made their mark in the courtroom, in the community and in Congress,” Obama said.

But what unites these recipients, Obama said, is their belief that “our lives are what we make of them, that no barriers of race, gender or physical infirmity can restrain the human spirit, and that the truest test of a person’s life is what we do for one another.”

Medal awardees included well known names like Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, actor Sidney Poitier and scientist Stephen Hawking. But it also included people who, while not as publicly known, have done many influential things, like Dr. Janet Davison Rowley, whose work identifying genes causing certain cancers has helped scientists better understand deadly diseases.

The full list of Medal of Freedom recipients is available on the White House Web site.