Staying connected to the American people is incredibly important to President Obama.  That’s why he tries to get out of Washington as much as he can and it’s why he reads ten letters from Americans across the country every day.  And it’s why we’re kicking off a new program today called Advise the Advisor. 

Think of it as your direct line to senior staff at the White House.

Here’s how it works: one of the President’s closest advisors will post a short video to let you know more about what’s going on here at the White House and ask for your advice, opinions and feedback on important issues.  We’ll go through as much of your feedback as possible and post a summary of what you’ve told us later in the week.

This week, David Plouffe, Senior Advisor to the President, is kicking off the series, focusing on President Obama’s vision for winning the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building rest of the world, by reforming our government to make it smarter, more effective and better prepared for the 21^st century, and by taking responsibility for our debts and deficits.

Check out his video and then head over to WhiteHouse.gov/Advise to let us know how American innovation is affecting your community and what we can do to help remove the obstacles to innovation that you see where you live.

To commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Senior Advisor to President Obama Valerie Jarrett shared her heart-felt thoughts on the importance of combating HIV/AIDS. Watch her video message:

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness is not just a day to increase awareness, but a day to act on your own health.

• Do you know your status? If not, text your zipcode to 566948 (“KNOWIT”) to find and HIV testing site near you or go to HIVtest.org.
• You can also call 1-800-CDC-INFORMATION for more information and testing sites in your area.
• Visit www.aids.gov for Federal resources, events in your area and tools to commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

On July 21, 2010 President signed the Wall Street Reform bill into law. One part of that law created the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect and empower American consumers with the strongest consumer protections in history.

Elizabeth Warren, who is leading efforts to get the Bureau up and running, recently announced their new website and today, she'd like you to meet Robin Fox, a 7th grade science teacher from Rome, GA, and Andrew Giordano, a retired Vietnam veteran from Locust Point, MD -- a couple of Americans whose stories illustrate some of the unfair practices people have encountered and how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will work to prevent it from happening again.

Watch their stories:

Robin's Story: Arbitrary Rate Increases on Credit Cards

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will enforce the Credit CARD Act, which President Obama signed in 2009 to ban credit card issuers from arbitrarily raising rates on existing balances and other unfair practices. The CFPB will also be responsible for updating the credit card rules moving forward.

Andrew's Story: Unexpected Overdraft Fees

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will examine big banks to ensure that they are following the rules that now require banks to give consumers a real choice of whether to join overdraft protection programs for ATM and debit card transactions. The CFPB will update those rules to respond to changes in the marketplace over time.

Visit ConsumerFinance.gov to learn more about the Bureau and submit suggestions.

Winning the future requires promoting economic growth and job creation while also protecting the health and safety of the American people. On January 18, 2011, President Obama signed an important Executive Order designed to fulfill that goal.

The Executive Order emphasizes the need for predictability and for certainty -- and for achieving regulatory goals with the smartest and least costly tools. It directs agencies to seek public comments on rules, to minimize burdens on the private sector, to simplify and harmonize their regulations, to promote flexibility and freedom of choice, and to make sure that the benefits justify the costs. It also directs agencies, within 120 days, to produce plans for a government-wide review of existing regulations to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed.

Also on January 18, the President signed a memorandum requiring agencies to take new steps to reduce regulatory burdens on small business. As the President wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Small firms drive growth and create most new jobs in this country. We need to make sure nothing stands in their way.”

Ed. note: This post is part of the Celebrating Black History Month series that highlights the contributions of African Americans who are contributing to the President's vision of winning the future though their work.

It's a long way from the segregated south to low Earth orbit. But I am fortunate to have made the journey and to have had many opportunities to serve my nation in a 34-year career with the U.S. Marine Corps and in many roles at NASA, currently as head of the nation's space program.

When I was a young man, my service as NASA's first African American Administrator under the Nation's first Black president would have been nearly unthinkable. But through the efforts of many people of all races, our nation has changed. And, thanks to the Space Shuttle Program, and NASA's cross-disciplinary exploration missions, African Americans and many others have had access to space and also to science and technological careers. The shuttle was really instrumental in breaking the color barrier for African Americans in space, and it all happened without a single law being passed.

Today, African Americans are scientists, engineers, and astronauts. They're developing instruments for spacecraft to peer beyond the edge of our solar system and opening solar arrays on the International Space Station with just a tether holding them to a vehicle moving nearly 17,000 miles per hour. NASA is reinvigorating its focus on research and development to develop technologies that don't exist today. We will send humans farther and faster into space. We'll visit places we've never been, with people and robots, launch science missions to uncover unfathomable secrets of the universe, and make air travel safer and cleaner here on the home front. African Americans have been, and will continue to be, key to all of these efforts.

Quote: "To support American innovation, what my administration is trying to do is not just hand out money.  What we’re doing is we’re issuing a challenge. Because right now, some of the most promising innovation is happening in the area of clean energy technology -- technology that is creating jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and -- something that every young person here cares about -- making sure our planet is a healthier place to live that we can pass on to future generations." --President Obama, speaking at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania, about the future of American innovation. Watch the speech here.

President Barack Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu tour the Engineering Labs at Penn State University in State College, February 3, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Better Buildings: President Obama announces a program to increase energy efficiency in commercial buildings, and save businesses billions of dollars a year. Check out the fact sheet here, and see what business leaders are saying about the program.

Egypt: The President and his advisers continued to closely monitor the situation in Egypt. President Obama spoke on America's commitment to democracy and universal human rights for all people, and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reiterated the United States' strong condemnation of violence against journalists and members of the media.

Faces of Distracted Driving: Continuing a video series, the Department of Transportation shares the story of Alex Brown in this moving video.

American Innovation Abroad: U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk meets with members of the President's Technology CEO Council to discuss how the Administration is promoting high-tech American products in foreign trade.

West Wing Week: "Enter The Hub", and a special report, "Dispatches from Sudan"

Start-Up America: Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers explains the Start-Up America Initiative on the White Board.

Race to the Top: This week marks the launch of the second annual Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. Melody Barnes, the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, invites high schools around the country to apply.

Women's Online Summit: The White House hosts the first-ever Women's Online Summit, which brought together editors of 26 websites with a special focus on women. Learn about the meeting, and the surprise guest.

It's Black History Month: All month we're featuring African Americans from throughout the Administration who are contributing to President Obama's vision of winning the future through their work. Read their stories.

National Prayer Breakfast: President Obama continued an annual tradition that dates back to President Eisenhower, speaking at the meeting of faith leaders in Washington, D.C.

Ready for Winter Weather: With serious winter storms hitting the Midwest and Atlantic coast, WhiteHouse.gov made sure people knew how to stay safe in winter weather. The USDA shared food safety tips in case of power outages.

New Dietary Guidelines: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, along with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, announced new dietary guidelines to help improve American health.

Attorney General Visits Poland: Attorney General Eric Holder met with counterterrorism and national security leaders from European partners during the G6 Conference.

This afternoon President Obama and Prime Minister Harper of Canada met to "reaffirm our extraordinary friendship and cooperation," as the President put it.  In a joint press conference afterwards, the President took a question on the future of Egypt:

Today I joined my colleagues Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council, and Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in publishing an op/ed describing President Obama’s Strategy for American Innovation - a framework to secure our economic growth and prosperity.  It is built on three key pillars - that our Nation is at its best when we invest in the building blocks of innovation, includingour people, ideas and infrastructure; that we have rules of the road that promote market-based innovation, including strong intellectual property protection, research & experimentation tax credits, and a regulatory system that works; and in the spirit of “all hands on deck”, we catalyze breakthroughs for national priorities, including our race to win in a clean energy economy, a renaissance in American manufacturing through advanced technologies, and a quantum leap in educational technologies.

Now it is your turn. We want to hear your feedback on the Strategy for American Innovation.  You can submit your comments, feedback and questions via Slideshare.  In the coming days and weeks, we’re looking forward to a lively discussion on the Strategy for American Innovation and we hope you’ll be a part of it.

Today’s employment report shows that the unemployment rate fell sharply to 9.0 percent and private sector payrolls increased by 50,000 in January. Revisions to private sector payroll data show that 1.1 million jobs were added during 2010, the strongest private sector job growth since 2006. The 0.8 percentage point decline in the unemployment rate over the past two months is a welcome development; however, the rate remains unacceptably high.

The overall trend of economic data in recent months has been encouraging, as initiatives put in place by this Administration are taking hold, but there is still considerable work to do. Today, the Administration puts forward our comprehensive innovation agenda, which details our efforts to accelerate American leadership in educating our workers, investing in science, and building the infrastructure our companies need to succeed.  Innovation will be a key driver of the economy as we strengthen America’s position as home to the world’s best new businesses and industries, and the best jobs.

In addition to the increases last month, the estimates of private sector job growth for November (now +128,000) and December (now +139,000) were revised up. These revisions, along with the annual payroll survey revisions, show that private sector employment has now grown for eleven consecutive months.

Overall payroll employment rose by 36,000 last month. Among the sectors with the largest payroll employment growth were manufacturing (+49,000), retail and wholesale trade (+36,700), and professional and business services (+31,000). Transportation and warehousing (-38,000), construction (-32,000), finance (-10,000), and local government (-10,000) were among the sectors that subtracted from the total. Severe weather in some parts of the country may have impacted employment and hours in some industries.

The 0.4 percentage point decline in the unemployment rate to 9.0 percent in January was accounted for by a large increase in employment as measured by the household survey (which is separate from the payroll survey). The labor force participation rate was unchanged.

The overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years, but there will surely be bumps in the road ahead.  The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision.  Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.

Austan Goolsbee is Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers