English subtitles for clip: File:West Wing Week- "Mailbag Day, New Year's Edition".webm

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♪ (Bugle Corps playing) ♪

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Narrator:
Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's

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happening at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue.

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This week: "Mailbag Day,
New Year's Edition."

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We'll take a look at some
of the highlights of 2010,

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plus answer a couple
of your letters.

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The West Wing was a busy
place to be in 2010.

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The President:
I think it's fair to say
that this has been the most

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productive post-election
period we've had in decades,

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and it comes on the heels of the
most productive two years that

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we've had in generations.

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Narrator:
The highlights included passing and signing historic health care

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reform legislation; repealing
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell;"

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enacting Wall Street reform;
ending the combat mission in

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Iraq; extending tax cuts for
middle-class Americans and small

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businesses; negotiating a
Strategic Nuclear Arms Treaty

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with Russia; and appointing
Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

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The President also signed
into law the CALM Act --

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legislation requiring that the
volume of television commercials

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be the same as the
programs they run with.

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The President:
When I'm watcing the game, I don't want those ads coming on

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loud; I don't want to have
to pick up the clicker.

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You know, this is a
-- this is practical,

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makes a difference right away.

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(cross talk)

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Look at this, this is all
it is -- one-page bill.

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That's what I'm saying.

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Speaker:
The Senate did turn it
into almost two pages.

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(laughter)

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Narrator:
Our first letter comes from
a student in North Carolina.

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He asks: "Dear Mr. President, how
many chimneys are in the White House?

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I asked that one time and
it never got answered.

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Anyway, I hope you
have a good Christmas."

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Well, I'm not sure what happened
that one time you asked,

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but this time we posed the
question to Bill Allman,

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the White House Curator, in
the Diplomatic Reception Room.

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How about it, Bill?

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Mr. Allman:
If you were to stand
on Pennsylvania Avenue,

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which is the front side
of the White House,

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and looked up at the roofline,
you'd see 12 chimneys.

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Well, the White House --
the original White House,

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the building that was opened in 1800 for President John Adams --

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has 12 chimney stacks
on top of the roof.

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They once served fireplaces in
almost every room in the house

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because that was the only way
the house could be heated for

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the first 40 years or so that
presidents and first ladies lived here.

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The office spaces that
are in the West Wing,

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where the President
has his Oval Office,

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has a number of fireplaces
in that wing and would have

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chimneys on the roof of
that building as well.

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The fireplace, actually, that's
behind me is the location of

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where President Franklin
Roosevelt delivered his famous

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group of what they call the
"Fireside Chats" during the

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Depression in the 1930s and
there was a large desk here with

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radio microphones on it.

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He conversed with the nation
about how things were going to

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get better, and it's a frequent
setting for President Obama as

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well to do his Weekly
Address to the nation.

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Narrator:
With the First Family
gone for the holidays,

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the question of whether Santa
could fit down any of these 12

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chimneys remains unanswered.

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Our second letter comes from
Tisha Baisden in Lewis Center, Ohio.

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She writes: "Dear Mr.
President, I was wondering,

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why is there no forgiveness
of student loans?

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I make decent money, but with
being a single mother with four

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children, times are tough.

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I pay what I can, but the
interest keeps the loan going up

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because I cannot pay what
I'm supposed to pay."

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To answer this question, we
tracked down the President's

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Deputy Assistant for Domestic
Policy, Heather Higginbottom.

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Ms. Higginbottom:
Thank you for writing, Tisha.

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My name is Heather Higginbottom,
and I'm the Deputy Director of

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the White House
Domestic Policy Council.

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President Obama is committed to
ensuring that college is affordable.

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In fact, one of the first goals
he set as President was to

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return America to the world
leader in the proportion of

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college graduates by 2020.

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And to meet that goal, we have
to ensure that more Americans

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can attend, complete,
and afford college.

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Now, in your situation, there
are a couple of things that

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could help right away.

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First, you might want to look
into consolidating your federal

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loans, which will allow you to
get a lower interest rate and

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keep that steady over time.

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In addition, you may want to
look into the Income-based Loan

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Repayment Program.

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Now, what that does is, say that
you've just spent a proportion

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-- a lower proportion of your discretionary income every month

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for your college loans.

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Now, you mention in your letter
that you have four children,

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and the Obama Administration is
committed to ensuring that all

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of your children can
afford to attend college.

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We've taken several
steps already,

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including expanding and
increasing the amount of the

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Pell Grant, which is a grant
that goes to lower income

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families and students.

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In addition, we've created a new
tax credit called the American

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Opportunity Tax Credit.

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This is worth $2,500 a year for
each student attending college

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-- that's up to
$10,000 over four years.

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We've also expanded the
Income-based Repayment Program

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that I mentioned.

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When that goes into
effect in 2014,

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graduates only have to pay back
10% of their discretionary

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income each month on
their student loans.

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Thanks so much for writing,
Tisha, and Happy New Year.

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Narrator:
To find out more information on any of these topics or to see

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complete videos of these
events, go to whitehouse.gov.

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And thanks again for checking
out your West Wing Week.

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The President:
You guys having one?

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Everybody, last chance.

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No?

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The Press:
You buying?

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(laughter)

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The President:
Yes!

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I'm buying.