President Obama hosted Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week at the White House for talks on the partnership between our two nations and the role of U.S. troops in that country. In this week’s address, President Obama discusses how we will end the war in Afghanistan and how our goal of ensuring that al Qaeda never again uses Afghanistan to launch attacks against America is within reach.

Watch President Obama’s weekly address.

In Case You Missed It

President Obama Hosts President Karzai President Obama hosted Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday at the White House for talks on the partnership between our two nations and the role of U.S. troops in that country.

West Wing Week: 01/11/13 or “The Interests of Our Country” This week, the President nominated a bipartisan slate of leaders to key administration jobs and the Vice President met with a wide array of organizations to talk about efforts to reduce gun violence.

President Obama Nominates Jacob Lew as Treasury Secretary The President has asked Jacob Lew — the current White House chief of staff — to serve as the next Treasury Secretary.

2012 was the year that wildfire fighters finally won health insurance. It was the year three teenage girls decided it was time for a woman to moderate a presidential debate, the year a gay Boy Scout  fought for his Eagle award, the year Trayvon Martin’s parents got justice for their son.

You and 25 million people won all of these victories — and thousands more — by starting, signing, and sharing petitions on Change.org in 2012. Take a look:

Watch the video.

We’re blown away by all you accomplished in 2012, and we know this is just the beginning.

We can’t wait to see what you’ll do in 2013.

Thank you, – Katie and the Change.org team

By ThinkProgress War Room

It’s Time to Stop Paying Companies to Ship Jobs Overseas

The presidential election served as a useful opportunity to educate the American people about some of the worst elements of our tax code. Mitt Romney personally demonstrated how the tax code is rigged in favor of the wealthy and his career at Bain Capital demonstrated how corporations can reap massive financial rewards, even if it means leaving closed factories and devastated communities in their wake.

As we look for ways to raise more revenue  to further reduce the deficit, protect vital programs like Medicare and Social Security, and make investments in the middle class, one obvious place to start is cracking down on the tax loopholes and giveaways that incentivize companies to ship jobs overseas and subsidize investing abroad instead of here at home.

Ending these perverse incentives would bring in at least $168 BILLION over the next ten years. Just to put that into perspective, it’s about as much as you’d save by reducing future Social Security benefits ($175 BILLION) and far more savings than is achieved from the GOP’s pet proposal: raising the Medicare retirement age (which saves the government $125 BILLION, but costs the rest of us twice as much).

(For a very detailed explanation of these and other giveaways in the tax code, check out this paper from our colleagues at the Center for American Progress.)

Closing these tax loopholes will also help make sure that corporations aren’t gaming the system in order to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. It will also encourage companies to invest and create jobs here at home, rather than stashing money abroad.

BOTTOM LINE: Instead of cutting vital programs, it’s time to stop corporations rewarding corporations for shipping jobs overseas and gaming the system in order to avoid taxes.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

Anti-gay pastor withdraws from Inauguration ceremony.

Five people who could replace the anti-gay pastor.

Vice President Biden outlines measures to reduce gun violence.

Biden’s gun violence event was interrupted by news of another school shooting.

Zero Dark Thirty and the emptiness of the War on Terror.

NRA leaders not interested in any common sense measures to reduce gun violence.

Multimillionaire lobbyist suggests slashing health benefits for vulnerable Americans to reduce the deficit.

The ban on high-capacity magazines worked before it was allowed to expire.

Consumer watchdog outlines new rules to curb predatory mortgage lending.