Today the First Lady completed her first solo international official visit, which marked the kick-off of her international platform of youth engagement. Over the past three days, the First Lady has reaffirmed America’s close relationship with Mexico and the enduring bonds between the American and Mexican people. The First Lady’s time in Mexico was spent primarily focused on engaging with Mexico’s children and youth. On a visit to Los Pinos, Mrs. Obama and the First Lady of Mexico Margarita Zavala discussed a series of issues important to young people in both the United States and Mexico – issues including drug addiction and treatment, early intervention programs and the importance of the humane treatment of migrant children. At a Mexico City primary and secondary school, The First Lady joined students in the schoolyard for singing, dancing and other activities. Members of the audience listen as First Lady Michelle Obama delivers a speech at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Mexico

This afternoon, President Obama will head to Cape Caneveral, Florida to deliver remarks about the Administration’s bold new course for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight at the Kennedy Space Center. Space leaders and academic experts will be among those in attendance of the conference, and will participate in four breakout sessions. The sessions will focus on increasing access to and utilization of the International Space Station, new technologies, expanding our reach into the solar system, and harnessing space to expand economic opportunity. The President’s speech will be streamed here at

Click here to see the video. Emerging from

Today, the President released his 2009 federal income and gift tax returns.

On April 23, The Chronicle of Higher Education will feature an article by Dr. Jill Biden about the significance of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 investments in community colleges. As a community college instructor and former teacher, Dr. Biden has “seen firsthand the power of community colleges to change lives.” She discusses the commitment of the Administration to shine a spotlight on community colleges, which she refers to as “the best-kept secrets of higher education.”

Today is Tax Day, and while a lot of Americans have already finished their returns and submitted them, many folks will take time out today to fill theirs out and make the trip to the Post Office or hit send before midnight. Two days ago we posted a look at the tax relief for the middle class that President Obama has signed into law through two of his top domestic priorities: health reform and the Recovery Act.

First Lady Michelle Obama spent time

Yesterday, I was honored to join the First Lady on an incredibly moving trip to Haiti. Like many of you – I have watched news reports and have read numerous accounts of the crisis in Haiti since the earthquake in January. Witnessing the impact of the devastation on the people of Haiti as well as the relief efforts of Haitians, Americans, and dozens of other countries and organizations was powerful for both me and Michelle. There is clearly much work to be done in Haiti, but after seeing the situation first-hand, I left with a sense of tremendous hope. The will of the Haitian people and the strong commitment of partners from around the world will help Haiti build back better. As a teacher, I was particularly gratified to visit an organization called Children’s Place, which is supported by Mrs. Preval. The First Lady and I met teachers and students who are using empty school buses as classrooms in an innovative effort to ensure that their education continues, even amidst terrible destruction. We also visited College St. Pierre, a secondary school where many students were killed when the building was destroyed three months ago. There we saw Haitians and dozens of volunteers working to rebuild a school that will once again educate Haiti’s future leaders. It was an incredible honor to meet the many individuals who have been at the core of the relief and recovery work, and to relay President Obama’s message that Haiti will have a steady and reliable partner in the United States of America throughout these efforts. I hope this visit helps to remind everyone that we can all still play a role in helping Haiti restore its future – please visit the Haiti Earthquake Relief page on WhiteHouse.gov

Do you have questions about what the new health insurance reform law means for you? Please join me tomorrow for a live Q&A with Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. This is the third in our ongoing series of webchats where HHS officials and experts answer your questions about the Affordable Care Act Join us at 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday, April 15 at http://www.hhs.gov/live . You can send your questions to Healthreform@hhs.gov . We will also take questions live via Twitter during the webchat. You can find us on Twitter at @HHSGov. We will be talking about how the new law will increase your health security and what it means for you and your family now and in the future.

As part of the unprecedented accountability and transparency provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) , the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) was charged with providing to Congress quarterly reports on the effects of the Recovery Act on overall economic activity, and on employment in particular. Today we released our third report (pdf) , with an assessment of the effects of the Act through the first quarter of 2010. The main macroeconomic findings include: The magnitude of the fiscal stimulus increased substantially in the first quarter of 2010 (from $83 billion in 2009:Q4 to $112 billion in 2010:Q1) largely because of a surge in tax refunds and lower final tax liabilities due to the Making Work Pay tax credit. Government investment outlays in areas such as infrastructure and clean energy, which increased $16 billion in 2010:Q1, are expected to rise further throughout 2010. The CEA estimates that as of the first quarter of 2010, the ARRA has raised employment relative to what it otherwise would have been by between 2.2 and 2.8 million. These estimates are broadly similar to those of other analysts. Our estimates incorporate the most recent information about actual Recovery Act spending and tax reductions, as well as current trends in employment and production. A special section of the report focuses specifically on the impact of the tax relief and income support provisions of the Recovery Act: To date, there has been more than $200 billion of tax relief and income support provided to households by the ARRA. These funds have had a disproportionately large impact on the incomes of middle- and lower-income families.