Barack Obama is now officially the President of the United States. In his inaugural address yesterday, he laid out a challenge for all Americans to unite in common purpose and tackle the challenges our nation faces.

Moving the Country Forward

The whole journey has been a joy to behold. The huge throngs of people, Sunday and today, eager to be part of this new moment in history; the thousands of volunteers yesterday; the vistas of civil rights veterans, hip-hop youth, Pete Seeger, Tuskegee Airmen, Abe Lincoln's bible, and more, all filled the last few days with an awesome sense of history. It feels very much like a very new beginning.

The New York City Council yesterday restored funding for several human services programs which had been proposed for elimination in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's mid-year budget modification. The move came as part of a deal which accelerated the rescinding of a 7% property tax reduction and cleared the way to send out $400 property tax rebates to homeowners.