10:30: PBO departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
10:45: Departs Joint Base Andrews en route Milwaukee, Wis.
12:35: Arrives Milwaukee, Wis.
1:00: Tours Master Lock
1:40: Delivers remarks at Master Lock
3:05: Departs Milwaukee, Wis. en route Los Angeles, Calif.
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AP: …. The president is holding eight fundraisers for his re-election campaign in the Los Angeles area, San Francisco and Seattle …. After departing Milwaukee, Obama was to attend two fundraisers in Los Angeles. The first is an outdoor fundraising reception at the home of soap opera producer Bradley Bell and his wife, Colleen, featuring a performance by the rock band the Foo Fighters. The campaign expects 1,000 supporters to attend, with tickets starting at $250.
Obama is also attending a dinner at Bell’s home co-hosted by actor Will Ferrell and his wife, Viveca Paulin. Eighty people are expected to attend the dinner, with tickets costing $35,800. The fundraising will benefit the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee for Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
More here
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NYT: The Obama administration will propose a $5 billion competitive grant program to encourage states to overhaul the teaching profession, federal education officials said Tuesday, using its Race to the Top school improvement competition as a model.
The new program, which needs Congressional approval, is part of President Obama’s budget proposal and expands upon a call in his State of the Union address last month to give schools more resources “to keep good teachers on the job and reward the best ones.”
More here
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National Journal: The national Pew Research Center poll confirms that President Obama, at least for now, is reassembling the coalition that powered him to his 2008 victory.
The Pew survey, closely tracking last week’s ABC News/Washington Post poll, shows that in a potential general election match-up against Mitt Romney…. Obama’s numbers now closely align with his support against McCain. Overall, the Pew survey put Obama ahead of Romney by 52 percent to 44 percent, close to his actual 53 percent to 46 percent victory over McCain.
…. Pew finds Obama attracting 89 percent of liberals, 20 percent of conservatives (each exactly his share against McCain), and 61 percent of moderates (compared to 60 percent in 2008.)….
More here
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TPM: Republicans have taken to describing President Obama’s budget as “deficits built to last” – a play on Obama’s call for an economy built to last …..The chart tells you quite starkly: Yes, Ryan’s plan also gives you… deficits built to last!
More here
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NYT: Despite the deep divide between some religious leaders and government officials over contraceptives, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll found most voters support the new federal directive that health insurance plans provide coverage for birth control.
…. 65 percent of voters in the poll said they supported the Obama administration’s requirement that health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control, and 59 percent, said the health insurance plans of religiously affiliated employers should cover the cost of birth control.
…. A majority of Catholic voters in the poll were at odds with the church’s official stance, agreeing with most other voters that religiously affiliated employers should offer health insurance that provides contraception…..
More here
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Reuters: General Electric Co plans to hire 5,000 U.S. military veterans over the next five years and to invest $580 million to expand its aviation footprint in the United States this year.
The largest U.S. conglomerate unveiled the moves ahead of a four-day meeting it is convening in Washington starting on Monday to focus on boosting the U.S. economy, which has been slow to recover from a brutal 2007-2009 recession.
More here
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USA Today: Investigators recovered a record-breaking $4.1 billion in health care fraud money during 2011, a reflection of the Obama administration’s increased focus on fighting fraud, Justice Department officials announced Tuesday.
Between 2009 and 2011, the federal government has collected $7.20 for every dollar spent on fighting fraud, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general. That’s a jump from the $5.10 for every dollar spent between 1997 and 2008, records show.
“It demonstrates that our collaborative efforts to prevent, identify and prosecute the most egregious instances of health care fraud have never been stronger,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “Over the years, we’ve seen that as these crimes harm all of us — government agencies and programs, insurers and health care providers, and individual patients.”
More here
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Morning everyone 
Good Morning, CHIPS
Morning Rikyrah
Yummers. He is so handsome.
LOVE the Politifact clip
Good morning Chips, Rikyrah and TOD friends. Thx for all the good info this morning Chips.
Morning COS and Alice, you’re both bright and breezy this morning
Chip, since I retired, I wake up early and always take another nap. LOL
Very sensible Cos! That second nap after waking up is positively blissful. Unfortunately, I like third and fourth naps too
good morning all great roundup Chips as always! OK gotta go to work
Wow, AG Holder is fantastic. Gov Rick Scott would be in jail now if Holder had been AG when he was committing MC fraud.
Good morningTOD people good news for PBO, Yes AG Holder did a fantastic job recovering $4.1 Billion
in health care fraud, but but we hear nothing on the Fucking MSM about it we only hear when there is
bad news.
This is important and very good news The Democratic Pty picks L.A Mayor Antonio Villarraigosa to
chair its National Convention on S.C . a very smart move by DWS so Marco Rubio you can kiss our Latino
Butts ha. ha..
Chips,
I really would like for you to consider posting Rachel Maddow’s opening segment from last night, which details the latest in the GOP war on women.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#46391123
And, I know we mock the GOP Clown car, but the way they : 1. scream voter fraud, and 2. are trying to put in voter suppression, the segment from Maddow about how they are refusing to COUNT THE VOTES in 3 counties in Maine, so as to keep Willard the winner….well, it stinks. I think Ron Paul is a crazy -azz racist, but if he’s the crazy azz racist that really won the Maine caucus by following the rules – he should be declared the winner.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#46391196
Hi rikyrah, do you mean the segment on Virginia? Just added it!
thank you, Chips
Rachel’s show was great last night. She sure exposed O’Donnell, Mr. Wannabe VP.
Oops meant Bob McDonald.
That Virgina Governor has turn out to be another one of those terrible Republican Governor.
Speaking of Governors, why is Scott Walker going to meet POTUS? I guess he think with the mess he is in, it might help him being seen with President Obama.
Be sure the press will be all over it.
Isn’t govnors meeting the president in their own states a protocol requirement ?
There have been Republican Governors who had made up excuses not to meet the President. To busy, out of town, whatever. Walker is good at making up lying, just ask the people of Wisconsin. POTUS would be just fine not having him around.
Yes RM was on fire last night she is doing a very good job an war on Women.
Mitt’s choice: Goldwater or his Father…
by Dennis G.
Mitt Romney comes off as fake. He seems like a man running from himself. When he speaks, he speaks in word strings designed to sound like something, while meaning nothing. He is running for President (for Pete’s sake) and embracing whatever he thinks Republican primary voters want to hear at any given moment. It rings hollow and inauthentic.
To win the Republican nomination a candidate must win the Republican base—and the base is batshit crazy. They embrace a world view that began to take over the Republican Party with the campaign of Barry Goldwater and his merging of the extreme paranoid right wing fringe of Conservative politics with the neo-Confederate racism of the Dixiecrats. This is the foundation of the modern Republican Party and the so-called conservative movement……
…………………………………………………………………..
The problem for Mitt Romney is that he has become the exact type of politician his father fought against, condemned and—i think it’s fair to say—despised. Trying to pretend otherwise is why Mitt seems so fake all the time. He had a choice between the integrity of his father or the cowardliness of Goldwater and the modern conservative movement.
George Romney deserved a better son.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/02/15/mitts-choice-goldwater-or-his-father/
I just don’t agree with anyone saying that “George Romney deserved a better son”. This is a personal attack that I just don’t think people should ever use, especially when they’re speaking for someone who is no longer alive. It’s just as bad as when Ron Reagan was told by that right wing loon that his father would be disappointed in him. We don’t know what kind of relationship they had, or whether that father felt any embarrassment or disappointment in their son, and it’s just a hurtful thing to say. Think it, but no need to actually say something so cruel. People only get one father.
Theo…I agree with you.
Ugh, it’s just too early in Seattle, dark and cold, but, hey! The camellias are in bloom, with the forsythia and japonica not far behind…bluebells jumping up and the robins have returned .. So, to quote Chips, Rise and Shine! Have a great day Y’all!
President Obama leads his Republican rivals in Ohio in a new survey, even with favorite son Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) on the GOP ticket as the vice presidential nominee.
In a head to head match-up, Obama beats Mitt Romney 46 percent to 44 percent in Quinnipiac University’s latest survey of the Buckeye State. The president also beats Rick Santorum 47 to 41, and bests Newt Gingrich 50 to 38.
The Obama-Biden ticket also outperforms a hypothetical Romney-Portman ticket in Ohio. The survey shows the Democratic ticket winning 47 percent to 43 percent over Romney-Portman.
“At least in this survey, the inclusion of Rob Portman as vice president does not appear to help the GOP ticket,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
—
I notice the msm does not talk about polls anymore…
Ah, true Jovie, they seem to have lost interest in reporting these polls ….. can’t think why.
Because they see a blue tidal wave on the horizon?
YA THINK!!!!!
Yup. Pretty much.
Mornin’ TOD’ers. Great round up as usual, Chipsticks. I hope the USAToday article about the government recovering 4.1 billion in healthcare fraud was front paged because that paper reaches a lot of eyeballs.
Morning Pamela. That story is on the front page of USA Today alright, but not exactly in a prominent position
Still, at least they reported it, unlike many of their media buddies.
Thanks for the screen shot, Chipsticks. I agree that at least it WAS reported. That paper is ubiquitous and so many people just scan the headlines which is why I get so pissed when editors write misleading ones that bury the lede.
This should have been a front page news all over is very vig $4.1/ Billion it’s a laot of tax payer
money.
Should have had a perp walk, too, so we could see the faces of the people who are stealing taxpayer dollars. And I’d like to know their party affiliation – just for kicks!
Mel, you are so correct, however, we know that the MSM will not do their job, so we have to be the mouths for the President and all of the great things that Attorney General Holder are doing.
One thing that I do is go to those web sites of the Government Departments that are of great interest to me, and then I sign up for daily news from the areas of the law at the DOJ. Then I send out this news to all of those in my contact list and others to let them know how the President is keeping his promises through his policies. I remember how POB stated in his healthcare debate that he would work hard to have the DOJ work on bringing justice to Medicare Fraud. And DOJ has been doing a great job.
So those of us who are interested in certain department can get on the e mailing list from these departments and do the work ourselves for POB. Just a thought.. It works. We can also send the message to the news outlets listed by Chips. Great way to use that tool.
We have to be the eyes, ears, and mouths to get the message and great news out. HZ
Senior Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod took aim at Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Wednesday, accusing him of holding social views that are “quite divisive and not widely shared.”
“I think that many of the positions he’s taken on social issues are quite divisive and not widely shared,” Axelrod said on CBS’s “This Morning.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72897.html
“I think” ??? What is there to think ? Look at f..king rubio making bold claims which are pure lies. How come dems are such pussies when making true factual statements betas me.
WOW..is that how you see it….
you can disagree with how they deliver the message…but your language is offensive..
huh ?
Axelrod is being diplomatic. He can’t say it the way you or I might.
May the Lord continue to bless and protect our beloved president as he travels to and from today. Love to everyone here and bless this site
joyce let me say Amen to that. Amen, Amen, Amen.
800,000 Signatures Against Keystone XL Delivered To Senate Today |
In 24 hours, the 99 percent flooded the U.S. Senate with more than 800,000 messages opposing the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. This afternoon, 781,000 of the signatures to the Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline emergency petition were hand-delivered to the U.S. Capitol in boxes of 20,000 names each by members of 350.org, Green For All, and other climate hawks. “In Kentucky, over 2,000 people gathered at a rally opposing mountaintop removal mining picked up their cell phones and called Sen. McConnell to tell him to stop pushing Keystone XL. In New York City, dozens of people visited Sen. Schumer’s office and got him on the record opposing the pipeline. Petition deliveries also took place in Ohio, Maine, North Carolina, New Mexico, and elsewhere.”
Excellent news! Too bad the Repug legislators could care less what 800,000 Americans think if it happens to displease their sludge-bucket bank rollers in the oil & gas industry.
PANETTA AND FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA co-host the rollout of a report on “Strengthening Military Families” at the Pentagon at 3 p.m. A senior Pentagon official tells us that “Secretary Panetta insists that we continue to invest heavily in programs that support wounded warriors, troops returning from the front lines, and military families. The proposed defense budget makes clear that keeping the faith with the troops is a must. When it comes to wounded warriors, additional funding of more than $34 million over FY2012 has been added to enhance the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, which streamlines disability examinations and benefits across DOD and the VA. Psychological health programs, such as those addressing traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, have been significantly expanded. And for military families and their children, over 50 education facilities run by the Department are being replaced or modernized. These investments may not make the headlines, but they’re front-and-center for service members and their loved ones.”
Just treat yourselves to this piece of brilliance! Right now
Pass this along and share it with your email list, your friends and coworkers…..and Tweet it. Too bad that this common sense doesn’t happen in this Republican party anymore. I love these women.
http://margaretandhelen.com/2012/02/10/100000-gay-kids-secretly-watch-ellen/
Gingrich would outlaw all abortion with no exceptions. He signed the Republican candidate pledge which would give all human zygotes from the moment of conception the same rights and constitutional protections as human beings. He would oppose any legislative, judicial or bureaucratic efforts to define marriage as anything other than a relationship between a man and a woman… or in his case a man, a woman and another woman.
Santorum opposes all abortion including abortion for rape victims or for women who would die from continuing a pregnancy. He considers contraception “dangerous” and favors allowing the states to ban it altogether. According to Rick, gays are such second class citizens that they don’t deserve the privilege of marriage which is kind of odd considering those gay marriages reduce the number of abortions opting instead to adopt a lot of those unwanted kids.
Romney said Roe v. Wade should be reversed. He says he would support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. He would allow gays already married to remain married but would bar any new gay marriages. Those gay marriages are kind of like his view on abortion – at one time they were fine. Now they are not.
I absolutely love Margaret&Helen.
Me. too, symmetry:) I have to remember to check them periodically…they don’t have a new post everyday….I hate to miss out on what they have to say. Always spot on!
I’m glad that they are posting more frequently these days. Hopefully they will try to post at least once a week up through the election.
She’s on twitter now! @HelenPhilpot
Thanks, Tien! I will go over to follow.
So if a woman has just conceived and she gets arrested and her zygote hasn’t been arrested, does she have to be released after 48 hours? Does her zygote get a phone call? Can, once the zygote is born, sue for false-imprisonment? Just askin’.
re: the payroll tax reduction compromise…
the Repubs would rather increase the deficit than to have the wealthy pay their fair share…leading me to believe that do not care a with about deficit reduction…
amazing
They NEVER cared about the deficit!!!!!!!! Ever. They pretend to care.And only because PBO is there
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/13/michael-tomasky-on-gop-deficit-hypocrisy-at-release-of-obama-s-budget.html
And they will not raise taxes to eliminate the defense cuts.
prettyfoot58, if the good Lord gave the Republicans a choice between not raising taxes or Heaven, they would take not raising taxes.
hahahahaha…
Sho you right
Good Morning everyone….off today…doc appointment….check back in later…..everyone have a Footabulousssssss Day
What a bizarre ad!
Rick Santorum is a bizarre dude.
Bizarre is an understatement. Had to get the guns in there, though. This is what a commercial for low info voters looks like.
The fact that they quote Rush…is all you need to know as to the type of person this is geared to. It looks very unprofessional to me. Not at all worthy of anyone I would vote for to hold the highest office.
Ah yeah, loved the Rush quote
I honestly haven’t seen many worse ads in my time ….. and that’s quite a long time.
I like this ad. It’s funny and cute. It makes the message about how negative and monied Willard is. But it’s not negative or too heavy. I like it. Almost clean and wholesome ( as wholesome as a gun firing mud can be), not mean and ugly like Willard’s ads. Go on with your bad self, Ricky, show ‘em why they call you ‘The Santoruminator.’
It was probably the use the gun that turned me off most, and the kind of silly Willard-lookalike. And, of course, the Rush quote!
thats true, and it seems totally in character with Santorum no matter how religious he claims to be. the gun i suppose, was a little sum’n sum’n for his hard right wing base.
I hear you lisa but there is nothing funny about anyone pointing a gun AND firing it at a candidate especially after what happened with Gabrielle Giffords.
nothing Presidential about the ad at all.
i agree. sickening.
i can definitely understand that, nospin.
The Mittens Has No Clothes
by BooMan
Tue Feb 14th, 2012 at 10:17:53 PM EST
I’m from Pennsylvania. I know Rick Santorum’s weaknesses. I know he’s a terrible presidential candidate. But I simply no longer believe that he’s a worse presidential candidate than Mitt Romney. Compared to Romney, Santorum is more media-savvy, he gives better speeches, he’s a better debater, and he’s a better retail politician. Santorum can motivate the Republican base. He’s not connected to vulture capitalism. He didn’t tell Detroit to drop dead. His flip-flops are strictly minor league. He has higher favorability. His religion is an asset, not a liability. And he knows how to take a punch without getting decked. The big mistake everyone has been making (including me) is to think that Romney was more electable than Michele Bachmann. I don’t think he is. I think he’s exactly as electable as Michele Bachmann. What’s going on is that Republicans are realizing that Romney isn’t just a perfectly lubricated weather-vane. He’s a loser. He can’t beat Obama, so why not nominate Santorum instead?
Yeah, R Money has the cash to make a general election run and Santorum doesn’t. But that distinction doesn’t matter once you come to the realization that Romney is unelectable.
http://www.boomantribune.com/comments/2012/2/14/221753/601/0/post#here
Romney’s hard-to-fix ‘unfavorable’ problem
By Steve Benen – Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:51 AM EST.T
the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released last night, doesn’t offer much in the way of good news for Republicans. But for Mitt Romney, the results are especially discouraging.
Across the board, American attitudes are shifting in directions the GOP won’t like: President Obama’s approval rating is up; he leads all of his Republican rivals in hypothetical matchups; Americans are increasingly optimistic about the economy; and the GOP “enthusiasm” advantage has disappeared entirely. There are still plenty of potential pitfalls — Europe, Iran, gas prices — but the NYT/CBS results are no doubt welcome news at the White House.
And there’s the former Massachusetts governor. He’s lost his lead among Republicans to Rick Santorum, and more than 6 in 10 GOP voters wish there was someone else to support for the party’s presidential nomination.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/15/10414987-romneys-hard-to-fix-unfavorable-problem
Morning all, another great getting up day in “O-ville”!
BTW, anybody notice how quiet old Moanin’ Joke has been lately? He’s had to take a big old gulp of On the other hand Chuck is interviewing James Fallow from the Atlantic Magazine who really explains the PBO presidency. He says PBO maintains ‘no drama’ and has the ability to adapt and be ‘Mr. Reasonable’. He praises Valerie Jarrett and other staff. It sounds like it’s worth the read.
Oh well, the weather finally broke here today, after a few days of cold and dreary. I completed the ‘couch to 5K’ online training program, so off I go to get back on track toward a March/April 5K run….don’t want to embarrass myself during the race this spring. Barring any unforeseen old lady maladies, I should be back in time to catch PBO speaking in Wisc later.
s/b big old gulp of ‘uh oh’
i love how you said “O-ville!” yes O-ville it is and i’m a proud resident!
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/15/magazine/what-are-the-chances-for-republicans.html
Neat little toy
Welcome to my Home State, Mr. President!
Mayor Cory Booker remarks at the JJ Dinner in Colorado. It needs to be shared to all.
The power of the People is greater than the people in power.
Please, please SHARE.
Fixed the video link for you Sonjia, thanks so much for the recommendation, will watch it now.
Chips, thank you.
He is a master story teller.
He had me so fired up and ready to go I just had to share.
Never so fired up! Never so ready to go! Thank you Sonjia
Sonjia, I have to admit that when I first looked at the length of the Mayor Cory Booker video, my inclination was to take a pass. After having watched it, I am SO glad I did. Amazing, inspirational and strong. Could there be a more powerful surrogate extolling the grace, spirit and tenacity of PBO and “WE”?!
Thank you so much for posting this and I repeat your exhortation to “SHARE”.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/us-obama-jobs-manufacturing-idUSTRE81E0JP20120215
Reuters) – President Barack Obama takes his election-year economic message to the Midwestern heartland on Wednesday, touring a Wisconsin padlock factory and stressing the potential of “insourcing” jobs back to the United States from overseas.
The day after meeting China’s leader-in-waiting, Vice President Xi Jinping, at the White House, Obama was set to make the case for exploiting U.S. advantages over fast-growing economies where labor and business costs are rising.
In Milwaukee, best known as the home of Miller beer, he will visit the company Master Lock that he lauded in his State of the Union address last month for having moved back about 100 union jobs from China since mid-2010.
Master Lock, a unit of Fortune Brands Home & Security, is the world’s largest manufacturer of padlocks and related products to secure homes, cars and bicycles. It says its Milwaukee plant is running at full capacity for the first time in 15 years – an example the White House is eager to replicate as the November 6 election nears.
THE PLANT IS RUNNING AT FULL CAPACITY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 15 years!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing! WTH is Scott Walker going to say about THAT?? Hope PBO has a barf bag nearby. And a shower.
I love when PBO gets to get away from here (DC). He’s always fired up and refreshed amongst the people.
Good morning TOD.
WATCH LIVE: GOP leaders press conference @ 10 AM EST re: #ObamaBudgetFail, GOP plan #4jobs, & more speaker.gov/live
SpeakerBoehner Speaker John Boehner
Unacceptable: president’s budget zeroes out funding for successful DC Opportunity Scholarship Program j.mp/AjBL4X
??
Looks like he is having a news conference to trash the budget that he will never allow a vote on anyway.
Ah, okay, thanks.
Virginia’s Voter ID Bill A Solution In Search Of A Problem
Ryan J. Reilly February 15, 2012, 6:09 AM
There are no reports of anyone ever signing an affidavit claiming they were another person in order to vote in Virginia. But that isn’t stopping Republican Virginia Del. Mark Cole from pushing legislation that would prevent such a scheme from taking place.
His bill — which would make voters who lack an accepted form of identification cast provisional ballots — has passed the House. It’s raised the ire of Virginia Democrats who say it’s just one in a line of legislative measures proposed by Republicans in states across the country who are trying to suppress Democratic turnout.
But Cole told TPM this week that his legislation isn’t part of some grand conspiracy by, say, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). He said it’s a solution to a potential problem brought to his attention by members of a county election board.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/virginias_voter_id_bill_a_solution_in_search_of_a_problem.php?ref=fpb
Mitt or get off the pot
by DougJarvus Green-Ellis
I don’t care what the PPP polls show, a candidate who doesn’t think women should work won’t win a general election, no matter how principled, Burkean, populist a case he makes for an all-male workforce.
IMHO, Santorums’ female trouble may be so bad that it hurts him not just in the general but maybe even in the primary. Nevertheless, he’s probably right that the GOP is running out of fools, that’s it’s quarter-to-three, there’s no one in the place except Rick and Romney, that it’s time for some hot man-on-man action:……..
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/02/14/mitt-or-get-off-the-pot/
Well, maybe not quite the flu, more like his stomach is so tied up in ropes and boulders from guilt and wrong-doing, he hasn’t the courage to stand and face a President of Barack Obama’s caliber. That can feel like the flu, but it’s psychosomatic… Well, psycho anyway would be right!
Apologies for putting this in totally the WRONG place…. Must be in a hurry, as in I should be IN the car, stat.
There has been a change of plans in today’s meeting between President Obama, who is visiting Wisconsin to promote his economic policies, and the state’s conservative star Gov. Scott Walker.
Walker’s office has confirmed that due to a stomach flu, Walker will no longer accompany Obama on a tour of the local Master Lock factory, at which Obama is scheduled to speak in the afternoon.
Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie confirmed to TPM, however, that Walker still plans on greeting Obama on the tarmac at the Milwaukee airport.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/walker-nixes-factory-tour-with-obama-due-to-stomach-flu.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Get well soon Scottie
Ha !…
Translation : The employees at Maser Lock don’t want Scottie anywhere near the place.
I’m almost sad now that he won’t make it, I’d have given anything to hear the place erupt in boos when he appeared.
Lots of hand sanitizer Mr. President!
AH! The old “stomach flu” trick! Got it!
How convenient. He probably doesn’t want to get boo’ed like Jindal did when PBO visited LA back in 2009.
If he has the stomach flu, I don’t want him shaking our President’s hand or breathing on him. Ew.
Ha, me neither Tien Le – but if he has the stomach flu, I’m a Sarah Palin fan
Ha!
WHERE WERE THE FISCAL CONSERVATIVES WHEN GEORGE W. BUSH WAS PRESIDENT??
Here is a great comment from the TalkingPointsMemo item on budget deficits:
————————————————-
Frankly_my_dear
When Clinton left office the national debt was about $5 trillion and there was a budget surplus, not a deficit. For six years the Cheney administration ran a half-trillion dollar deficit each year (after they ran through the quarter of a trillion surplus that Clinton left in the treasury in the first year and a half). This added $3trillion to the national debt. In addition, they ran two lengthy and costly wars off the books (through budget supplements), which didn’t affect the deficit but added another $1.5 trillion to the national debt. In short, the Cheney administration essentially doubled the national debt in six years, while running a constant deficit.
Their mantra through all this was “deficits don’t matter”. Essentially, they spent the country to the verge of bankruptcy, maxed out the credit card, and brought the economy to a standstill. Once they were turned out of office, suddenly deficits became the most important thing in the world and the size of the national debt a harbinger of doom. Where were all these “fiscal conservatives” who have suddenly burst upon the scene decrying deficits and debt when Cheney was spending the country into ruin?
————————————————
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/chart-dont-buy-gop-hype-on-obama-budget-deficits.php?ref=fpa
GOP were a bunch of low life lunatics lying losers.
Morning/Afternoon Chipsticks and TOD Family
Hope you all had a beautiful Valentines on Tuesday and are having a great mid-week so far!!
HOEKSTRA GETS HIS JUST DESSERTS
Xenophobic ad backfires on Michigan’s Hoekstra
By Steve Benen
===========================
Most voters in the state are familiar with the campaign commercial, and by a three-to-one margin, they don’t like it. Hoekstra crossed a line and Michigan’s mainstream was understandably offended.
What’s more, as Dave Weigel noted, “The dumb ad and the backlash sent powerful Republicans into meditative states, wondering if they should back other candidates…. The China ad did him no favors with conservatives while spooking the establishment.”
===========================
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/15/10415351-xenophobic-ad-backfires-on-michigans-hoekstra
PBO is on his way to Andrews AF Base. I heard Marine one flying over my building.
Wishing him a safe and productive trip.
So cool college kay!
He’s coming to visit me on Friday! Watch for it! (don’t I wish?
Oil prices going back up. This will deflate the Economy!
Big oil sucks!
It seems to go up every spring/summer.
It sure does. They know people are going to start traveling so they jack up the prices just to be greedy jerks.
There is some concern over Iran, which is part of the problem and points to why there should not be speculation in oil. Back in the good old days, the OPEC oil ministers set the price for oil.That doesn’t happen any more. In fact, the oil ministers of many OPEC countries have come out and said there is no problem with supply and there is no real reason the the rise in prices.
One other factor is that many states have legal requirements for special types of gasoline to be used in metropiltan areas (actually, I think this is the EPA that does this) to cut down on pollution in warmer weather. This also adds to the price in the Spring and Summer.
The speculators/traders are causing the price increase, but big oil and OPEC benefit. There is great liquity in the world economy, but it is not going into productive projects because companies are not investing and banks are not lending. Therefore the money is being used to speculate in the stock, bond, and commodity markets.
THIS! Plus Big Oil is exporting more gasoline than selling it locally. There has not been a reduction in production here….whatever they produce here in the USA is being exported because China and India are also power consumers. Plus some of it is the market is shaky over Iran but that’s been the case for the past eight yrs.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal prosecutors want a former Massey Energy security chief to spend 25 years in jail for lying to investigators and trying to destroy evidence in the probe of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin argued in a court filing that Hughie Elbert Stover’s actions played a major role in causing the April 5, 2010, explosion that killed 29 coal miners.
In a seven-page sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday, prosecutors said the miners died “in part” because of a system of inspection warnings Stover helped to coordinate. They said Stover later “acted to sabotage” the largest mine disaster probe in a generation.
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201202140248
Those two Maddow segments show just how good she is when she is at the top of her game. Her ability to be sarcastic without being snide is wonderful. And thias is why I can’t really get on the Maddow bashing bandwagon when she occassionally gets critical of the President. She at least, and more of the media left are doing this now, was always willing to give the President credit for things he did do. She had a great segment, I think in 2010, listing all the accomplishments of the adminsitration and has consistently pointed out the of opposition he has had to face.
Even more, in a way, is that she has not only acknowledged when she was wrong (DADT for example) but has actually said she was sorry she doubted the President.
There are those on the left that never give the President any credit and even downplay positive achievements by saying they were not good enough, even to the point of saying doing nothing would have been better (HCR for example). I have no problem with bashing those folks.
But to go after somebody who is generally supportive of the President for occassionally being critical of him, or not being effusive enough with their praise of him is, I think, asking for a level of ideological purity that we condemn in both the far left and the right.
Another example is Ed Schultz. I do think he was overboard in his criticism of the President and telling people not to vote in 2010. I do think he has come around though. Sure, he still says what he thinks the President should say, but a lot of people do that. Heck, there was a bunch of that here last week when he was going to announce a “compromise” on the BC policy.
My point is that people like Rachel or Ed are our allies in this struggle. Sure we may not like everything they say, but they have the same goals we have. Others, like Cenk and Olberman, no longer are our allies. They can be bashed all we want. So let’s make sure we recognize when our allies do something we like and disagree with them when they don’t, but not discard them.
I understand what you are saying but I just can’t with Maddow after she said that PBO was against the NY gay marriage law on NATIONAL FREAKING TELEVISION when that was the biggest bold faced lie EVER! Did she ever apologize for that. Those kind of comments are what lead to that horrendously racist NY Mag photo of PBO “evolving” from ape to man with a rainbow flag.
Shultz telling people is also biggest FAIL ever! I can’t with them. I’m willing to forgive some things but I’ll never be able to forgive that especially since I’m a Florida resident.
Whoops. I meant telling people not to vote.
February 14, 2012
Romney’s “base” problem
Peter Beinart ponders Mitt Romney’s “base” problem:
[W]hile reviving the economy may be the issue that Americans care about most, it’s not the one that the Republican base cares about most. For conservative activists, the 2012 election isn’t fundamentally about jobs [Romney's presumed speciality], it’s about freedom. The essential question is not how best to use government to restore economic growth. It is how best to keep government from destroying liberty.
Beinart wisely abstains from any precise, definitional battle over “freedom”; his point, rather, and rather simply, is that Romney’s calling card of “pragmatic businessman” has failed to catch fire with the already feiry base, yet that card is about all that Romney has to offer. Beinart’s argument is by itself inarguable, I think. Still, I also think Romney’s problem goes deeper (or perhaps I should say more shallow) than that.
Which is to say, by contrast. Beinart notes Romney’s competitors who, by turn and interchangeably, have caught fire with the base — “From Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul to Newt Gingrich to Rick Santorum” — and Beinart leaves it to the last of these to summarize their “passion.” Here’s Santorum, from last week:
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2012/02/romneys-base-problem.html
Whatever Scott! You are suchhhhhhhhhh a weasel. Coward can’t even face PBO.
Walker’s a BIG chicken…bwack,bwack,bwack! Walker will get his tarmac photo op….just couldn’t handle the real test of truly facing those whose lives his policies diminish and threaten. The contrast between President Barack Obama and Governor Walker is blinding. I never thought Walker had the courage to go through with the appearance at Master Lock. Seems my instincts were right.
Yup – the GOP love calling union workers “thugs” and “union bosses” and accusing them of nearly illegal activity. They love calling the President “un-American”, and accusing him of crony capitalism – among other things. But, they’re essentially cowards. They say these things in the comfort of their Klan meetings, but when faced with the people or the President, they reveal their true colours. Well, I can’t wait to see Santorum or Romney come face to face with President Obama. Let’s see if they also come down with the “stomach flu”.
Walker – it’s not actually stomach flu. It’s just a weak stomach at the thought of facing President Obama and your constituents.
The Republican War on Women keeps getting worse.
Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, and it’s been reauthorized without a hitch twice since then. Now that it’s up for reauthorization again, however, Senate Republicans have suddenly decided to use it as part of an anti-gay and anti-immigrant crusade. Every single Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against reauthorization, with Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) taking the lead against the bill:
The objections, led by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and a few conservative organizations, are not over the VAWA as a whole, but over a few new provisions in the reauthorization — specifically, protections for LGBT individuals, undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse and the authority of Native American tribes to prosecute crimes.
http://thinkprogress.org/
Ah, you beat me to it Jovie!!
Does this mean he is replacing DWS or is this something different.
He is for the convention only
Democratic Women Slam GOP’s Radical Contraception Amendment, Claim It ‘Opens Door To Discrimination’
Today, the Senate will hold a vote on a Republican substitute introduced by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), which would allow any and all insurers and employers to deny their employees health benefits and services required by federal law based on their personal religious or moral objections. The measure has 37 co-sponsors — including the GOP leadership, women Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski (AK), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Kelly Ayotte (NH), Democrat Ben Nelson (NE), and Republican Scott Brown (MA). Brown has supported expansive conscience protections for religious organizations throughout his legislative career, but voted for a tougher contraception mandate as a Massachusetts state representative in 2002 and approved of a law requiring all hospitals — including Catholic institutions — to provide emergency contraception to rape victims in 2005.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/02/15/425326/democrat-women-slam-gops-radical-contraception-amendment-claim-it-opens-door-to-discrimination/
Italian prosecutors in Milan have asked for former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to be sentenced to five years in jail on bribery charges.
He is accused of paying British lawyer David Mills $600,000 (£382,000) to lie about his business interests.
But the case has run on for so long that Mr Berlusconi, 75, is unlikely to go to jail even if found guilty.
He is also on trial separately for tax fraud and alleged sex with an underage prostitute.
A case is also due to start on 15 March where Mr Berlusconi is charged with revealing confidential information over a 2005 banking scandal. In all cases he says he is innocent.
“It is certain, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the defendant is guilty,” prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale told a Milan court on Wednesday. He also accused Mr Berlusconi’s defence of being entirely “based on false documents”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-europe-17045357
Aretha Franklin pays tribute to Whitney Houston:
New post everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/02/15/next-stop-wisconsin/
President Obama will have a major slot to fill at the World Bank this summer, with the institution’s current president Robert Zoellick announcing Wednesday that he’s stepping down on June 30th at the end of his five-year term.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary and ex-Obama economic adviser, have been floated as candidates for the post, according to a recent Bloomberg report. The job does not require Senate confirmation.
The Washington, D.C.-based organization—which loans billions of dollars to developing countries—has been a plum assignment for political insiders since its creation after the end of World War II. The most recent presidents both hailed from the administration of George W. Bush. Zoellick, the former deputy secretary of State, replaced Paul Wolfowitz in 2007.
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3,2,1… Republican freakout!
They can freak out as much as they want. The beauty is that they don’t get a say here – no confirmation required.
Sonjia, thank you for the video of Mayor Cory Booker. I just love to hear him speak. I love his style of story telling and almost preaching. What a proud young man with strong family values. I cas see why they sent hi to Colorado. He touched all bases and left no stone unturned.
I don’t understand how he would allow Bill Maher in his circle of friends. Mayor Booker is much funnier than he his! Maybe he is hanging around to learn something..
The speech was is really good.
Riyah, what can I say about the Queen of Soul. Whitney’s godmother took the audience to church as she escorted her through the gates of heaven with her tribute to her on stage. No one does it like ReRe! She still can bring the house up on their feet with just her old school songs. And she will remake someone else’s song sound totally her own. Now, that’s sanging……..some people sing,but Aretha……snags. Thank you for sharing that with us.