The Obama Diary

Random old pic – Pete Souza: “Following remarks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the fiscal cliff negotiations, the President greets a couple of OMB workers as he walked back across on West Executive Avenue as he walked back to the West Wing of the White House. He gave them an elbow-bump, because he had just put Purell on his hands.” (Photo by Pete Souza, Dec. 31, 2012)

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Sunday: The President has no public events scheduled

Monday: Will participate in an Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony at the White House

Will spend the rest of the week in Washington, DC and attend meetings at the White House

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A word from Bobfr:

Letter sent to PBO and VP Biden ….

Dear Mr President,

300+ million guns in the possession of folk in America is way beyond the proverbial ‘horse has left the barn.’ It would be great to ban anyone other than the military & police organizations from owning semi-automatic weapons, but I think you have a much more pragmatic way of addressing that issue and several other gun violence significant challenges.

You and your legal advisers are way more sophisticated than I ever will be so please forgive if you’ve already considered the following.

1. Focus on the ‘well regulated’ clause of the 2nd Amendment and leverage it to issue and enforce substantial reforms via Executive Order – i.e., use the law of the land to maximum extent rather than rely on new legislation (for all the reasons we know how intractable that path currently is);

2. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as every gun being registered and accounted for at all times;

3. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as each person in possession of a gun is properly trained, certified, licensed, free of any criminal record, & insured for liability for unintended or illegal harm they might cause;

4. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as any person owning more than one gun was properly trained, certified and licensed for EACH gun and that their liability insurance covered EACH gun;

5. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as ensuring that each gun owner had their certification and license to possess every gun they own be renewed on an annual basis;

6. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as an accounting of every round of ammunition (as well as the equipment and components for assembling ammunition) a licensed gun owner purchased with limits set on the frequency of purchase no less stringent than the purchase of ‘Sudafed’;

7. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as any violation of the use of a gun, any conviction for DUI, any conviction for assault of any form, any conviction for use of illegal drugs, and any conviction for any form of violent threat or crime automatically results in confiscation of any gun, ammunition, etc., in possession of the offender.

These pragmatic steps do not infringe on ‘2nd Amendment’ rights. These pragmatic steps do not require anyone to surrender whatever type of gun they have.

These pragmatic steps require any person in possession of one or more guns to prove they are properly trained, licensed and insured – requirements no more onerous than those drivers of automobiles, operators of a vast range of equipment, school bus drivers, etc., must adhere.

All those other activities do not have as their intended consequence killing. Only a gun has that intended consequence.

So, it is merely reasonable that the operator of a gun meet at least as rigorous a set of training, license and insurance responsibilities given that that device has ONLY ONE intended outcome – DEATH.

Thank you

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NYT: President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week.

Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats will propose the changes in one comprehensive bill, the officials said, resisting efforts by some Republicans to break the overhaul into smaller pieces — separately addressing young illegal immigrants, migrant farmworkers or highly skilled foreigners — which might be easier for reluctant members of their party to accept.

Full article here

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NYT: As lawmakers take to the Sunday shows to express their opinions on President Obama’s cabinet nominations, Colin L. Powell, the retired general and former secretary of state, will join NBC’s “Meet the Press” to voice his support for Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense.

NBC will also feature a roundtable discussion of Washington’s next debates on the debt ceiling and more with Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark and Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor.

—-> Senator John McCain and Senator Joe Manchin will appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation” to share their views on Mr. Obama’s national security picks…..

More here

Meet the Press: Colin Powell, Cory Booker, Haley Barbour, Mike Murphy, Andrea Mitchell

Face the Nation: John McCain, Joe Manchin, Stanley McChrystal, Antonio Villaraigosa, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, John Dickerson, Amy Walter

This Week: Jack Reed, Bob Corker, Richard Haass, Martha Raddatz, Joe Manchin, Jon Huntsman, Al Hunt, Paul Krugman, Peggy Noonan, David Walker, Judy Woodruff

State of the Union: David Keene, Chris Murphy, Joe Manchin, Jon Huntsman, Elijah Cummings, Marsha Blackburn, Jeff Zeleny, Michael Scherer

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MoooOOOoooOOOOoorning!