west | The Obama Diary

Posts Tagged ‘west

Jun

Rise and Shine

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and West Wing Week
Tags: Barack, bill, Bob, cesca, Clinton, education, father, gop, harry, hook, immigration, Michelle, Obama, on, photos, President, reid, Sandy, suicide, syria, videos, war, week, west, wing, women, zandar

A Year Ago: First Lady Michelle Obama waits to greet President Barack Obama upon his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport, June 14, 2012. (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Today:

11:30: The President hosts a Father’s Day Luncheon

12:30: Press Briefing by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest

2:45: The President welcomes the WNBA Champion Indiana Fever to the White House

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The Guardian: Families of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, will mark the six-month anniversary of the tragedy on Friday by launching a nationwide bus tour designed to step up political pressure on the US senators who voted against the bill to toughen America’s gun laws.

Relatives of the 20 young children and six carers who were killed by a lone shooter on 14 December will begin the tour in Newtown under the banner “No More Names”. The campaign, launched by the national coalition to reduce gun violence, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, will last for 100 days and take in 25 states.

More here

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BooMan: …. when Bill Clinton compares the situation in Syria to the situation he faced in Kosovo, he’s making one of the stupidest statements that I have ever heard from him.

…. For Clinton to appear with John McCain and make comments like this is a perfect vindication of my total opposition to his wife’s candidacy for president. We cannot afford more leadership from people who think about American power in this way…..

This is what we gained when we won the presidency for Obama. A cool head.

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May

This and That

By Chipsticks 180 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos, Articles and West Wing Week
Tags: Audubon, Bachmann, bash, Benghazi, Biden, Brazil, change, climate, cnn, dan, dana, donilon, eric, exon, Fox, holder, john, kidnappers, mccain, Michele, mobil, Obama, obamacare, ofa, onion, photo, poll, President, quayle, scandals, society, syria, the, tom, toons, Twitter, vp, week, west, wing

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Media Matters: CNN Botches Key Facts In Holder Story

Reporting that House Republicans are investigating whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress during his recent testimony about Justice Department seizures of communications records in connection with a national security leak investigation, CNN’s Dana Bash misstated key facts of the controversy. In so doing, CNN helped bolster the hollow claims of Republicans – wildly hyped by Fox News – that Holder may have perjured himself….

More here

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OMG, POTATOE! “@theobamadiary: ..do you think Fox are struggling to find serious people to discuss Holder-gate™? twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/…”

— Lola Haag (@ojailola) May 30, 2013

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@theobamadiary But it’s EXCLUSIVE!!!

— BWD (@theonlyadult) May 30, 2013

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Greg Sargent: A new Quinnipiac poll finds that an overwhelming majority of Americans – 73-22 – thinks we should be placing a higher priority on the economy and unemployment than on the “scandals” gripping Washington. That includes 72 percent of independents, who are critical in midterm elections. At the same time, a variety of indicators, from rising home prices to buoyed consumer confidence to falling gas prices, suggest that the economy is improving at a stronger clip than previously anticipated.

If the recovery is strong next year, it could help Dems hold the Senate….

More here

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TPM: The White House has received more than 120 applications from health insurance plans looking to sell on the new federal health care exchange …. The success of the Affordable Care Act partially hinges on competition in order to keep premiums low, and, according to the memo, “the early signs are promising and demonstrate a significant increase in competition and an array of options for consumers everywhere.”

One out of four insurers that have applied to sell insurance in the marketplace is new to the individual insurance market and at least one new provider has been added in 75 percent of states with a federally run marketplace…..

More here

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Quote of the week? Century?

“What good is it to save the planet if humanity suffers?”

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson at the oil giant’s annual meeting, Wednesday.

See Steve Benen

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“I don’t have much patience for people who deny climate change.” —President Obama

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 30, 2013

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Jonathan Chait: Pete Wehner, former Minister of Propaganda for the Bush administration, sees the excitement of the Obama scandals receding, and he knows just how to explain this. Not a lack of evidence to date that anybody in the administration has done anything wrong. It’s media bias ….. Yeah, that sounds right….

Full post here

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USA Today: The pro-Obama group Organizing for Action will hold 39 “founders events” across the country this weekend as part of an effort to build separate state chapters.

“OFA supporters, volunteers, campaign alumni and donors will come together to discuss what OFA has already accomplished as well as our goals and the path forward,” said an announcement from the group….

The Illinois State Founders Summit will be held Friday and Saturday in Obama’s hometown of Chicago, and will feature remarks by OFA Chairman Jim Messina and Executive Director Jon Carson.

They plan to discuss “how OFA plans how to continue to ensure the American people’s voices are heard by lawmakers as we fight to tip the scales of power back to the American people and away from the special interests to advance the issues the American people voted for in November,” said the statement.

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Oh dear:

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May

West Wing Week: “I Dare You to Do Better”

By Chipsticks 209 Comments

Categories: All Videos and West Wing Week
Tags: week, west, wing

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Next up:

2:40: The President delivers a statement on the Affordable Care Act

3:15 (changed from 1:45): Jay Carney briefs the press

White House live

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Chat away!

May

Rise and Shine

By Chipsticks 171 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and West Wing Week
Tags: gun, Ireland, jobs, Mexico, Michelle, nra, Obama, President, report, videos, Violence, week, west, wing

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All times Eastern:

10:15 AM: The President delivers remarks at the Anthropology Museum, Mexico City (White House live)

10:30: VP Biden and Sec of State Kerry deliver remarks at the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) Memorial Plaque Ceremony at the State Department (White House live)

12:25: President Obama meets with Mexican entrepreneurs

1:25: Departs Mexico City

4:0: Arrives San Jose, Costa Rica

4:35: Meets and greets with United States Embassy personnel

5:40: The President and President Chinchilla hold a bilateral meeting

6:30: The President and President Chinchilla hold a cultural event with Costa Rican youth

7:15: Press conference

7:30: VP Biden speaks at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s 2013 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner (C-Span)

7:35: President Obama participates in a photo with Central American Integration System leaders

9:0: Central American Integration System leaders meet for a working dinner

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Bloomberg: Employment picked up more than forecast in April and the jobless rate unexpectedly declined to a four-year low of 7.5 percent, showing the early stages of government budget cuts failed to destabilize the U.S. labor market.

Payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers last month following a revised 138,000 increase in March that was larger than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 90 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 140,000 gain. Revisions to the prior two months’ reports added a total of 114,000 jobs to the employment count in February and March.

More here

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A snapshot of U.S. job creation in 2013: 165K jobs added in April; 138K in March; 332K in Feb.; 148K in Jan. on.mktw.net/16yqBcq

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) May 3, 2013

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Steve Benen: After the discouraging jobs report a month ago, many were eager to see the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning to see whether the jobs market would bounce back or continue to deteriorate.

For now, it looks like the former. The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in April, more than expected, and overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%, its lowest point in four-and-a-half years. As is usually the case, there was a gap between the two major sectors – America’s private sector added 176,000 jobs last month, while spending cuts caused the public sector lose 11,000 jobs.

…. February was revised up from 268,000 jobs to 332,000, making it the single best month for job creation since 2005 (excluding temporary Census hiring). March was also revised up, from 88,000 to 138,000. In other words, as of this morning’s report, the previous two months added an additional 114,000 jobs we didn’t previously know about.

More here

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QUICK. Find bad news. RT @jimpethokoukis: Breaking: US April Jobs Report: 165,000 net new payrolls; 7.5% U-3 unemployment rate

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) May 3, 2013

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Good thing Detroit did not go bankrupt. American Auto Industry Has Best Performance in 20 Years bloom.bg/1047AX0 via @bloombergnews

— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) May 2, 2013

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Apr