the real world

President Obama delivers a statement to the press on tax cuts and unemployment insurance in the White House, Dec 6

President Obama announced Monday that he reached a “framework” of a deal with Republicans over extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich for two years in exchange for an extension of unemployment insurance and other tax credits.

“There are things in here that I don’t like, namely the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and the wealthiest estates,” he said.

Obama chastised liberals who he said would rather have the Bush cuts expire at the end of the year than compromise, calling on them to legislate for working families instead of waging symbolic fights in Washington.

“As sympathetic as I am to those who prefer a fight over compromise, as much as the political wisdom may dictate fighting over solving problems, it would be the wrong thing to do,” he said.

a sputnik moment

President Obama talks about the role innovation and education can play in stimulating the economy and creating new jobs and calls on Congress to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans as well as unemployment insurance during a visit to Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, NC. December 6

man in a hurry

President Barack Obama jogs across the tarmac to shakes hands with people gathered to watch his arrival on Air Force One at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C., Dec. 6, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

that’s rich

Loved this response from Andrew Sullivan to Frank Rich’s rant in the NYT:

Mr President, Ignore Frank Rich Please

(Rich: “No one expects Obama to imitate Chris Christie’s in-your-face, bull-in-the-china-shop shtick. But they have waited in vain for him to stand firm on what matters to him and to the country rather than forever attempting to turn non-argumentative reasonableness into its own virtuous reward.”)

Sullivan: “This strikes me as grotesquely unfair. I sure know what matters to the president, and a brief survey of his first two years would reveal it rather baldly. “Non-argumentative reasonableness” so far has prevented a second great depression, rescued Detroit, bailed out the banks, pitlessly isolated Tehran’s regime, exposed Netanyahu, decimated al Qaeda’s mid-level leadership in Pakistan and Afghanistan, withdrawn troops from Iraq on schedule, gotten two Justices on the Supreme Court, cut a point or two off the unemployment rate with the stimulus, seen real wages for those employed grow, presided over a stock market boom and record corporate profits, and maneuvered a GOP still intoxicated with failed ideology to become more and more wedded to white, old evangelicals led by Sarah Palin. And did I mention universal health insurance – the holy grail for Democrats for decades?

Ah, yes: Obama’s restraint has been such a disaster, hasn’t it?”

Full article here

thank you

President Barack Obama speaks to a U.S. Marine after stepping off Marine One to board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, December 6

happy christmas, president o’bama

Shepard Fairey’s poster of Barack Obama is decorated with a white ‘Father Christmas’ beard and eyebrows in a cafe on Wexford Street, Dublin, Ireland December 6

“what’s that tiny speck?” “that’s the gop’s integrity, mr president”

President Barack Obama looks through a microscope during his tour the Bio-technology program at Forsyth Tech Community College in Winston-Salem, N.C., Dec. 6

the president’s base is collapsing! oh, wait

Obama ‘core’ coalition hardly ‘shattered’

NBC: While some think President Obama’s “core” coalition “has been shattered,” here are some numbers from our latest NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll that looks at Obama’s approval among some of those “core” groups:

– Blacks: 90% approve/6% disapprove
– Democrats: 82/12
– Liberals: 79/16
– Latinos: 56/33
– Post grads: 56/41
–  18-29: 53/38
– Women: 52/43

…….As Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducts the NBC/WSJ poll with Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, said after the poll, “It’s a reminder again … for a guy who took a shellacking, he’s got a pretty strong core pulse.” He cited Obama’s strong support among a core constituency of younger women, blacks, Latinos, young voters, voters in the West, and under-30 urban moderates. “This is a president that retains political standing,” he added.

greetings greensboro

President Barack Obama meet supporters at Greensboro airport, North Carolina, December 6

president leaves (ho, ho) for nc

President Barack Obama departs the White House en route to deliver remarks regarding the economy to workers at Forsyth Technical Community College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina on December 6

Live coverage of the President’s remarks at 12:20 PM EST – here