calling cincinnati

Interview with Carol Williams, anchor at WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, February 16

scout leader

President Barack Obama meets with members of the Boy Scouts of America in the Oval Office, Feb. 16, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

hand to hand

President Obama steps off of the stage to shake hands with members of the audience in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 16, after speaking about America’s Great Outdoors initiative

‘fed substantially upgrades growth forecasts for 2011’

NYT: The Federal Reserve revealed Wednesday that its policy makers had substantially upgraded their forecasts for how much the United States economy will grow this year, even though they expect that unemployment will remain painfully high for some time.

The core projections of top Fed officials now call for growth of 3.4 percent to 3.9 percent this year, up from the previous forecast of 3 percent to 3.6 percent, released in November. But the grim outlook for the job market was largely unchanged; Fed officials expect unemployment to be 8.8 percent to 9 percent this year, only slightly less than the November estimate of 8.9 percent to 9.1 percent.

Growth expectations were lifted by an improvement in consumer spending in the fourth quarter…

Full article here

race to the top

debut

The White House’s new Press Secretary Jay Carney arrives to give his first press briefing, February 16

Full press briefing:

the party of no alternative

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff, react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as the House passes the health care reform bill, March 21, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Jonathan Cohn (Senior Editor of The New Republic): Conservatives and Republicans had a lot to say about the budget President Barack Obama released on Monday. None of it was good. The budget doesn’t do enough to stabilize federal finances, they said. And it doesn’t do enough to slow rising health care costs.

…But for all of those critics out there, furious that Obama hasn’t proposed a more fiscally responsible budget, I have a question: Do you have an alternative? More specifically, do you have an alternative that would both slow federal health care spending and be politically viable? The answer, I think, is no.

…The health law does more than simply create or expand government programs. It cuts wasteful spending, such as subsidies to private insurance companies. It also raises some taxes. Put it all together and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the program actually generates more money than it would spend. Repeal it and the government’s bottom line actually gets a little worse.

….Remember, the government’s health care costs were out of control before the health reform debate even began. That’s why the overhaul starts up so many initiatives that attempt to improve the efficiency of medical care, making it possible to reduce costs without reducing care. Some will work, some won’t. But the only way to find out is to try them. If lawmakers repeal the measure, those experiments will stop – and we’ll be right back where we started.

Of course, conservatives and Republicans sometimes vow to repeal “and replace” the health law … it generally means enacting a hodge-podge of familiar conservative initiatives… no serious economist believes these steps will, by themselves, substantially slow down health care spending either for the government or for society as a whole…..

….the conservative alternatives don’t offer better guarantees. In fact, the promises they make are far more illusory.

Full article here

clickety click

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excellent!

Motown is coming to the White House… President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will honor Black History Month by inviting a group of music legends and other artists to the White House for “The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House.”

The concert, scheduled for Feb. 24, will feature performances by Smokey Robinson, Natasha Bedingfield, Sheryl Crow, Jamie Foxx, Gloriana, Nick Jonas, Ledisi, John Legend, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Seal and Jordin Sparks.

Greg Phillinganes will serve as the evening’s music director. The concert will air on PBS stations on March 1.

A year ago:

coming up

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney listens as President Barack Obama speaks to the media, February 15 – Carney makes his press briefing debut today

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