night everyone

President Barack Obama has lunch with Toledo Mayor Michael Bell at Rudy’s Hot Dog in Toledo, Ohio, June 3, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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The fundraising target for Obama/Biden 2012 at this blog’s page on BarackObama.com was originally $1,000, but you very lovely people reached that target in no time at all. So, I nudged it up to $1,500 – and you reached that today. I can’t keep up with ya! Thank you so much.

Okay, I’ve nudged it up to $2,000, so if you ever have a spare $10 it would be completely great if you could donate (not necessarily through The Obama Diary page – any way at all). Link here (or click the 2012 image on the top of the sidebar on the right). Thank you all again, you’re great.

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See you tomorrow 😉

quantico

First lady Michelle Obama poses with graduates after commencement ceremonies for the Quantico Middle/High School on the Quantico Marine Base, June 3

‘republicans continue to be their own worst enemy’

Harold Meyerson (Washington Post): If you think it is Rep. Paul Ryan’s gutting of Medicare that is pulling the Republicans down, you need to think bigger … his proposal to convert Medicare into a private insurance-voucher plan is indeed a political calamity for the GOP, as the results of last week’s congressional special election in Upstate New York showed. But it’s far from the only disaster that the party has visited upon itself.

For even as Republicans have imperiled themselves on the national level, they also seem to be committing political hara-kiri in one statehouse after the next. Republican governors who took office this year or last – the ones as determined as Ryan to do a wholesale rewrite of America’s social contract – have approval ratings that we normally associate with strains of bacteria. What’s more, they’re tanking in many of the swing states that will be key in next year’s presidential election.

In Florida, only 29 percent of voters approve of Gov. Rick Scott’s five-month tenure in office …  In Wisconsin, Scott Walker would now lose in a recall election to either of two Democrats: former senator Russ Feingold and former Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett….Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s approval rating is a bargain-basement 33 percent, while his disapproval rating had risen to 56 percent….And so it goes in state after state. In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder had a 33 percent approval rating, against a 60 percent disapproval rating … Gov. Chris Christie’s favorables had slumped to 40 percent, while his unfavorables had risen to 60 percent.

….the Democratic governors of the nation’s two biggest blue states – California’s Jerry Brown and New York’s Andrew Cuomo – both have approval ratings higher than their disapprovals….

But the Republican governors – like Ryan and his fellow Republicans in Congress – have pursued a more radical course that sharply disadvantages most Americans. Even worse, they have sought to enact their agendas without warning their constituents. Republicans did not run last year on a platform of ending collective bargaining, slashing school budgets and gutting Medicare – in essence, favoring society’s most powerful at the expense of everyone else – yet that’s precisely what they’ve done since gaining power. That’s not merely bad policy; it’s bad faith – and bad news for Republicans’ electoral prospects.

Full article here

cue another flip-flop

Reuters: …Mitt Romney broke with Republican orthodoxy on Friday by saying he believes that humans are responsible, at least to some extent, for climate change. “I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that,” he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire. “It’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors.”

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I was, eh, curious to see how Romney’s comments would go down with the Teabagger half-termer-worshiping climate change deniers (you know, those really bright people), so I visited one of their sites …. here’s a taster:

I love it when a rino nails his own coffin shut ….. RomneyCare and now a global warming believer /facepalm ….. Just quit Mitt …. Say “Goodnight” ….. Oh brother. That crowd of 200 will become 2. Buh Bye Romney what an idiot ….. So long, Mitt ….. Dear Mr. Romney – Cut it short now, save your money. You will NEVER be elected by Republicans if you buy that GW hooey ….. Romney will not make it past the first set of primaries ….. Yet another reason not to support this clown …. Nice of him to make it even clearer how stupid and liberal he is ….. Can this guy get any more disgusting? ….. I’ve never seen an entire campaign last only 24 hours. That was fun …. I will never, ever vote for someone who thinks man-made global warming is a reality …. No way in hell will I pull the lever for him. I’ll stay home first!

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So, that went well.

Expect another Mitt flip-flop any second soon.

“gop response to jobs report: the earth is flat and 2 + 2 = 5”

Andrew Leonard (Salon): ….House Republicans pinned the blame for Friday’s disappointing jobs report squarely on the White House, saying the Obama administration’s “over-taxing, over-regulating and over-spending” has stifled economic growth. “One look at the jobs report should be enough to show the White House it’s time to get serious about cutting spending and dealing with our ailing economy,” Speaker John Boehner said.

How many blatant untruths can a Republican speaker of the House stuff into one sentence? Quite a few!

1) President Obama has cut taxes. His stimulus bill included tax cuts for 95 percent of all American working families. He signed off on the extension of the Bush tax cuts, while throwing in a new payroll tax cut for good measure.

2) Over-regulating? …Let’s just take a look at the two sectors of the economy that we might expect to have been affected by the two biggest signature pieces of legislation signed into law by Obama – the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank bank reform act … the healthcare sector has averaged 24,000 news jobs a month over the past year – and accounted for almost a third of May’s overall 54,000 gain. Meanwhile, Wall Street had its fourth most profitable year ever in 2010. If that’s over-regulation, we need more of it!

3) Private economic forecasters … generally agree that without Obama’s stimulus spending, unemployment would be higher.

We could raise other issues. We could ask: What changed between May and the previous six months in which job growth was relatively strong? But that would require examining actual facts about what is going on the world, like Japan’s recession or high gas prices or declining government spending, particularly at the state level.

More here

put that in your pipe and smoke it

The Boston Globe: The head of Fiat-Chrysler said today that Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney must have been “smoking illegal material” when he argued in 2008 that the US auto industry could be resurrected without federal financial assistance.

During an interview with CNN, Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler, said government support was pivotal.

The comment contrasted with a 2008 op-ed column in which Romney urged the federal government not to provide an industry bailout but instead force automakers into a “managed bankruptcy.”

Marchionne told CNN: “Whoever told you that is smoking illegal material. That market had become absolutely dysfunctional in 2008 and 2009. There were attempts made by a variety of people to find strategic alliances with other car makers on a global scale and the government stepped in, as the actor of last resort. It had to do it because the consequences would have been just too large to deal with.”

professional left embarrasses itself ….. again

President Obama signs the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, Dec. 22, 2010

There was mass ‘Obama-bashing’ hysteria on a number of professional left-infested sites today after the news that the secretary of the Air Force had approved a discharge under the military’s ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on April 29 of this year. “The discharge, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman, is the only such discharge since the Pentagon last October directed that DADT discharges would require the approval of the service branch secretary.”

So, we got ‘Obama is a homophobe!’ all over again.

But?

Stripes.com: “….service officials emphasized the move came at the request of the airman, who requested to be released from military service despite the imminent repeal of the law banning openly gay troops … the individual was informed of the current status of the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ and he reaffirmed that he desired his separation action be expeditiously processed.”

….In a statement, Alexander Nicholson, executive director of the gay rights group Servicemembers United, said the incident “appears to be a classic case of someone simply trying to use ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ … to get out of his service obligation.”

…Pentagon officials confirmed that since those rules went into effect on Oct. 21, this airman is the only person dismissed from the military because of sexual orientation.

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Steve Benen: By all appearances, this airman, for whatever reason, simply wanted out of the military. He was offered a chance to keep serving, and asked to be removed anyway. Indeed, since October, this one individual is literally the only person to have been dismissed from the military because of sexual orientation.

Clearly, the sooner the DADT policy is brought to an official end, the better. But to characterize this incident as a betrayal from the administration appears to be an unfair criticism.

ABC: Under the repeal law signed into law last December, DADT won’t be repealed until 60 days after Defense Secretary Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and President Obama certify that the readiness of the force has not been affected. To that end, all of the services are in the midst of training their forces for what will change when repeal occurs. Top Pentagon officials have said they expect certification to occur in mid- summer; that will begin the 60 day clock to repeal.

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Did the Professional Left apologize for getting it so embarrassingly wrong? What do you think? 🙄

This was the Choi creature’s last tweet, 10 hours ago …. no correction since. Surprised? Me neither.

resurgence

See here

he came (back from ohio) bearing gifts!

President Barack Obama looks over gardening gloves for first lady Michelle Obama during an unannounced visit to Fred’s Pro Hardware in Toledo, Ohio

…. with a group who were at the White House for an earlier event with the first lady in the garden

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Earlier:

First lady Michelle Obama tends the White House garden with a group of children as part of the “Let’s Move!” campaign

toledo

President Obama arrives at Toledo Express Airport, Ohio, June 3

….. visiting Rudy’s Hot Dog with Toledo Mayor Michael Bell, Owner Harry Dionyssiou is at right

… at the Jeep Wrangler plant at Chrysler Group LLC’s Toledo Assembly complex

…..taking the stage to address workers after his tour of Chrysler Group’s Toledo Supplier Park

…. greeting a young boy across the street after making an unannounced visit to Fred’s Pro Hardware in Toledo