iowa …. chat away (part 2)

iowa …. chat away

Thanks ChristiMTL

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President Barack Obama prepares to sign legislation in the Oval Office, Jan. 3, 2012. Staff Secretary Rajesh De is pictured at left. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

‘promises kept’

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Don’t miss the ‘2011 Year in Photos’ at the White House site (here)

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Steve Benen: Jennifer Rubin today reflects on President Obama’s re-election strategy, and argues he’ll struggle to point to meaningful accomplishments …Obama “accomplished nothing,” she says, other than “jamming through” – which is apparently synonymous with “passing with large majorities in both chambers, following a year-long fight” – the Affordable Care Act.

Well, he also passed the Recovery Act, which prevented a depression and created 3 million jobs.

And there was also the Wall Street reform package …. which featured the most sweeping overhaul of financial industry regulations since FDR.

Come to think of it, we also saw a rescue of the American auto industry, DADT repeal, a breakthrough student-loan-reform bill, ratification of New START, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the biggest overhaul of our food-safety laws in 70 years, new regulation of the credit card industry, a national service bill, expanded stem-cell research, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, net neutrality, the most sweeping land-protection act in 15 years, and health care for 9/11 first responders……

More here

heads up

White House Live

catching up

Boston.com: Members of Congress of both parties often complain about fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid (M&M), usually charging that the President is not doing enough to keep bad guys from stealing money from these vital programs.

Guess what? Thanks to provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA/ObamaCare) and to an unprecedented effort by the Obama Administration, more progress has been made in the past three years to combat health care fraud and abuse than ever before.

Full article here

More from Steve Benen here

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Four years ago:

Mitch Stewart (from email): People have been sending around two videos here at headquarters this morning, and I thought you’d want to see them, too. This first one was posted to YouTube almost exactly four years ago. It’s Barack Obama’s “closing argument” to Iowans the night before the caucuses in 2008.

It’s pretty incredible to see candidate Obama talk about what President Obama ultimately did. He makes four specific promises – on reforming health care, making college more affordable, ending the war in Iraq, and putting us on the path to energy independence – all of which today, four years later, are promises kept.

The second video is from yesterday – posted by the New York Times reporters on the ground in Iowa. It’s a sneak peek into the “the best-organized presidential campaign in Iowa.” Spoiler alert: It’s not Mitt Romney. Or Ron Paul. Or Rick Santorum.

Both these videos are pretty near and dear to my heart. I was the campaign’s Iowa caucus director in 2008, and I know how hard people are working there right now, opponent or no opponent:

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rise and shine

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia arrive on the South Lawn of the White House, Jan. 3

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First dog Bo runs on the tarmac after arriving aboard Air Force One with President Barack Obama at Andrews Air Force Base, Jan. 3