night everyone

See you tomorrow 😉

evening all (updated, a whole bunch of times)

Yesterday in Ohio

President Barack Obama greets neighbors outside the home of William and Endia Eason in Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. 4, 2012

(Despite having the latest version, I can’t see these Videopress videos with Firefox any more, but I can with Safari. What’s up with Firefox?!)

****

****

NYT: For the first time in many years, manufacturing stands out as an area of strength in the American economy.

When the Labor Department reports December employment numbers on Friday, it is expected that manufacturing companies will have added jobs in two consecutive years. Until last year, there had not been a single year when manufacturing employment rose since 1997.

More here

****

Thanks John McCain!!

Thanks Loriah

****

****

David Rothkopf (Foreign Policy): …. the Obama track record on many fronts is much better than the administration gives itself credit for. They could be doing much, much more to tout what is an impressive litany of successes.

While the list of those successes is long and compelling-defeating Bin Laden, getting out of Iraq, helping to oust Qaddafi, restoring our reputation internationally, resetting our international priorities to better coincide with our long term interests (the “pivot” to a focus on Asia), producing meaningful healthcare reform, producing significant financial services reforms, stopping the downward spiral in the economy and laying the foundations of recovery, etc. – let me focus on three areas that deserve much more attention and appreciation ….. ** See article **

…. the president is actually doing remarkably well in the world’s toughest job right now, and he is and has been doing so under truly extraordinarily adverse circumstances. This is one of those circumstances in which the substance is better than the PR – and it’s time for the White House’s political and communications brain trust to get out a clean sheet of paper and begin to make new and better plans for claiming the credit the Obama team deserves.

Full article here

Thanks cat48

****

Friday:

11:40: PBO delivers brief remarks at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

12:15: PBO has lunch with winners of a campaign contest.

****

The Hill

Thanks Liberal Librarian

****

Thanks Meta

****

Jonathan Cohn: Should President Obama use the recess appointment power when Republicans in Congress refuse even to consider his nominees? You better believe it.

Not only are Republicans blocking Obama’s nominations at a record rate. They are doing so in order to impose their own ideological agenda and, in some cases, to undermine duly passed laws they don’t like but can’t repeal.

That’s a modern-day form of nullification … Obama would be derelict in his duties if he did not use every inch of executive branch authority to overcome it.

…. based on a series of conversations today, I think Obama was within his rights after all.

Full post here

****

****

TPM: Mitt Romney’s tax plan is more complex than those of his current and erstwhile primary competitors. But in broad effect it accomplishes the conservative goal of dramatically lowering taxes on the wealthy at the expense of the lower and middle classes.

Full post here

****

****

Thanks Hopefruit

****

Thanks nintendowii10

****

You can buy this screenprint at the OFA store – here

Thanks GoBrooklyn

****

Chicago HQ

afternoon all

Iowa Democratic Party

Last week at Firebaggerlake:

😳

****

USA Today: President Obama announced a new military strategy on Thursday that will cut the Pentagon budget by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Speaking from the Pentagon, Obama said the plan is “smart, strategic” and sets priorities.

…. The new military strategy includes $487 billion in cuts over the next decade. An additional $500 billion in cuts could be coming if Congress follows through on plans for deeper reductions. The announcement comes weeks after the U.S. officially ended the Iraq War and after a decade of increased defense spending in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

More here

****

President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta after the president spoke on the Defense Strategic Review at the Pentagon

****

Washington Post

****

Dana Milbank: If this is Mitt Romney’s idea of a victory rally, one shudders to think what would have happened if he had lost the Iowa caucuses. The day after his impossibly thin eight-vote victory …. he flew here for a town hall meeting at Manchester Central High School, where he was to bask in the endorsement of his 2008 arch rival, John McCain.

But the senator grimaced when he was introduced, and as Romney delivered his own stump speech, an increasingly impatient McCain pulled up his sleeve and checked his watch. McCain gave his endorsement address without mentioning Romney’s Iowa win until the end. “By the way, we forgot to congratulate him on his landslide victory last night,” he said, laughing. Romney ignored him.

….. Romney continued to wrestle with words when he took the stage … “What a, uh, big night we had last night, or what a big morning we had, uh, last morning, this morning, in, uh, Iowa,” he began…..

Full article here

****

Randall Enos

****

Ah, the Firebaggers just keep on embarrassing themselves …. from Firebaggerlake:

****

Raw Story

****

Washington Monthly: What If Obama Loses? … there’s a widespread assumption that extreme positions taken in the (GOP) primaries will fade in the general election as candidates “move to the center,” and will disappear entirely once the serious business of governing begins. Surely President Newt Gingrich would not get rid of child labor laws. Surely President Perry would not seek to eliminate three cabinet departments.

We don’t think that this year, with this GOP, those assumptions are warranted. And so we asked a distinguished group of reporters and scholars to think through the hitherto unthinkable: What if one of these people actually wins?

Full post here

Thanks BWD

****

Chart of the Century:

Steve Benen (thanks Meta)

rise and shine

****

****

Reuters: New claims for unemployment benefits fell by 15,000 last week in the latest sign the labor market was improving and could help the country resist the effects of a likely euro zone recession.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 372,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week’s claims data was revised up to 387,000 from the previously reported 381,000.

…. Claims have now fallen in four of the last five weeks, and the four-week moving average – a better measure of trends – fell 3,250 to 376,500, the lowest level since June 2008.

Full article here

****

****

The Hill: President Obama on Thursday will unveil a summer-jobs initiative that the White House says is already on track to create 180,000 “work opportunities” in the private sector in 2012.

That is the number of opportunities, which includes mentoring and unpaid internships, that companies have told the administration they are willing to create. Some 70,000 jobs are paid, the White House says.

…. “Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of executive actions the Obama administration is taking to strengthen the economy and move the country forward because we can’t wait for Congress to act,” a White House statement reads.

Full post here

****

TPM

****

****

Vanity Fair – The Dark Side of Mitt Romney (Thanks LOL)

****

Chicago Tribune

****

****

Morning everyone 😉

house rules!

Na, there aren’t many rules here at all – because usually when I read a rule my instinct is to figure out a way to break it.

It’s not that I’m a rebel – I’m way too lazy for that class of thing – it’s just that I have the mentality of a mutinous 5-year-old.

😕

But, just to clarify a few things after some requests for, well, clarity:

*Needless to say, Firebaggers, Teabaggers, racists, homophobes and bigots of any kind will never be welcome here, any one who fits in to one of those categories ends up on the blocked list. Permanently. As I always say, there are lots of internet places for you to play, this will never be one of them.

****

* On that subject, there are endless things to loathe about Mitt Romney …. his religion isn’t one of them.

****

* I know the Israel/Palestine issue is a sensitive one. If you’re particularly strong in your support for one side or the other, that’s fine – but I won’t ever allow bigoted comments here about the ‘other‘ side. I banned someone a few months ago for depressing comments about Palestinians, I would do the same to anyone posting similar bile about Israelis. That’s the house rule.

****

* Anonymous comments aren’t accepted here – please pick a name (any name at all) when you first try to comment and stick with it. I just want everyone to know who they’re talking to – and I’d like to keep out the trolls!

****

* You can use your Facebook or Twitter accounts to log in and comment, or, if you prefer, your email address – the address will never be visible to others, it’s just a way for the blog to identify you as a previous poster so your comment will go through automatically.

****

* This is very, very, very, very important:

I HUGELY appreciate you letting us know about posts at other blogs and various news sites in the comments here, it’s a completely invaluable service for us all.

But! Please only include very short extracts from the posts – the aim should always be to give a taster of the post that sends the reader to the author’s blog, otherwise we’re effectively stealing their work.

For example:

Steve Benen: This is a big, bold move by the president, and I couldn’t be more pleased …. It’s worth noting that I’m generally not a fan of these kinds of recess appointments …. But in this case, there’s only one sensible conclusion: Senate Republicans left Obama with no choice.

No one, not even the most unhinged Republicans, are questioning Cordray’s qualifications, and if the Senate were to vote on his nomination, it would be approved fairly easily. But Republicans won’t allow that because they disapprove of the existence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

…. The Republican tactics on this are nothing short of madness. I’m relieved President Obama has had enough.

Full post here

Steve Benen’s post above, in its original form, is about 12 paragraphs long, the extract here is two paragraphs plus a line. So, again, please only ever include short extracts from the posts/articles (2/3/4 paragraphs, depending on the length of the original post), just to give an idea of what they’re about. And always include the link at the end.

I know you all mean well, and I had a terrible habit when I started out of posting far too much from articles, to the point where there was really no need for the reader to visit the links. But it’s not fair on other bloggers if we can just read most or all of their posts in the comments here without having to visit their blogs and provide them with the hits they deserve.

****

* There are lots of sites I’d prefer never to see linked here, eg every right wing site (including GOPolitico) and places infested with Firebaggers, eg Salon, Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Democratic Undergound, etc. There will, of course, be the very occasional time when something not-deranged appears on those sites, so it’s okay to link then – but generally, please, no!

There is a complete ban here on Firebaggerlake, please don’t ever link to that poisonous site, it’s the fake ‘progressive’ version of Drudge: hate-filled. Let’s never forget, its owner teamed up with Grover ‘tax pledge’ Norquist in opposition to Rahm Emanuel …. say no more.

****

* 99.9% of you are civil to each other, even if you don’t always agree, and that’s the way I want it here. By all means, battle away with anyone you disagree with, but no personal abuse, okay? Not welcome here! And no personal call-outs …. I’ve deleted more than a few in the last week or two. Leave the moderating and troll-watching to me. (Although, if you think you spot a troll, let me know!)

****

* Some of you don’t like when a few of us get a little, well, silly – you know, the naughty mat business, and all that. I accept your objections, but to be honest, light relief is never a bad thing, it’s just a bit of harmless fun, and I’ll always welcome it here. Mainly because I start it most of the time:

****

* I, to be honest about it, have a mouth and a mind like a sewer, so I have no problem at all with, well, ‘fruity’ comments. But some way more mature than me do, so while I’ll always be good with fruitiness, let’s, um, not talk about Dick Halperin ‘hard-ons’ and the like. 😕

****

* Many of you have very kindly offered to donate to the site. It’s not that I don’t like money – jeez, I love it! – but I don’t accept personal donations, at all. If you like the blog and ever have a few dollars to spare I just ask that you donate to Obama/Biden 2012 – there’s a link to The Obama Diary’s OFA fundraiser at the top of the sidebar on the right.

I really don’t want to sound like a self-righteous dipstick when I say I don’t, or won’t ever, seek or accept personal donations – the point is that I am blessed to have a job, one that allows me pay my bills and work (mainly) from home, thereby giving me the time to keep up with the blog. I’m way beyond lucky.

Other bloggers, who have been around long, long before me, devote their entire time to their sites, so I would always encourage you to donate to the ones you enjoy, if you can. Without your support, those great bloggers (check the blogroll here) would disappear.

But this is purely something I love doing, between angry phone calls from my boss, just a ‘hobby’. Nothing in the world gives me more pleasure than seeing people here donate to Obama/Biden 2012.

Their re-election is this blog’s sole desire.

****

Sorry for all the rules, but just wanted to clear up a thing or eight. See you tomorrow 😉