evening all

March 9: A volunteer signs up for shifts at the opening of the new field office in East Las Vegas, Nevada

Here

March 9: A supporter left a message for President Obama on the wall of a Florida field office.

Flickr

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Brad Plumer (Washington Post): There’s quite a bit of good news – and very little bad – in February’s jobs report …. The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs last month …. And there were even more encouraging signs in the data revisions for previous months…..

Some of the broader indicators are encouraging, too …. There are also some reasons to think this recovery can sustain itself through 2012. Ever since the recession ended in mid-2009, the U.S. private sector has been consistently hiring workers. It’s just that the public sector has been hemorrhaging employees – around 500,000 government layoffs since Obama took office. But that trend finally appears to be winding down…..

The U.S. economy is still in a large hole. Right now, we’re adding around 250,000 jobs per month. If that trend keeps up, it’s enough to get us to 8 percent unemployment by election day. That would bode well for President Obama’s reelection chances. But 8 percent unemployment is still unnervingly high ….  but, for now, the economy looks to be in decent shape. As Justin Wolfers sums it up, “Let’s call it a recovery.”

Full article here

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WSJ: New York City employers in January added the highest number of jobs in a single month in 23 years, according to new figures released Thursday.

Some 31,200 jobs were added in the month, according to a seasonally adjusted analysis of new state Labor Department figures.

“It is an understatement to say that these gains exceeded all expectations,” said Barbara Byrne Denham, chief economist with the real-estate services firm Eastern Consolidated, who conducted the analysis.

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Paul Krugman never fails to amuse. Here he is today, trying – through gritted teeth – to sound pleased about the jobs’ news:

“OK, definitely a better jobs report than we have become used to. And terrific news for Obama; another six months of news like this and he’ll be in very good shape for reelection.

But still, this was just equivalent to an average month during the Clinton years. And we’re still a long way from full employment.”

(1) Full employment is, usually, defined as 3% unemployment …. so, you have to go back to Eisenhower in 1956 for ‘full employment’ in America. That, then, is the shiny new standard Krugman is holding PBO to. Seriously, you couldn’t make this stuff up.

(2) Does Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, truly forget the state of the economy when PBO came to power? Or is he just, eh, forgetful about the facts?

(3) Will Krugman ever find it in his heart to forgive PBO for beating Hillary Clinton to the nomination?

Hillary has. Maybe it’s time for Krugman to move on?

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President Barack Obama talks on the phone with President-elect Vladimir Putin of Russia while aboard Air Force One en route to Richmond, Va., March 9, 2012. Alice Wells, Senior Director for Russian Affairs, is seated at right. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Washington Monthly

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March 9: Supporters in Alabama gathered with civil rights leaders past and present to mark the 47th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery.

Flickr

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President Obama speaks at a campaign event at Minute Maid Park, Houston, March 9:

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First lady Michelle Obama gets hugs from a pre-schooler at the Penacook Community Center, March 9, in Concord, N.H.

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NYT: The fragile gains Republicans had been making among female voters have been erased, a shift that has coincided with what has become a national shouting match over reproductive issues, potentially handing President Obama and the Democrats an enormous advantage this fall.

In the 2010 congressional midterm elections, Republican candidates ran evenly with Democrats among women, a break with long-established trends. That was a major reason the GOP regained control of the House.

Now, female voters appear to be swinging back to Democrats …. When the Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey asked last summer which party should control Congress, a slim 46-42 percent plurality of women said it should be the Democrats.

But in a survey released Monday, compiling polling since the beginning of the year, that figure had widened considerably to a 15-point advantage for the Democrats

More here

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Cagle

texas

President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at Minute Maid Park, March 9, in Houston

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President Obama is welcomed by Houston Mayor Anisse Parker, Congresman Gene Green, Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee and Congressman Al Green

….. greeting supporters in a hangar after disembarking from Air Force One under rainfall

…. waiting behind curtains before addressing a campaign event at Minute Maid Park in Houston

virginia

 

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President Obama leaving the White House before traveling to Prince George, Va., and Houston, Texas

Andrews Air Force Base

… greeted by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell upon arriving at Richmond International Airport

… greeted by Richmond, Va. Mayor Dwight C. Jones, center, and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va

… at Richmond International Airport in Virginia

…. touring the Rolls-Royce Crosspointe facility in Prince George

“I did not run for this office just to get us back to where we were. I ran for this office to get us where we need to be.”

(an early) heads up (and chat away)

White House live

Hi everyone, will catch up later 😉

rise and shine

Marketwatch: The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in February while hiring in January and December was revised up by a combined 61,000, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The unemployment rate remained at 8.3%, largely because more people entered the workforce in search of jobs.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast the U.S. would add 213,000 jobs last month, with the jobless rate holding steady at 8.3%.

Subtracting another decline in government jobs, the private sector boosted payrolls by 233,000.

….job gains for January were revised up to 284,000 from 243,000 – the biggest monthly increase since the recession ended – and December’s employment gains were revised up to 223,000 from 203,000. The past three months of full-time job growth is the fastest since early 2006

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Thanks desertflower

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First Lady Michelle Obama meets with Ernestina Mills, First Lady of Ghana, at the State Department in Washington, D.C., March 8. (Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

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10:40: PBO departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews

11:35: Arrives Richmond, Virginia

12:15: Tours Rolls-Royce Crosspointe

12:30: Delivers remarks at Rolls-Royce Crosspointe

2:40: Departs Richmond, Virginia en route Houston, Texas

3:40: Arrives Houston

4:50: Delivers remarks at a campaign event

6:50: Delivers remarks at a campaign event

8:10: Departs Houston

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ThinkProgress: Rush Limbaugh’s advertising exodus is deep into its second week, and despite the radio host’s claim that the impact of 50 companies pulling their business has been negligible, listeners in the nation’s largest media market were treated to over five minutes of radio silence where Limbaugh’s advertisers once stood today.

There were four separate instances during this afternoon’s broadcast on WABC 770 AM in New York City where the network fell silent. During the lead in to the show, two and a half minutes of silence was broken up by a single, solitary ad before Limbaugh hit the air.

More here

Thanks Loriah

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Thanks Tien Le!

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The Week

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Morning everyone – will catch up with the news a bit later.