This and That

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Heads Up: President Obama’s fighting for the middle class again

White House Live

‘Evidence of real progress’

Steve Benen: There was an unsettling pattern for much of the spring and early summer when it came to monthly job totals. Expectations were relatively high, which made the disappointing figures in April, May, and June that much more brutal.

This month, we saw the opposite: expectations were generally pessimistic, making this morning’s good news that much more of a relief.

…… the U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July, more than double the figures from the previous three months, and nearly double the predictions from economists going into this morning. The unemployment rate inched higher, from 8.2% to 8.3%, but as we’ve discussed many times, the figure can be misleading – the rate sometimes goes up when more people reenter the job market.

…. 163,000 new jobs in a month is not evidence of a strong, robust recovery, but given the severity of the Great Recession, the figures are relative – today’s report is good news because it’s evidence of real progress. July’s totals are the best we’ve seen since February, and reverse the deeply disappointing trend of the last few months….

More here

Rise and Shine

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11:45: President Obama delivers remarks on the need for Congress to act to ensure that taxes don’t go up on 98 percent of Americans at the beginning of next year

2:30: VP Biden travels to Los Angeles, Calif., to attend a campaign event

2:35: Michelle Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraising event in Springfield, Mass.

5:00: Michelle Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraising event in Pittsfield, Mass.

6:45: Michelle Obama attends a campaign fundraising dinner in Richmond, Mass.

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Cagle

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Glenn Kessler (Washington Post): … This ad is tough, but we cannot fault the accuracy of its key points. To some extent, the Romney campaign has been hoist with its own petard by refusing to provide sufficient detail that shows how the numbers add up in Romney’s tax and budget plans. So we are left with the judgment of a respected and independent third party.

We hold campaign ads to a high standard, particularly attack ads. If Romney releases the missing details, and a new analysis finds that Romney can meet the stated goals of his tax plan, then we can certainly revisit this analysis. But, until then, for the first time in this frequently nasty campaign, we award a rare Geppetto Checkmark for a campaign ad.

Full article here

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Morning everyone 😉