Archive for December 10th, 2012
President Obama walks to the Oval Office upon his return from a trip to Michigan, December 10
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Hiya everyone, sorry for the lack of updates today, work has been marginally bonkers 😕 Hopefully it’ll debonkers itself soon.
Will try to catch up properly tomorrow.
So, how are ya all doing?
10
Dec
12
Rise and Shine
Hey, it’s this photo’s birthday today: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during the 2009 Nobel Banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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Today:
10:50: President Obama departs the White House
12:30: Arrives in Michigan
1:35: Tours Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan
2:0: Delivers remarks
2:55: Departs Michigan
4:30: Arrives at the White House
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Detroit News: As President Barack Obama visits a Daimler AG plant in Redford Township today, the company plans to announce the investment of more than $100 million at the facility “in new technology, expanded production and jobs in the United States,” a Daimler official told The Detroit News.
The investment at Detroit Diesel — a unit of the German automaker — will add an unspecified number of new jobs to the 3-million-square-foot plant as it expands beyond diesel engines.
Detroit Diesel has 2,300 employees and builds four major engines, rear axles and 12-speed transmissions.
More here
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Washington Post: The contours of a deal to avert the year-end fiscal cliff are becoming increasingly clear. But progress has been slow, and time is running out for leaders to seal an agreement and sell it to restless lawmakers who so far have been given little information.
With hope still alive for a resolution by Christmas, President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) met Sunday at the White House, their first face-to-face meeting in nearly a month and their first one-on-one session since July 2011, when they last tried to forge a far-reaching compromise to tame the national debt.
Neither side would provide details, but White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage and Boehner spokesman Michael Steel released identical statements saying “the lines of communication remain open.”
More here
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The Atlantic: Goodbye, conciliator. Hello, Mr. Tough Love.
…. While Republicans are bemoaning the president’s intransigence in hewing fast to a position he ran and won on in 2012, they might do well to look to their own behavior in setting up this month’s epic power struggle with him – and why he feels he’s now in a strong enough position to stand firm on behalf of his agenda.
…. “The president’s idea of a negotiation is, roll over and do what I ask,” Speaker John Boehner complained earlier this month. But Obama just solidly won reelection after a very nasty race. Why would he forgo pushing hard for his agenda right out of the gate, right after it was reaffirmed by the public?
The bottom line: The odds we go over the cliff are high if the GOP doesn’t come around. Fortunately, it sounds like Republicans are starting to get the message.
More here
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More at ThinkProgress
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Greg Sargent: Leverage remains with Dems on taxes: A new Politico poll confirms it yet again: The public sides with Dems in the fiscal cliff fight. Sixty percent of likely voters — and 58 percent of independents — want taxes raised on those over $250,000. And there’s also this: Fifty eight percent say raising taxes on the rich won’t have a negative impact on the economy. Only 38 percent support the GOP position that it will. What this data confirms, yet again, is that Dems are the ones who hold the middle ground position in the talks.
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ThinkProgress: President Obama will “begin an all-out drive for comprehensive immigration reform, including seeking a path to citizenship” for 11 million undocumented immigrants, after Congress addresses the fiscal cliff, the Los Angeles Times reports. The revelation comes just as a top Hispanic Democrat, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), is calling on Obama to step-up his involvement on the issue and engage in discussions with lawmakers.
The Obama administration’s “social media blitz” will start in January and is expected “to tap the same organizations and unions that helped get a record number of Latino voters to reelect the president.” Cabinet secretaries and lawmakers from both parties are already holding initial meetings to iron out the details of the proposal….
More here
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Rolling Stone here
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MooooOOOooooOooooOOooorning everyone.
The Obama Diary 
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