This and That

President Barack Obama talks with Katerina Rodgaard of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, in the Blue Room of the White House, before making a statement on gun safety, March 28, 2013. Vice President Joe Biden hugs another event participant in the background. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Friday:

10:30: President Obama departs Joint Base Andrews

12:50: Arrives in Miami, Florida

1:20: Tours a tunnel project at PortMiami

2:0: Delivers remarks on the economy

3:0: Departs Miami

5:15: Arrives at Joint Base Andrews

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Greg Sargent: With red state Democratic Senators remaining skittish about embracing Obama’s gun proposals, at least two top Democratic donors are stepping forward and vowing to withhold any and all future financial contributions from any Democrats who don’t support the centerpiece of Obama’s plan: Expanded background checks.

Kenneth Lerer, a New York businessman who is chairman of Buzzfeed.com, and David Bohnett, a technology entrepreneur and philanthopist based in Los Angeles, are both major financial supporters of Democratic candidates, having each given scores of large contributions over the years….

Neither will give another dime to any Senate Democrat who does not support expanded background checks….

More here

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President Obama embraces an attendee during an event in the East Room of the White House, March 28. The President, with families of victims of the Connecticut school shooting tragedy at his side, pressed the Senate to pass gun-control legislation next month and urged lawmakers to resist any weakening of resolve

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More at ThinkProgress

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Steve Benen: …. John Boehner sent a memo to all House Republicans today, telling them what a great job they’re doing. Of particular interest, though, was the Speaker arguing how “noble” he and his party are for trying to balance the budget. From the memo:

“The book Congressman Lincoln by Chris DeRose, which I recently read, includes a chapter focused on Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to help craft a new national agenda. At one point in the book, young Lincoln warns that government debt is “growing with a rapidity fearful to contemplate.” ….. Lincoln’s words ring true today….”

Oops….

Lincoln, however, while warning of debt, also said that the debt had been created by the unwillingness to consider new revenue…..

Oh how I love this story….

More here

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Washington Post: The Environmental Protection Agency will move ahead Friday with a rule requiring cleaner gasoline and lower-pollution vehicles nationwide, amounting to one of President Obama’s most significant air pollution initiatives, according to people briefed on the decision.

The proposed standards would add less than a penny a gallon to the cost of gasoline while delivering an environmental benefit akin to taking 33 million cars off the road, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made yet.

More here

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Will catch up with more news in the morning, I’m waaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind.

“Shame on us if we’ve forgotten…..”

Text of the President’s remarks here

Heads Up: President Obama speaks on gun violence

11:40: President Obama Speaks on Common Sense Measures to Protect Children From Gun Violence

Live streaming video:

Also at White House live * CBS * CNN

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www.demandaction.org

Rise and Shine

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Today:

11:40: President Obama delivers remarks on common-sense measures to protect children from gun violence; VP Biden also attends

12:30: Press Briefing by Josh Earnest

2:10: The President welcomes President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde to the White House

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www.demandaction.org

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Michael Tomasky: Matters look bleak indeed when 50 senators vote for a measure requiring that any bill changing gun laws get a two-thirds majority. Nothing else, not taxes, not anything (except some internal Senate rules), requires a two-thirds vote. That 50 senators voted this way — including six Democrats — shows what a collection of cowards and lickspittles these people are on the issue. If the NRA said gun bills should only be passed after sundown on Tuesdays between Columbus Day and the Ascension of Abdul Baha, they’d rush in with amendments stipulating that it also had to be raining. And yet, there is still a chance — yes, even with the assault-weapons ban dead — that the Senate at least will pass some fairly decent legislation. The NRA can still lose here. It’s important that you know this. They don’t want you to.

More here

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Steve Benen: The steady and heartening progress we saw earlier in the year on initial unemployment claims appears to have hit a discouraging bump:

The number of people applying for new unemployment-insurance benefits rose 16,000 to 357,000 in the week ended March 23, reaching the highest level since mid-February, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday….

It’s hard to tell just yet, but it’s worth watching in the coming weeks whether (and how much) congressional Republicans’ sequestration cuts are responsible for pushing these numbers higher.

More here

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Steve Benen: A couple of months ago, we talked about a preliminary report showing the U.S. economy shrunk slightly in the last three months of 2012. Today, that figure received its second and final revision, and though it’s hardly great news, the economy at least fared better than previously believed.

….. without the “unusually large drop in government spending,” economic growth would have been significantly stronger.

It’s with this news in mind that congressional Republicans are arguing that the nation will benefit if they slash public investments further and take additional capital out of the economy.

More here

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Jonathan Bernstein: Here’s how myths get started. Over the weekend, Alyene Senger at Heritage ran an item called “Obamacare at Three Years: Increasing Cost Estimates.”….

…. she has a chart showing estimated new costs rising from $898 billion in March 2010 to $1.6 trillion in February 2013…..

The chart is important, because it’s easily exportable. So David Frum today ran an item which was just the chart; the only thing Frum added was a one-sentence introduction, “The estimated costs of Obamacare keep rising.”

I haven’t looked, but I’m sure the chart will get plenty of play.

Except…it’s entirely phony

More here

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Charles Blow: Witnessing a historic moment is such an odd and exhilarating thing. It is hard to register the full scope of it because you are chest deep in it.

That is how I feel about the gay-marriage arguments made before the Supreme Court on Tuesday and Wednesday.

However the court rules on California’s Proposition 8 and the federal government’s Defense of Marriage Act, there is no denying that something historic has just happened: an aggrieved group has taken a stand and given voice once again to the American — and indeed Democratic — ideals of justice and fairness and freedom.

More here

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Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto meets with President Obama at the White House, November 2012

Statement by the Press Secretary: President Obama will travel to Mexico and Costa Rica May 2-4….

In Mexico, the President looks forward to meeting with President Peña Nieto and welcomes the opportunity to discuss ways to deepen our economic and commercial partnership and further our engagement on the broad array of bilateral, regional, and global issues that connect our two countries.

In Costa Rica, the President looks forward to the opportunity to meet with President Chinchilla as well as heads of state of the other Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, whom President Chinchilla has offered to host

More here

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MooooOOOOooorning!