The Week Ahead

Monday: The President and the Vice President will host a National Conference on Mental Health at the White House.  The conference will bring together people from across the country to discuss how we can all work together to reduce stigma and help the millions of Americans struggling with mental health problems recognize the importance of reaching out for assistance.

Tuesday: The President will host President Sebastián Piñera of Chile at the White House.

Wednesday: The President will welcome the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens to the White House.

Thursday: The President will travel to the Charlotte area as part of his middle-class jobs and opportunity tour.  From there, he’ll travel to San José, California to attend an event for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He will spend the night in San José.

Friday: The President will travel to Los Angeles to attend an event for the Democratic National Committee. He will then travel to Palm Springs, California to meet with President Xi Jinping of The People’s Republic of China at Sunnylands, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg estate.  He will remain overnight in Palm Springs.

Saturday: The President will wrap up his meetings with the Chinese President and then will return to Washington, D.C.

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Chat away – newsie stuff in the morning.

President Obama addresses tuition rates

President Obama makes a statement on student loans in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 31

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Text of remarks here

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Chat Away

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Rise and Shine

@lacasablanca: Oval Office meeting: President Obama and @sr_simone of “Nuns on the Bus” discussed #ImmigrationReform

SOOOOexcited. Leaving White House & 1 on 1 meeting with POTUS in Oval Office. He wants #cir13 NOW! Is following #Nunsonthebus

— Sr. Simone Campbell (@sr_simone) May 30, 2013

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Today:

10:20: The President delivers remarks on student loans (White House Live)

10:50: Meets with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

12:30: Press Briefing by Jay Carney

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Not defending Holder OTR meetings, but in 2006, news orgs defended their off record meetings with Bush: washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content…

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) May 31, 2013

Yep, how things have changed…..

Washington Post (March 2006): Off the Record, Bush Makes Media Inroads …. As he defends his Iraq policy with a public campaign of speeches and a recent news conference, President Bush also has been waging a private campaign that has included off-the-record sessions with White House reporters….

One gathering, which took place Thursday in the White House residence, was an unusual gesture by Bush, who has agreed to comparatively few lengthy exchanges with reporters during his five years in office….

Last week’s session involved reporters from several prominent broadcast and print outlets, including ABC News and The Washington Post. Under the off-the-record ground rules, the journalists were barred from reporting what was discussed. White House officials said they also hoped the meetings’ mere existence would remain under wraps….

More here

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Joe Conason (National Memo): …. The notion that Barack Obama is “Nixonian” – or that his administration’s recent troubles bear any resemblance to “Watergate” – is the biggest media lie since the phony “Whitewater scandal” crested during the Clinton presidency.

…. Only in a country afflicted with chronic historical amnesia could they issue such accusations without shame or embarrassment. Only under those circumstances could the Republicans continue their fitful fabrication of a “Democratic Watergate” without fear of being laughed off the stage….

…. But certain liberals in the media have fretted loudly over Obama’s “scandals,” too …..  is it all just trumped-up hysteria? To answer those questions, it helps to remember what Nixon and his gang actually did to America – and why they were driven out of Washington and, in many cases, sent to prison….

More here

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That dreaded Obamacare. Cutting health costs. Now this. Health Law Is Fostering Competition, U.S. Says, via @nytimes nyti.ms/136FbUK

— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) May 31, 2013

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Steve Benen: Student loans reclaim center stage ….. President Obama will deliver remarks, flanked by college students, on a subject that too often goes overlooked: student loans. With a looming interest rate hike, the president will reportedly “call on Congress to help keep college affordable for middle-class families and students by preventing student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1.”

…. House Republicans say they’ve already passed a bill on this, which is true. They also say their bill is worthwhile and consistent with White House demands, which is not true…..

More here

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SmartyPants

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Yep, austerity works so well:

Bloomberg: Euro-area unemployment increased to a record in April after the currency bloc’s recession deepened in the first quarter, increasing pressure on its leaders and the European Central Bank to spur economic growth.

The euro-area jobless rate rose to 12.2 percent from 12.1 percent in March…. to 19.38 million in April, up 95,000 from the previous month. Youth unemployment was at 24.4 percent …. Spain had the highest rate at 26.8 percent. No April data were available for Greece, which had a 27 percent rate in February.

More here

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@WhiteHouse

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