Of course, Mr. Boehner states that he’s merely sticking to ideas of Republican governance, which is to govern as little as possible. And he’s also sticking to Grover Norquist’s ideology of making government small enough to drown in the bathtub.
But, in general, most people send their representatives to Congress in the hope that they’ll get something done. They may grumble about “big government”, but they want roads fixed, pensions paid, and all the other goodies they get from the evil government.
US Vice President Joe Biden in India, will focus on trade, security
New Delhi: US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in India on Monday on a trip that will focus on boosting trade and regional security ties and strengthening a strategic partnership that has languished in recent years.
Biden’s four-day visit, which will include a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is viewed as a major step in promoting President Barack Obama’s focus on forging strong partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region aimed at counterbalancing China’s power.
***
***
NEW DELHI — Secretary of State John Kerry called Monday for a bilateral investment treaty with India, and said he would like to see the two countries fully embrace a nuclear energy deal that has so far frustrated U.S. companies.
Kerry, in India for the fourth round of the India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, a mechanism started in 2009 to strengthen ties, also said that New Delhi could play a greater role in negotiations with Afghanistan and Iran, adding that Washington would protect India’s back in Afghan developments.
“The secretary has said he will ensure that none of the concerns of India are overlooked or undermined,” Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said at a joint news conference after the talks.
***
NEW DELHI — US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in India on Monday for a four-day visit designed to revive flagging diplomatic ties and fire up bilateral trade.
Biden, the first US vice president to visit India in three decades, will meet senior leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday before heading to the financial hub Mumbai to deliver a keynote speech on the economy.
Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill, landed in New Delhi shortly after 5 pm (1130 GMT), and immediately visited a museum in the capital dedicated to independence hero Mahatma Gandhi.
“What a high honor and great privilege to be here in this sacred spot — memorializing one man who changed the world,” he wrote in the visitors’ book at Gandhi Smriti, the revered place where Gandhi’s life ended on January 30, 1948.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden listen as 9 year-old twins Zea and Luna Weiss-Wynne introduce the President at the LGBT Pride Month celebration in the East Room of the White House, June 13, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
A year ago: “The President hugs Stephanie Davies, who helped her friend, Allie Young, left, stay alive after she was shot during the movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colo. The President visited patients and family members affected by the shootings at the University of Colorado Hospital. Photo by Pete Souza, July 22, 2012
****
The Week Ahead:
Today:
3:0: The President meets with Secretary of State Kerry
7:25: Delivers remarks at an Organizing for Action event, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington, DC (Open Press)
8:10: Delivers remarks and answers questions at an Organizing for Action dinner, Mandarin Oriental Hotel (Print Pool for Remarks Only)
****
Tuesday: The President will welcome NCAA Champion Louisville Cardinals to the White House to honor the team and their 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
Wednesday: He will travel to Galesburg, Illinois and Warrensburg, Missouri for events on the economy
Thursday: He will welcome President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam to the White House. In the afternoon, the President will travel to Jacksonville, Florida for an event on the economy. On Thursday evening, he will host an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan at the White House
Friday: The President will attend meetings at the White House.
****
****
Time: Drawing renewed attention to the economy, President Barack Obama will return this week to an Illinois college where he once spelled out a vision for an expanded and strengthened middle class as a freshman U.S. senator, long before the Great Recession would test his presidency.
The address Wednesday at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., will be the first in a new series of economic speeches that White House aides say Obama intends to deliver over the next several weeks ahead of key budget deadlines in the fall. A new fiscal year begins in October, and the government will soon hit its borrowing limit.
…. The president will also speak Wednesday at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo.
AP: Survey: Brighter U.S. Economic Outlook Boosts Hiring
Companies are increasingly confident the economy will grow at a modest pace over the next year and are hiring more, according to a survey of business economists.
Nearly one-third of the economists surveyed said their companies added jobs in the April-June quarter …. That’s the highest percentage in nearly two years. And 39 percent expect their firms will hire more in the next six months. That’s near the two-year high of 40 percent reached in the January-March quarter.
…. Optimism about future economic growth increased. Nearly three-quarters of the survey respondents forecast growth of 2.1 percent or more over the next 12 months. That’s up from two-thirds in the first quarter survey, released in April, and the most in a year.
ThinkProgress: No, Obamacare Won’t Raise Insurance Premiums In Indiana By 72 Percent
On Friday, the Indiana Department of Insurance announced that initial rates submitted by individual health plan providers for the state’s Obamacare insurance marketplace would cost 72 percent more than currently available plans …. Gov. Mike Pence’s (R) administration was quick to use the figures to criticize the health law….
The problem is, the Department of Insurance didn’t really release “data” in the plural — it released a single data point. The $570 per month figure is the average of all of the submitted rates, including cheaper plans with less benefits (so-called “Bronze” and “Silver” level plans) as well as the more generous and expensive “Gold” and “Platinum” level plans. That’s like saying the average cost of a car in an Indiana dealership is $100,000 because it sells $20,000 Fords, $60,000 BMWs, and $220,000 Lamborghinis — technically true, but highly misleading.
And see Jonathan Cohn – ‘Hoosier Hustle? Another Dubious Attack on Obamacare’
Also too – ThinkProgress: Tea Party Senator Concedes Defeat: We Won’t Be Able To Fully Repeal Obamacare
****
USA Today: Vice President Biden is off on a six-day trade and diplomatic trip to India and Singapore.
…. The vice president and his wife Dr Jill Biden land Monday in New Dehli; they will travel to Mumbai later this week …. they arrive Thursday in Singapore…
… The Bidens will stop in Hawaii on their way back to the United States; they return to Washington on Sunday.
The Obama Diary 
You must be logged in to post a comment.