Pete Souza: President Obama reading a document in the Oval Office
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Presidential Daily Schedule (All Times Eastern)
10:00AM: Pres. Obama and VP Biden receive the presidential daily briefing
The President will attend meetings at the White House
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Sandhya Somashekhar: Groups Go Door-To-Door To Encourage Enrollment In ObamaCare
In Florida, Enroll America’s work carries particularly high stakes because as much as 25 percent of the non-elderly population lacks insurance and Republican leaders have refused to implement the law’s key provisions themselves. White House officials, who aim to sign up 7 million people nationwide for coverage by next year, have said the state is among their top targets because it has the nation’s third-largest uninsured population after California and Texas.
Over the weekend, more than 100 volunteers with Enroll America knocked on about 4,000 doors around the state. Among the volunteers was Botero, who carried a list of names and addresses generated by a “microtargeting” tool developed by Enroll America, the biggest nonprofit working on Obamacare enrollment. The organization, using census data, commercially available consumer databases and demographic information such as age, race and income, developed a formula to determine the likelihood that someone is uninsured.
More here
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Are U coming 2 DC on the 24th for the March on Washington? Need bus information? Find it here: nationalactionnetwork.net/mow/buses/ http://t.co/pSmfxCPUPS
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Donna NoShock (@NoShock) August 02, 2013****
Erin Hannigan: 40 Ways ObamaCare Is Working
The House of Representatives is poised to take its 40th vote to repeal Obamacare. To mark the occasion, here’s a quick rundown of 40 ways that Obamacare is already working for millions of Americans and will impact more beginning in 2014.
Say goodbye to lifetime limits: Insurance companies will no longer be able to place an arbitrary cap on coverage. Children can no longer be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Starting in 2014, adults will no longer be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Free preventive care, including: Annual check-ups Contraception Vaccinations Gestational diabetes screenings Mammograms
More here
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BREAKING: US employers add 162K jobs as unemployment rate falls to 7.4 percent, lowest since Dec. 2008
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The Associated Press (@AP) August 02, 2013July Jobs Report: Public sector added 1,000 jobs. Incomes rose 0.3%. Consumer spending rose 0.5%
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Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) August 02, 2013July Jobs Report: Household survey: 227,000 people reported having a job. This is the fourth straight month of growth.
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Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) August 02, 2013Government actually added 1k to jobs, more evidence state and local job-shedding has run its course.
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Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) August 02, 2013MORE: U.S. June incomes rise 0.3%, consumer spending gains 0.5%
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Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) August 02, 2013****
The White House: Statement From the President On The Confirmation Of Samantha Power As U.S. Ambassador To The United Nations
I’m pleased that the Senate has confirmed Samantha Power as our next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations by a strong, bipartisan majority. As one of our country’s leading foreign policy thinkers, Samantha knows that our nation’s interests are advanced with strong and principled American leadership. As a long-time champion of human rights and dignity, she will be a fierce advocate for universal rights, fundamental freedoms and U.S. national interests. I’m grateful that Samantha will continue to be a vital member of my national security team, and I know that under her leadership our U.N. Mission in New York will continue to represent American diplomacy at its best.
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White House says July employment is "further confirmation that the US economy is continuing to recover but "more work remains."
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PETER MAER (@petermaercbs) August 02, 2013****
Greg Sargent: GOP Leaders Reap The Whirlwind
Is there any bill funding the government — at any level of spending — that Republicans alone can pass out of the House at this point?
Congress has gone home for recess after a series of botched votes that are cause for deep pessimism about the future. The basic problem here is not hard to divine. The Senate GOP filibuster of the transportation bill yesterday, and the House GOP decision to yank its version of the same the day before that, confirm that Republicans may not be able to pass a spending bill at sequester levels, even as they won’t support one at higher spending levels, either. If this sounds crazy, that’s because it is. But this craziness has a cause. Republican leaders have nurtured it for years, and now they are stuck in a trap of their own creation.
More here
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The Bible on reproductive rights http://t.co/TeWs196l05
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RC deWinter (@RCdeWinter) August 02, 2013****
Steve Benen: ‘The American People Should Be Outraged’
When federal policymakers start with a bizarre premise — low-income Americans simply aren’t suffering enough — it’s truly amazing to see where they end up. A plan by House leaders to cut $40 billion from the food stamp program — twice the amount of cuts proposed in a House bill that failed in June — threatens to derail efforts by the House and Senate to work together to complete a farm bill before agriculture programs expire on Sept. 30. The bill that would double cuts previously sought by House Republicans was announced Thursday by Representative Frank D. Lucas, Republican of Oklahoma and chairman of House Agriculture Committee, during a lunch with lobbyists, and first reported by Reuters.
And so, instead of adopting a more moderate bill, making a compromise with the Senate easier, House Republicans, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make their version much more right-wing — doubling the cuts to food aid for the poor, while imposing work requirements and drug tests. If Ayn Rand were alive today, this is the sort of bill that would lead her to say, “Aren’t you guys overdoing it a bit?”
More here
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While @GOP takes its 40th wasteful spending vote to repeal #ObamaCare, here are 40 ways the law improves lives. barackobama.com/news/entry/40-…
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Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) August 02, 2013****
Jonathan Cohn: Six Reasons Hipsters Will Bite On ObamaCare
You’re a 26-year-old single dude, holding down a pair of part-time jobs tending bar and painting houses, and making about $24,000 a year. Thanks to Obamacare, you can finally get decent health insurance, just like people with full-time jobs at large companies do. But when you go online to check out your options, you see that even the cheapest “bronze” plan, which has high deductibles and co-payments, will cost you about $100 a month. Obamacare’s penalty for carrying no insurance next year is less than one-tenth of that. Do you buy the insurance anyway?
But there [are] good reasons to think the critics are wrong, that young people will sign up for health insurance, and that Obamacare will work as its designers intended. Here are six of those reasons.
More here
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Instagram of Bo this morning. Instagram.com/petesouza http://t.co/mUk7RA58Ak
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(@petesouza) August 02, 2013****
Woohooooo….It’s Friday!
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President Barack Obama talks with diners at Lechonera El Barrio restaurant while waiting for his lunch order during a stop in Orlando, Fla., Aug. 2, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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President Barack Obama works on his statement on the compromise reached to reduce the deficit and avert a default, in the Outer Oval Office, Aug. 2, 2011. Standing in the background are, from left: Director of Communications Dan Pfeiffer; Press Secretary Jay Carney; Jon Lovett, Associate Director of Speechwriting; and Senior Advisor David Plouffe. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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The Obama Diary 
Yeah People!!
Congrats
G’morning UT, Chips, TOD, lurkers, everyone, and congrats Derbingle on #1 🙂 Happy Friday!!
Thank You. Ain’t I supposed to get a picture or something? Nothing fancy mind you just something with a lot of zest and the the size of a Diego Rivera mural.
In that first picture, looks like they are getting ready o play a game of “musical chairs”.
Glad it wasn’t just me to get this. Wonder who the participants were ….
Lots of good reading UT – many thanks – congrats on #1 derbingle and g’nite all – I’ll catch up in my morning
Have a great day
That’s the truth 🙂
Since Russia has new anti-gay laws in place I wonder if Snowden (the “hero” of the PL) will lead protests against Putin’s homophobic regime. He should make use of his new freedoms in Russia now that he is free from that tyrant Obama.
Of course not. the only meany in the whole wide world is PBO.
The only meany in the whole wide world is that black President.
Only if he wants to wind up in the gulag with no chance of getting out in his lifetime.
Nope. All the emprogs really care about is to see Snowjob (the frail white underdog) get the better of the POTUS (mean Chicago thug). They are twisting themselves to celebrate the fact that he’s in RUSSIA.
So true. I think as a way to highlight the dishonesty of the members of the “cult of Snowden” we should press this issue. Start a smear campaign with questions like “why won’t Snowden speak out against Putin and his homophobic regime”. Either Snowden and his apologists will take the bait and Snowden will find out how a real tyrant operates or they will remain silent and will be seen as the hypocrits they truly are. I guess you can tell I really dislike this Snowden cat in particular and the PL in general.
Thanks UT for this fabulous Friday round up!
Good Morning Chips and my TOD family. Thank you for our space here, Chips. We are so blessed.
Thanks UT for another beautiful contribution. You all are so brilliant and loving. (((TY))))
I just signed a Happy Birthday for our wonderful and brilliant POTUS. Mr. Messina still working hard Sent off a little to help. Every ounce counts. I remember Bobfr reminding us to put our thinking hats on and see how many creative ways we can come up with amounts to send in. I came up with one with my thoughts on making sure we give President Obama the House back and keeping the Senate solid.
So get those creative juices going and send off your business. You all know what I am talking about. Feeling good. Let us all make this a great birthday for our great POTUS. Celebrate with the wallet and purse. (((((((( Make it a Happy 52 for our 44th President of these United States.
(((((((((((((( Happy Friday, my Chips and TOD family.))))))))))))))))))) We will probably have some visitors stopping by to say hello. HZ
Jimmy Kimmel – Blurred Lines http://youtu.be/YOZjaqHioro
That was so much FUN to WATCH!!! WHEEWWW!! Can y’all tell I liked that video a lot, LOL!!! Take care TOD family
I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF?
They’re not doing him any favors. His peers will not try to nurture him and help him grow, instead they will ostracize him. Nobody likes the teacher’s pet, even if it’s not their fault. Of course, I don’t know if Luke is gracious and humble in his silver platter rise or if he engages in the nah, nah, nah, nah, nah with his fellow journalist.
He strikes me as the kind of person who was born on third base, but thinks he hit a triple.
Nah, he was born on third base but thinks he hit a home run but the umps screwed him out of it.
Good one;)
I always want him to just stop talking…I mean, he just talks soooo much and takes so long to answer the simplest of questions. But I have to say that I really, really, really liked his dad…he seemed like such a nice man. Take care
5 yrs after the death of his dad……Tim Russert……with all the cuddling and the opportunities given to Luke Russert…….No wonder many of his colleagues in DC are suspect of his ability.
Yes, there is jealousy, there are pettiness, however……..he has not Matured in 5 yrs. Had he been smoking in his job…….his work would have shut his critics off.
Luke Russert is not GW Bush…….but he is Not growing into a Tim Russert reincarnated.
Actually he is. Lazy journalism and gotcha questions were Tim Russert’s bread and butter. He taught junior well.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, that was Tim’s MO. I stopped watching even him, he was such a tool. His son is no better.
I am glad you said this. I don’t think Tim Russert was a good journalist. He was one of the enablers of Bush-Cheney march to invade Iraq.
Stephanie Miller just read a statement about the ‘lawlessness’ of the U.S. and how Russia is all about the rule of law, so some such nonsense. I want to SCREAM.
Oops – from SNOWDEN. That’s how much I want to scream, I forgot that important part.
And I am sure she mocked it.
Yep…..Stephanie Miller is not a fan of Snowden.
Her Radio show with Current TV…..now about to be Al Jazeera America is coming to an end on Aug 15th. She will still have her regular radio show and she said that another TV/Radio simulcast gig is in progress. I hope so.
It’s imminent, they just haven’t announced where their TV presence will be. But the radio show is NOT going off the air.
It tells us something that Al Jazeera America is cancelling the most liberal show on Current TV. Sounds like Al Jazeera isn’t going to be furthering the “liberal agenda”…
Al Jazeera America is just another worthless MSM propaganda outfit repackaged with a foreign sounding name.
The jury is still out on that. I’ll wait and see first.
If you look at who’s going to be working there – it’s just a bunch of MSM re-treads.
Completely. But then Jim Ward had to carry on about the evil NSA looking at our tweets about cats, and disappearing us all and executing us all. He’s gone completely off the deep end. And Bradley Manning. Chris reminded him that Bradley Manning went through all due process, as Snowden should do.
I don’t know if any of you followed yesterday’s b.s. about some woman who was googling pressure cookers and her husband googling back packs from their home computers and the FBI ‘found’ them. It was the source of major hysteria yesterday. How did the FBI know instantly what they were googling?!?! Cue the scary music.
Except for a few clarifications today: the husband did the googling from his OFFICE COMPUTER, googled ‘pressure cooker bombs’ and backpacks. he works for a computer company. They’re the ones who alerted the LOCAL police. A tip. So the whole thing was one step away from a hoax, meant to inflame the Jim Ward, Snowdenwald hysteria.
How we can have a serious debate on the balance of privacy and security when the emo-left is as hysterical and fact-challenged as the tea party?
We can’t and they don’t want one either. They want to make a big fuss, get attention, score a few cheap political shots at PBO and have anti-PBO content for their shows. The PL and Tea Party are VERY similar. Both prefer theatrics over problem solving. I am sure the PL would love to have dems cast meaningless votes just like the GOP house is doing. They both protest for the sake of protesting. They use politics as a way to get emotional catharsis, not to solve real world problems.
Sigh……….
The emos will be the first to demand an explanation if anything tragic happens, and they’ll forget that they were the ones who were all for stripping the government of its ability to defend the country proactively.
I don’t watch a lot of network TV but the TV was on after local news and I was doing other things. The mindless crap that Americans consider entertainment – THESE are the people who should have any and all access to our national security apparatus? Seriously?
Oh wait – even the semi-intelligent network shows. Some genius clicks a keyboard for 3 seconds and the crime is solved, the exotic bug excrement is identified that can finger a killer, and it only takes 6 seconds to foil a terrorist plot. Of course, all of that requires phone records, surveillance, cell towers, drones – everything tied up in a neat little bow, with enough time to sell potato chips and Toyotas.
We have lost all sense of reality in this country. There is no longer any common sense left.
True.
Aren’t these the same people who are all for Hillary? I would expect her to be much more hard line than PBO.
In all fairness to Jim Ward, he’ll be just as hard on Hillary on these issues. But you’re correct – a lot of them actually believe Hillary’s campaign b.s. instead of her record.
Thanks, I don’t know about him at all.
GM TODers……TGIF.
Hello TODville. Happy, happy Friday to You all 😉
Great post. Love Bo Obama in the Morning. Thanks.
NONE DARE CALL IT SABOTAGE
GOP Pushes Obamacare Government Shutdown; Media Pretend The Madness Is Politics As Usual
By ERIC BOEHLERT
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In terms of the sheer craziness of the strategy (i.e. who brings the government to a halt in order to kill a single law that’s already been passed?), the Beltway press has mostly looked away and failed to put this absurdity in its proper context.
Unfortunately, that follows the media’s tradition in recent years of letting the GOP practice an unheard brand of obstructionism and pay no price, and to draw little scorn in the press. (See: Cabinet nominations, sequestration, emergency relief funds and judicial picks.) It appears there’s no cockamamie strategy or political plan that Republicans can ponder that the Beltway press won’t immediately legitimize and take seriously.
The press for years now has failed to provide a framework with regards to the radical ways that now define the GOP, to the point where shutting down the federal government in order to eradicate a law that Republicans were unable to stop from being passed is casually referred to as “the plan,” or the “strategy.”
It’s much, much more than that. It’s unprecedented. And pundits and reporters ought to include that crucial context.
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http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/08/02/gop-pushes-obamacare-government-shutdown-media/195197
The MSM gave the same “politics as usual” spin to Romney during the campaign when he lied and flip-flopped like someone with serious mental issues. The MSM willingly aid a abet the GOP in its deceit and extremism. Without the corporate owned media’s assistance(ie., propaganda) there is no way in hell the GOP could survive as a party.
Indeed. And Romney got away with refusing to be open and honest about his tax evasion practices – and the MSM responded with a yawn.
And that will be the rule for the GOP from this day forward
Absolutely spot-on, ericfive!
The Journey of a Man……….I saw this and thought since yesterday to bring it at TOD…….
http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=NPycvh-mYbE
The longer version……There is a {space} after watch and ? for those interested to see the longer video.
TGIF TOD!!!
Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, the NAACP and the Urban League are asking supporters to help promote the 50th Anniversary to commemorate the March on Washington on August 24th.
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom [The Great March on Washington] was one of the largest marches (at that time) and rallies in United States history and called for human, civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, DC on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. The March on Washington represented a coalition of several civil rights organizations, all of which generally had different approaches and different agendas. The “Big Six” organizers were James Farmer, of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Martin Luther King, Jr., of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); John Lewis, of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); A. Philip Randolph, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and Whitney Young, Jr., of the National Urban League.
The stated demands of the march were the passage of meaningful civil rights legislation; the elimination of racial segregation in public schools; protection for demonstrators against police brutality; a major public-works program to provide jobs; the passage of a law prohibiting racial discrimination in public and private hiring; a $2 an hour minimum wage; and self-government for the District of Columbia, which had a black majority. – excerpts from Black History Month. It was on this day that Dr. King delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
On the 24th thousands will gather at the Lincoln Memorial and March to the MLK Memorial to commemorate this historic event.
Today we still face some of the same issues. Racial profiling, living wage jobs, minimum wage increase, women’s rights, voting rights and on and on.
TOD, please consider joining us here in the Nations Capital for the day. There are buses leaving quite a few states coming to DC for the march.
If you are not able to make the trip there are other ways to support this event:
1) You can make a donation to help defer the costs of an event such as this https://simplecheckout.authorize.net/payment/CatalogPayment.aspx
2) You can share the tweet promoting the event with family and friends and encourage them to come to DC to take part in this historic event.
Please note that there are several events taking place in DC that week to commemorate this event and there is another march schedule on the actual anniversary the 28th. I’m not sure who is sponsoring that event but it is not to be confused with this event.
Why didn’t Mark Knoller say something like what Mandeep Minhas said, instead Knoller had to tell us what that loser Boehner said. These MSM folks is a disgrace.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html
US issues travel advisory worldwide.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/cook-political-report-moves-kentucky-senate-race-into
Hmm so soon after 2 polls indicated that McConnell is 1% and 2% point behind? OK……I love it.
On the heels of two Democratic polls showing Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes narrowly edging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), The Cook Political Report, the prominent nonpartisan outlet that analyzes elections, has moved the race in the toss-up column.
My predictions for the Job numbers yesterday…….OK….they were not a prediction…..more like a wishful thought…….
200K-250K jobs and 7.4% UE rate.
I am still holding out my wish until 1st week of Sept…..waiting for a reversal 😉 yeah.
Nena, I really think these numbers will be revised up in the next few months, closer to ADP.
Rpeublicans “hard at work” trying to take worker protections away from YOU!
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/02/2404301/36-senators-introduce-bill-prohibiting-virtually-any-new-federal-law-helping-workers/
The list is long for supporters of this bill….including sexy man, Jeff Flake. Oppression is SOOOOOO sexy.
These people seem to have much in common with Snowden – bring the country down – who cares about the consequences
So very disgusted with the REPEALicans in Congress!
Humor to stave off anger…
https://twitter.com/umcknight/status/363205189680906240
Snowden protesting supposed US civil liberties violation by taking asylum in Russia is as absurd as MLK protesting segregation in the US by seeking asylum in apartheid South Africa.
Will Chris Hayes take Mr. Snowden to task for his deafening silence on Putin’s antigay regime?
I doubt it since doing so would not provide the necessary anti-PBO angle.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/amazing-military-dogs About time we honored these courageous, amazing heroes.
Perfect fit! http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/cnns-jake-tapper-to-guest-star-on-all
CNN’s Jake Tapper To Guest Star On ‘All My Children’
Really? I watch AMC online on Hulu.
Then you’ll get a chance to see a little Tapper Two Step on AMC. Soaps. Who woulda thought?
Yuk!
Sweet. http://www.politicususa.com/2013/08/02/poll-alison-grimes-leads-mitch-mcconnell-15-voters-candidates.html
Today’s Mellman Group poll finds Alison Grimes leading Mitch McConnell, 44%-42%. Most shockingly, among voters who know both candidates, Grimes leads McConnell by 15 points.
Not only does Grimes hold a slim 44%-42% lead over McConnell, but she leads by 7 points with Independents, and Grimes has a 33 point lead with moderates, 56%-23%. McConnell is running close to Grimes because of his advantage in name recognition, but when that advantage is taken away by asking voters who know both candidates the races moves heavily into the Democrat’s favor.
She has lots of room to grow her lead. McConnell has nowhere to go.
I think you’re right:) that’s a GOOD thing!
Wonderful news. It would be great if she could put Turtle out of his misery.
If you have the time, this is worth watching. McConnell and other GOPers thought they were so smart in 2009-2010.
They were so consumed with the “one-term Obama” myth which is now leading to their destruction, in epic proportion.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/08/02/republicans-extortion-latest-attempt-transform-america.html
Is this too cool or what? And just in time for the President’s birthday!
“All you have to do is look at President obama. He has great form. He’s an exceptional bodysurfer.”
Oh, my, that “Fallopians” sign was hysterical! I love liberals.
Good day, UT, and TODville!
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/08/02/laugh-rire-reir/
The thing about adding over 150k jobs per month in the summer, is that it’s supposed to be slow season.
Compare last 4 seasons in the summer?
This one is much better. So, when we get to the late fall early winter months, and build on these job numbers, UE rate will drop.
That is all!