President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama address military personnel during a Christmas day visit to Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe, Hawaii
****
Obama “decided to take individual pictures with all of the roughly 580 service members and their families,” per pool, he’s about an hour in.
A Merry Christmas to all TOD family! I was busy yesterday with…ummm…watching a Dr. Who marathon leading up to the last Matt Smith episode…and didn’t have a chance to check in to wish you all much happiness.
Yes, exactly. There are many good points in this piece and when taken in total, PBO has a phenomenal year in the context of everything the GOP has done to try and stop every inch of progress.
Dan Pfeiffer sent this out in an email so this will be going to out lots and lots of people.
Meta, thanks for sharing it here. I just read Dan Pfeiffer’s email, and I plan to send it to all of those I sent holiday e-cards to as share with others. Very good. The toxic messengers are already out and about. We will carry our message of goodness with pride and gratefulness.
We will make it through this with favor of honesty, a steady focus, and sure footing of where we walk amongst the masses. HZ
Hope everyone’s Christmas was wonderful. Love the photos of the POTUS and FLOTUS thanking the troops. Moving into a new office today. Will try to check in when later. Have a great day peeps!
Wonderful accomplishments! Were he in the private sector, he’d be given a raise, a bonus, and a promotion. I, for one, am glad he chose to serve the national and global communities instead.
PS: As someone said, be careful denouncing polls. We don’t have to believe them, but don’t discount them entirely. That happened on the other side and it didn’t go so well for them. We must use it as a wake up call……that’s there’s plenty of work for us to do.
Every person who visits TOD is probably as frustrated with the negative media barrage as I am.
Even my local stations call it “The Disasterous Obamacare Rollout” as though that is the name of the program and the whole story.
Especially infuriating to me is that this is in New York State where the signups have been huge.
To calm myself down I repeat that the real story will be told by the millions and millions of healthy Americans in this year and years to come.
Also, the poll that truly matters is the one after Election day, 2014.
I am hoping that every Democrat running for any and all offices anywhere—-red state blue state—will be wholehearted and loud about Obamacare and all our democratic initiatives.
Vicki, I don’t tweet, but I make myself feel less powerless and more useful by emailing links and copy/paste tweets that I get from here at TOD and send them out. It’s my way of refuting the msm mis-information.
GM, TOD. First time I’ve had to get here today. Early this morning while house was quiet (daughter’s), had the TV on the local FOX program (done by NBC, I think), heard a very negative report on the ACA. ……..how expensive it is for middle class folks especially…..many don’t qualify for subsidies and it is causing lots of concern and hardship for many in the middle class……..blah, blah, blah. Not one thing positive in the whole report. Sigh……..
I looked at the complete list. If there is an actual non puppet propagandist among them I missed it.
Liars and/or idiots all.
NYTimes has replaced real journalists with the likes of Jonathan Martin, asshole from Politico.
Apologies—-Ronan Farrow is not an idiot. But he will do the youth oriented infotainment crap MSNBC offers instead of news. I hope I am wrong about this.
MSNBC is doing less and less actual news and more and more Sarah P. and the dopey Ducks crap, so there’s that.
Which ones are ” journalists ” and what journalism school did they attend ? They should have put Chuckie on that list of one more person that never went to journalism school.
I guess we can all call ourselves journalists now too…..
The GOP lost or is losing on its old “wedge” issues.
DADT,gone.
DOMA, gone.
marriage equality in 18 (?) states. Rush has put out the word to not talk about these things because it reminds the country that the GOP Lost.
So, new wedge issue, it seems, is Snowden and NSA.
This guy stole our countries documents and defected to Russia. Spy? Traitor? No. GOPMSMTP see a tool they can use.
GOP must be kidding themselves that this can be blamed on the current administration. Spying is as old as time.
But they will use up countless hours of media time pushing this craziness. They own the airways and they will broadcast what they want to. Sinking viewership doesn’t seem to matter much.
Gop intends to just keep repeating the lies over and over and over to the dumb audience that welcomes poison into their homes.
If we turn the House Blue and keep the Senate and elect more Democratic governors in November most GOP bullshit will be defeated.
Special ‘hi’ to Utal, and a wish that you had a good December 25th! I don’t believe I gave you a ‘personal’ wave or congratulatory pat on the shoulder for a job well done, before the holidays. Do continue to overwhelm us with goodies, young lady! 😉
Hello my dear, GGail! Seasons Greetings! Did you get the stuff I was asked to mail you?
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Sorry to hear you’re working on Boxing Day; I thought most places closed then, but guess I’m wrong.
I am trying to recover from too much work yesterday, and the day before. Seems to me this recovery will take some time. 😉
I think it would be a good thing if we were to share IN THE MEDIA, and here, at least one (different) good thing each time we see their negatives. As GGail pointed out above, she cuts and paste good stuff she can email. So let’s give her, and others like her, stuff to share to counter what media is (not) doing.
For example, I had forgotten that Richard Cordray’s CONFIRMATION as head of the Consumer FINANCIAL PROTECTION Bureau happened in this past year …
Today, President Obama thanked lawmakers from both parties for coming together to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was established to make sure American consumers are treated fairly in the financial market place, whether applying for a credit card, taking out a loan to buy a home or pay for college, dealing with a debt collector or other activities.
“Four years ago, even as we were working on restoring the economy and dealing with the immediate crisis,” President Obama said, “we also wanted to figure out how do we set new rules for the road to make sure that a few bad apples in the financial sector couldn’t break the law, or cheat consumers, or put the entire economy at risk.”
Those efforts led to the creation of the CFPB in 2011, and two years ago this week, President Obama first nominated Cordray to run the new agency. But the Senate wouldn’t vote on his confirmation, and the CFPB was severly hampered without a director,
But Linda, we are the “someone” that we’ve been waiting for. If we all submit just one media blunder, then, collectively, we’ll have the “year in review” compiled in no time – right?
IMO a more effective approach would be ….exactly what TODobots have been doing here in the last week – highlighting some of the memorable moments of this year. As we have seen from our own attempts here, we get reminded of events we might have forgotten just from sharing positively. Highlighting media blunders, I think, would be doing their negative work for them. Since media are not telling the truth, why don’t we? Who’s to prevent us from passing on these reminder-goodies to our contacts? Chips even placed them in the sidebar.
My first example of a ‘year-in-review’ tweet made with info I took from the above WH.GOV site. I hope this, or responses of this kind, spring up and take over twitter for the next 2-3 weeks! I don’t really care where you all find your info, or how you present it, but I see no reason why the TOD twitter brigade can’t make a push to blanket the ‘airwaves’. We have done so in the past with good results (I’m thinking of that young man who needed surgery and the hospital wouldn’t put him on the list), and it is my contention that this hateful, lying media meme is a good cause. However, my personal approach is to put our factual information out there, while not actually giving
voice/momentum to the actual lies.
In 2013 ••►Richard Cordray CONFIRMED as Consumer Watchdog… 2ensure Americans are treated fairly in fin. marketplace http://t.co/8FBCnlXIkI
T*Y*! {{{GGail}}}
See, if we harness our energies and do the ‘one voice can change a room’ thingy, I’d bet we can make a dent in this stupid, lying media ‘failure year’ meme, while not wasting energies (IMO) confronting *them*. They are so good at rationalizing and while they are doing so *their* message gets repeated.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The last of the Utah counties that were holding out on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples have reversed course and decided to hand out licenses to all eligible applicants.
Officials for the four holdouts — Box Elder, Utah, Piute and San Juan counties — told The Associated Press they made the decision Thursday to offer licenses to same-sex couples. Utah has 29 counties.
County clerks say they had little choice after an appeals court denied a motion for a stay on a ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby. He ruled Utah’s ban unconstitutional. The state is preparing an appeal.
The Utah attorney general’s office had said counties could be held in contempt of federal court if they refused to comply
We have to do for 2014. We have to assure our Dem politicians that we have their back and that they don’t have to run away from ACA. The money that will be thrown at anti-ACA campaigning will be phenomenal. Unless there’s some certainty that those people who have or will benefit from ACA will join in GOTV efforts, then our politicians will remain wary.
We can take those millions who visited or signed up for ACA and convert them to living testimonies by putting their feet on the street, not behind a keyboard. Anyone who is benefiting from ACA, owe it to PBO and Dems who risked their political welfare to make this possible for us all.
We must focus all that anti-MSM energy on figuring out a way to use it to get around the meme of any ACA failures. The best way to start is to get involved with OFA and other like minded political organizations and sign up to help turn those polls around.
“The best way to start is to get involved with OFA and other like minded political organizations and sign up to help turn those polls around.”
For sure, cookemom and GGail. I received an encouraging e mail from Leader Reid and he wants us to know that we still have time to donate by the end of this month to finish in a positive way for helping us keep the Senate and getting the house. I always remember Bobfr and others who remind us to give what we can. So I committed to $20.14 above my regular giving. We can do this. They told us we could not do it inn 2012, but see what happen. I will not allow fear to over take my actions of faith in what we as a great TOD family can and will do. Let’s do with our gifts and talents those things that will bring us to a great and positive level. So much goodness is out there to bring into our space. So let us gather our grateful baskets of blessings and help where we can. We Can Do This. We must Do This.
FORWARD and as Bobfr reminds us, #TrustBarack. HZ
“Michelle Obama at 50, an American Superwoman”——will be of interest to readers here—– but I don’t know if it will link because it is on Chgo Trib’s digital copy, but here is my attempt:
Sorry—I was afraid of that. I could access because we have a weekend subscription. It was a positive account, about her upcoming dancing bday party, about taking her first lady duties seriously but still having fun, quotes from Donna Brazile, said to be a frequent dining out partner, and others, about all her activities and appearances–kids first.
I’m kinda cold to the Trib anyway. My angst goes back to Harold Washington and the Trib’s nasty editorial. I’m like an old elephant I guess. I remember too much negative stuff….Sorry.
I used to hate the Trib—-way too conservative—-but I’ve seen improvement over the last few years—-more middle of the road. And I think the editorial board was truly impressed by Obama—-they investigated every inch of his life and came up empty—-and his interview there rang authentic and impressive—-thus their endorsements—-both times, the first one was the first Dem they had ever endorsed if not forever then in many decades. And so I started to forgive their past transgressions.
There is a kind of justice rising, I believe, and not just because of the season, although I freely confess to being a sucker thereto. There is a pope impatient with the shotgun marriage of cupidity and virtue, and who is not shy about explaining why. There is a sense in our politics that we are now paying for having abandoned the creative act of self-government through which we build a political commonwealth, a sense that we allowed that great work to be hijacked by religious grifters, and political bunco artists, and the various assortment of thieves and brigands to whom we handed the world’s finances. There is a feeling in the land that the mist has begin to burn away, and that we see more clearly than ever the consequences of decades of choices, made and not made, and that we see more clearly than ever the work that has to be done to repair what we have chosen to do to our country and to ourselves. We can still refuse to do the work, but we no longer have the excuse available to us that we don’t know what has to be done.
We can remain two nations because we choose to be. Or we can shake off the lethargy of an atrophied citizenship. We can rediscover the common good, the deep and abiding current within true democracy toward equality and justice. This is, after all, a season of hope and rebirth and of the fall, silent as the dead of night, of an old order and an ancient way of doing things. We are two nations, but we do not have to be.
“We can rediscover the common good, the deep and abiding current within true democracy toward equality and justice.”
As you know, I view the scale of hunger, homelessness, unemployed and unemployable of Americans to be not only a sign of America’s failure as a society but also a grave National Security issue. So, I’ve begun tweeting and writing various folk with the authority, the stature and the capital to call their attention the immorality and vast inherent danger of the current situation.
That ‘inherent danger’ includes the millions of heavily armed fanatics just waiting for a call to ‘cleanse America of the ….. .’ It’s happened before folks …..
love these photos of our president and first lady! see that tan line on her chest, and a little sunburn too? she’s been relaxing in hawaii, and she’s glowing with it! beautiful! pbo is of course at his most cheerful at home here. they deserve this vacation so much, and by golly they’re finally getting it!
‘ … Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods, who has a book-like product to shill, and who suddenly realized that insulting the pope might not be the best sales strategy since Catholics read, too, and some of them are suckers, and they might be willing to spring for the 99 cents the book-like entity is going for as it falls off the edge of the remainders table at BJ’s Wholesale Club. ‘
charles pierce had pie for breakfast, and he’s enjoying himself immensely here!
Vermont and Massachusetts are getting ready to sue CGI Federal, the contractor that bungled their healthcare sites as well as healthcare.gov:
Massachusetts officials are reviewing legal options against CGI Group, a Montreal-based information technology company, and will make recommendations on how to seek financial redress at a Jan. 9 meeting.
So far, the state has paid $11 million of its $69 million contract with CGI. It will not pay a penny more until a functioning website has been delivered, said Jason Lefferts, spokesman for the Commonwealth Health Connector, the state’s insurance marketplace.
“CGI has consistently underperformed, which is frustrating and a serious concern,” Lefferts said. “We are holding the vendor accountable for its underperformance and will continue to apply nonstop pressure to work to fix defects and improve performance.”
Massachusetts has reverted to using an alternative software system and paper notifications for residents seeking new insurance, a significant black eye for a system that was held up as a national model for providing coverage after it debuted in 2007.
In Vermont, state officials recently alerted CGI that the state is withholding payment of $5.1 million as compensation for the company’s failure to meet key deadlines.
The state is also disputing more than $1 million in charges billed by CGI because of incomplete work that left its insurance website so far behind schedule that Vermonters could not buy coverage online, as promised under Obama’s health care law, until early December, two months after it opened.
How dare you besmirch the good name of a private sector company that was paid already but failed to deliver its product on time and has since missed every deadline it said it would meet.
Yes…imagine! These “captains of the universe” that think their stuff don’t stink….and they are above any repercussions of their malfeasance. I hope they get hammered.
Nobody judging here…we’ve all had this happen. Our minds move faster than our fingers do. It’s all good:) If I could read the gibberish that was put up here a couple days ago because the first and last letters were in the right place….your typo is nothing to worry about:)
As you’ve pointed out Don, GOP is crazed by the changed goalposts and deadline extensions.
As I’ve pointed out, President Obama and his Administration and the American people Own the ACA.
So
The rules will be changed each time a benefit to the American people is identified.
Problems will be fixed.
Exceptions to deadlines will be extended.
We own it. We will fix it.
Not a damn thing the GOP can do but squeal.
Over a four-year period from 2007 to 2011, companies owned by Rural/Metro Corporation in Arizona, New York, Oregon and Delaware billed Medicare for numerous emergency patient transportation trips when the calls were not emergencies, leading to substantially higher payments from Medicare for the services, according to the government.
“The need to protect federal funds, including the Medicare trust fund, from fraud, waste and abuse has never been greater,” John Leonardo, U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said in a statement. “This settlement agreement is a substantial recovery for taxpayers and sends a clear message that the federal government will not stand idly by when its programs lose money due to false claims for payment.”
Leonardo said the government chose to settle the civil case “to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of protracted litigation.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Rural/Metro does not admit wrongdoing, but remains subject to investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and any criminal liability that may arise through ongoing federal probes of the company.
In a statement, Rural/Metro said it had reached a “voluntary civil settlement agreement” that does not include “any admission of liability.”
Don’t be fooled. They didn’t want protracted litigation so that this could quietly go away and they wouldn’t have to admit wrongdoing….and it wouldn’t be all over the news everyday….keeping the public in the dark, once again, as to who/what is really gaming the system!
Agree with you, df.
If we were entirely cynical we could advance the view that diverting public money into private hands is the #1 priority of way too many people who “govern” us.
This RACIST IMAGE was posted at HUFFPOST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/. I am permanently banned from commenting on the website so I need someone else to respond to this. I have tweeted my followers.
Most of the writer’s “stupid” stuff we can agree with. PBO only there because of health care rollout. And he was pictured front and center because——OBAMA.
They really think minorities are that stupid. It’s almost as dumb as the Rosa Parks tweet. The responses are hilarious. They actually think tweets are going to endear them to minority communities.
@GOP Minority Outreach Fail 101: Wishing "Happy Kwanzaa!" while making sure voter suppression bills become laws. pic.twitter.com/Ci9jqLJhBz
Agree with the assessment. We need to commit not just to defeating ‘radical conservatism’ in whatever form it morphs but much more importantly to refusing to enable in any way a ‘two America’ class stratification – the underlying goal of the plutocrats. It will take at least a decade to reverse the internal threat to the American Promise that was launched by Nixon and significantly expanded by Reagan. That process began in 2008, but was hampered considerably by those who stayed home in 2010. That mistake can never be repeated.
The Obama Diary 
G’morning ut and thanks for posting these wonderful pics. Thank you Mr. President and FLOTUS! 🙂
You’re welcome, HF. 😀
Thanks from me, too, UT!
Awww…thanks, Jacqueline!
HF! UT! Our President and First Lady are so kind and compassionate, they do so much good in this world!
It completely warms my heart to see them spread cheer to our troops on this Boxing Day. I love FLOTUS’ casual but elegant look 🙂
A Merry Christmas to all TOD family! I was busy yesterday with…ummm…watching a Dr. Who marathon leading up to the last Matt Smith episode…and didn’t have a chance to check in to wish you all much happiness.
Good morning, TODville.
The WH has put out this important reminder:
Good. That toxic “worst year evah” meme put out by the GOP and their friends in the media has got to be eradicated.
Yes, exactly. There are many good points in this piece and when taken in total, PBO has a phenomenal year in the context of everything the GOP has done to try and stop every inch of progress.
Dan Pfeiffer sent this out in an email so this will be going to out lots and lots of people.
meta, I received it too and intend to send it to lots of people also.
Meta, thanks for sharing it here. I just read Dan Pfeiffer’s email, and I plan to send it to all of those I sent holiday e-cards to as share with others. Very good. The toxic messengers are already out and about. We will carry our message of goodness with pride and gratefulness.
We will make it through this with favor of honesty, a steady focus, and sure footing of where we walk amongst the masses. HZ
Good Morning TOD Family!
Hope everyone’s Christmas was wonderful. Love the photos of the POTUS and FLOTUS thanking the troops. Moving into a new office today. Will try to check in when later. Have a great day peeps!
Thanks UT for posting the pics & video. I love how our President & First Lady are always doing the little things that mean SO much!
FLOTUS is looking “cocoa butter” lovely 🙂
“cocoa butter” lovely for sure, GGail. West coast cocoa butter jar out on the counter as I smooth down these long legs. HZ
HZ, today here in Pasadena is gonna be perfect for cocoa butter legs. {{{{HZ}}}}
GGail, it is great. I hope when I do take my spin and as I extend that first leg out as I exit the car, there will be a looker. Just kidding. HZ
I bet it will be a looker HZ! Don’t cause no traffic accidents out here now 😆
“Spawn of Koch”!!!
Jack Tapper and TeaNN ain’t worth sh*t.
Roach waste would be more like it.
Jack Tapper and TeaNN ain’t worth roach waste.
Okay then. How about snail slime?
Love it. With the new media they have at their hands, they’re pushing back with truth.
Wonderful accomplishments! Were he in the private sector, he’d be given a raise, a bonus, and a promotion. I, for one, am glad he chose to serve the national and global communities instead.
PS: As someone said, be careful denouncing polls. We don’t have to believe them, but don’t discount them entirely. That happened on the other side and it didn’t go so well for them. We must use it as a wake up call……that’s there’s plenty of work for us to do.
We are the Change We seek…
We can send this out far and wide…
YES WE Can…
Michelle Obama’s skin is to DIE for! She actually glows.
Nice pictures of our President and First lady.
Every person who visits TOD is probably as frustrated with the negative media barrage as I am.
Even my local stations call it “The Disasterous Obamacare Rollout” as though that is the name of the program and the whole story.
Especially infuriating to me is that this is in New York State where the signups have been huge.
To calm myself down I repeat that the real story will be told by the millions and millions of healthy Americans in this year and years to come.
Also, the poll that truly matters is the one after Election day, 2014.
I am hoping that every Democrat running for any and all offices anywhere—-red state blue state—will be wholehearted and loud about Obamacare and all our democratic initiatives.
Vicki, I don’t tweet, but I make myself feel less powerless and more useful by emailing links and copy/paste tweets that I get from here at TOD and send them out. It’s my way of refuting the msm mis-information.
GM, TOD. First time I’ve had to get here today. Early this morning while house was quiet (daughter’s), had the TV on the local FOX program (done by NBC, I think), heard a very negative report on the ACA. ……..how expensive it is for middle class folks especially…..many don’t qualify for subsidies and it is causing lots of concern and hardship for many in the middle class……..blah, blah, blah. Not one thing positive in the whole report. Sigh……..
Vicki, you need to let your local news know how important this healthcare law is.
Bahahahahahahahahahahaha. Politico must think today is April Fools Day.
These people are considered JOURNALISTS? Are they f’ing kidding me??!! Well THAT explains a lot, doesn’t it? No wonder media is in the toilet.
I looked at the complete list. If there is an actual non puppet propagandist among them I missed it.
Liars and/or idiots all.
NYTimes has replaced real journalists with the likes of Jonathan Martin, asshole from Politico.
Apologies—-Ronan Farrow is not an idiot. But he will do the youth oriented infotainment crap MSNBC offers instead of news. I hope I am wrong about this.
MSNBC is doing less and less actual news and more and more Sarah P. and the dopey Ducks crap, so there’s that.
Which ones are ” journalists ” and what journalism school did they attend ? They should have put Chuckie on that list of one more person that never went to journalism school.
I guess we can all call ourselves journalists now too…..
Agree on C.Toad
Can you tweet Chips list of blogs that was posted last week to Politico & other media folks? That should be the list to watch for.
Seriously? 4 of my least favorite “journalists.” I sure am missing Martin Bashir. He called out these folks when necessary.
The GOP lost or is losing on its old “wedge” issues.
DADT,gone.
DOMA, gone.
marriage equality in 18 (?) states. Rush has put out the word to not talk about these things because it reminds the country that the GOP Lost.
So, new wedge issue, it seems, is Snowden and NSA.
This guy stole our countries documents and defected to Russia. Spy? Traitor? No. GOPMSMTP see a tool they can use.
GOP must be kidding themselves that this can be blamed on the current administration. Spying is as old as time.
But they will use up countless hours of media time pushing this craziness. They own the airways and they will broadcast what they want to. Sinking viewership doesn’t seem to matter much.
Gop intends to just keep repeating the lies over and over and over to the dumb audience that welcomes poison into their homes.
If we turn the House Blue and keep the Senate and elect more Democratic governors in November most GOP bullshit will be defeated.
That’s the key. Dems MUST turn out to vote in droves!!!
Hi, everyone!
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Special ‘hi’ to Utal, and a wish that you had a good December 25th! I don’t believe I gave you a ‘personal’ wave or congratulatory pat on the shoulder for a job well done, before the holidays. Do continue to overwhelm us with goodies, young lady! 😉
Wow. Thank you so much, VC!
Wishing you and yours a great holidays season.
Thanks.
Hi vc
I’m at work….are U?!!???@@@!!!!?????
Hello my dear, GGail! Seasons Greetings! Did you get the stuff I was asked to mail you?
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Sorry to hear you’re working on Boxing Day; I thought most places closed then, but guess I’m wrong.
I am trying to recover from too much work yesterday, and the day before. Seems to me this recovery will take some time. 😉
Hello dear VC. I have the notification from my Post Office that there’s a parcel waiting for me!!!! Saturday can’t come quick enough 😀
Happy Boxing Day. Put your feet up and entertain us here on TOD.
What do you mean ‘Put your feet up and entertain us here on TOD’?
/smh/ Did you miss the part where I’m recovering from too much work in the last two days?
HA!
Your fingers and your brain seems to be working just fine 🙂
Well, one is really feeling more sluggish than the other. 😆 😆
All the media is covering ” The Year in Review ” with ALL NEGATIVE stories.
I think it would be a good thing if we were to share IN THE MEDIA, and here, at least one (different) good thing each time we see their negatives. As GGail pointed out above, she cuts and paste good stuff she can email. So let’s give her, and others like her, stuff to share to counter what media is (not) doing.
For example, I had forgotten that Richard Cordray’s CONFIRMATION as head of the Consumer FINANCIAL PROTECTION Bureau happened in this past year …
Today, President Obama thanked lawmakers from both parties for coming together to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was established to make sure American consumers are treated fairly in the financial market place, whether applying for a credit card, taking out a loan to buy a home or pay for college, dealing with a debt collector or other activities.
“Four years ago, even as we were working on restoring the economy and dealing with the immediate crisis,” President Obama said, “we also wanted to figure out how do we set new rules for the road to make sure that a few bad apples in the financial sector couldn’t break the law, or cheat consumers, or put the entire economy at risk.”
Those efforts led to the creation of the CFPB in 2011, and two years ago this week, President Obama first nominated Cordray to run the new agency. But the Senate wouldn’t vote on his confirmation, and the CFPB was severly hampered without a director,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/17/senate-confirms-richard-cordray-consumer-watchdog
Someone needs to do a ” year in review ” of all the media blunders…….especially at TeaNN….
But Linda, we are the “someone” that we’ve been waiting for. If we all submit just one media blunder, then, collectively, we’ll have the “year in review” compiled in no time – right?
IMO a more effective approach would be ….exactly what TODobots have been doing here in the last week – highlighting some of the memorable moments of this year. As we have seen from our own attempts here, we get reminded of events we might have forgotten just from sharing positively. Highlighting media blunders, I think, would be doing their negative work for them. Since media are not telling the truth, why don’t we? Who’s to prevent us from passing on these reminder-goodies to our contacts? Chips even placed them in the sidebar.
Of cource VC – we highlight their blunders by showcasing positive moments.
Egg.
sack.
lee
😀
Hey, where’s Amk now that I have a bit of time on my hands? I did miss him in the last couple of days. 😛
My first example of a ‘year-in-review’ tweet made with info I took from the above WH.GOV site. I hope this, or responses of this kind, spring up and take over twitter for the next 2-3 weeks! I don’t really care where you all find your info, or how you present it, but I see no reason why the TOD twitter brigade can’t make a push to blanket the ‘airwaves’. We have done so in the past with good results (I’m thinking of that young man who needed surgery and the hospital wouldn’t put him on the list), and it is my contention that this hateful, lying media meme is a good cause. However, my personal approach is to put our factual information out there, while not actually giving
voice/momentum to the actual lies.
Thank you warrior VC!
I copied the link you provided and it’s already on the way to Detroit & Atlanta.
T*Y*! {{{GGail}}}
See, if we harness our energies and do the ‘one voice can change a room’ thingy, I’d bet we can make a dent in this stupid, lying media ‘failure year’ meme, while not wasting energies (IMO) confronting *them*. They are so good at rationalizing and while they are doing so *their* message gets repeated.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The last of the Utah counties that were holding out on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples have reversed course and decided to hand out licenses to all eligible applicants.
Officials for the four holdouts — Box Elder, Utah, Piute and San Juan counties — told The Associated Press they made the decision Thursday to offer licenses to same-sex couples. Utah has 29 counties.
County clerks say they had little choice after an appeals court denied a motion for a stay on a ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby. He ruled Utah’s ban unconstitutional. The state is preparing an appeal.
The Utah attorney general’s office had said counties could be held in contempt of federal court if they refused to comply
We have to do for 2014. We have to assure our Dem politicians that we have their back and that they don’t have to run away from ACA. The money that will be thrown at anti-ACA campaigning will be phenomenal. Unless there’s some certainty that those people who have or will benefit from ACA will join in GOTV efforts, then our politicians will remain wary.
We can take those millions who visited or signed up for ACA and convert them to living testimonies by putting their feet on the street, not behind a keyboard. Anyone who is benefiting from ACA, owe it to PBO and Dems who risked their political welfare to make this possible for us all.
We must focus all that anti-MSM energy on figuring out a way to use it to get around the meme of any ACA failures. The best way to start is to get involved with OFA and other like minded political organizations and sign up to help turn those polls around.
cookemom, this is precisely what OFA is trying to accomplish. 🙂
I’M IN!
“The best way to start is to get involved with OFA and other like minded political organizations and sign up to help turn those polls around.”
For sure, cookemom and GGail. I received an encouraging e mail from Leader Reid and he wants us to know that we still have time to donate by the end of this month to finish in a positive way for helping us keep the Senate and getting the house. I always remember Bobfr and others who remind us to give what we can. So I committed to $20.14 above my regular giving. We can do this. They told us we could not do it inn 2012, but see what happen. I will not allow fear to over take my actions of faith in what we as a great TOD family can and will do. Let’s do with our gifts and talents those things that will bring us to a great and positive level. So much goodness is out there to bring into our space. So let us gather our grateful baskets of blessings and help where we can. We Can Do This. We must Do This.
FORWARD and as Bobfr reminds us, #TrustBarack. HZ
That’s the most record highs seen in a year since the 69 reached in 1995. —> BLAME OBAMA! <—
Woot, another handy ‘year-in-review’ example!
https://twitter.com/HistoryInPix/status/415448065928347648
Hahahahaha! Good one J’OB
I guess we haven’t changed much, eh?
Nope.
“Michelle Obama at 50, an American Superwoman”——will be of interest to readers here—– but I don’t know if it will link because it is on Chgo Trib’s digital copy, but here is my attempt:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-michelle-obama-turns-50-met-20131226,0,4964619.story
Link works fine but you can’t get to that particular article unless you’re a paid subscriber.
Sorry—I was afraid of that. I could access because we have a weekend subscription. It was a positive account, about her upcoming dancing bday party, about taking her first lady duties seriously but still having fun, quotes from Donna Brazile, said to be a frequent dining out partner, and others, about all her activities and appearances–kids first.
I’m kinda cold to the Trib anyway. My angst goes back to Harold Washington and the Trib’s nasty editorial. I’m like an old elephant I guess. I remember too much negative stuff….Sorry.
I used to hate the Trib—-way too conservative—-but I’ve seen improvement over the last few years—-more middle of the road. And I think the editorial board was truly impressed by Obama—-they investigated every inch of his life and came up empty—-and his interview there rang authentic and impressive—-thus their endorsements—-both times, the first one was the first Dem they had ever endorsed if not forever then in many decades. And so I started to forgive their past transgressions.
I hear you. I’m a bit of an old fogie. I’ll work on it. 🙂
Redo…but this is what we’re all talking about:)
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/christmas-serial-part-3-122413
There is a kind of justice rising, I believe, and not just because of the season, although I freely confess to being a sucker thereto. There is a pope impatient with the shotgun marriage of cupidity and virtue, and who is not shy about explaining why. There is a sense in our politics that we are now paying for having abandoned the creative act of self-government through which we build a political commonwealth, a sense that we allowed that great work to be hijacked by religious grifters, and political bunco artists, and the various assortment of thieves and brigands to whom we handed the world’s finances. There is a feeling in the land that the mist has begin to burn away, and that we see more clearly than ever the consequences of decades of choices, made and not made, and that we see more clearly than ever the work that has to be done to repair what we have chosen to do to our country and to ourselves. We can still refuse to do the work, but we no longer have the excuse available to us that we don’t know what has to be done.
We can remain two nations because we choose to be. Or we can shake off the lethargy of an atrophied citizenship. We can rediscover the common good, the deep and abiding current within true democracy toward equality and justice. This is, after all, a season of hope and rebirth and of the fall, silent as the dead of night, of an old order and an ancient way of doing things. We are two nations, but we do not have to be.
“We can rediscover the common good, the deep and abiding current within true democracy toward equality and justice.”
As you know, I view the scale of hunger, homelessness, unemployed and unemployable of Americans to be not only a sign of America’s failure as a society but also a grave National Security issue. So, I’ve begun tweeting and writing various folk with the authority, the stature and the capital to call their attention the immorality and vast inherent danger of the current situation.
That ‘inherent danger’ includes the millions of heavily armed fanatics just waiting for a call to ‘cleanse America of the ….. .’ It’s happened before folks …..
love these photos of our president and first lady! see that tan line on her chest, and a little sunburn too? she’s been relaxing in hawaii, and she’s glowing with it! beautiful! pbo is of course at his most cheerful at home here. they deserve this vacation so much, and by golly they’re finally getting it!
‘ … Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods, who has a book-like product to shill, and who suddenly realized that insulting the pope might not be the best sales strategy since Catholics read, too, and some of them are suckers, and they might be willing to spring for the 99 cents the book-like entity is going for as it falls off the edge of the remainders table at BJ’s Wholesale Club. ‘
charles pierce had pie for breakfast, and he’s enjoying himself immensely here!
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/sarah-palin-kathryn-jean-lopez-122613
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/12/26/preview-of-coming-attractions-2/ Hear that loud BOOM! noise? 🙂 Yes…the “captains of private industry” do things SOOOOOOOO much better, the RW meme goes! NOT.
Vermont and Massachusetts are getting ready to sue CGI Federal, the contractor that bungled their healthcare sites as well as healthcare.gov:
Massachusetts officials are reviewing legal options against CGI Group, a Montreal-based information technology company, and will make recommendations on how to seek financial redress at a Jan. 9 meeting.
So far, the state has paid $11 million of its $69 million contract with CGI. It will not pay a penny more until a functioning website has been delivered, said Jason Lefferts, spokesman for the Commonwealth Health Connector, the state’s insurance marketplace.
“CGI has consistently underperformed, which is frustrating and a serious concern,” Lefferts said. “We are holding the vendor accountable for its underperformance and will continue to apply nonstop pressure to work to fix defects and improve performance.”
Massachusetts has reverted to using an alternative software system and paper notifications for residents seeking new insurance, a significant black eye for a system that was held up as a national model for providing coverage after it debuted in 2007.
In Vermont, state officials recently alerted CGI that the state is withholding payment of $5.1 million as compensation for the company’s failure to meet key deadlines.
The state is also disputing more than $1 million in charges billed by CGI because of incomplete work that left its insurance website so far behind schedule that Vermonters could not buy coverage online, as promised under Obama’s health care law, until early December, two months after it opened.
How dare you besmirch the good name of a private sector company that was paid already but failed to deliver its product on time and has since missed every deadline it said it would meet.
Yes…imagine! These “captains of the universe” that think their stuff don’t stink….and they are above any repercussions of their malfeasance. I hope they get hammered.
5,844,276 <- Private Exchanges + Medicaid/SCHIP as of ~ 3p ET, 26 Dec 2013.
#OBAMACARE
Somebody is going to be really angre.
* angry* so sue me for spelling it wrong, I didn’t say I was a phi beta kappa. I get tired of you people judging me!
Nobody judging here…we’ve all had this happen. Our minds move faster than our fingers do. It’s all good:) If I could read the gibberish that was put up here a couple days ago because the first and last letters were in the right place….your typo is nothing to worry about:)
ROFLMAO!!!
No problem….we women know men can’t spell……
My hubby used to call me at work and ask how to spell words…..
MIne, too:) Still does.
As you’ve pointed out Don, GOP is crazed by the changed goalposts and deadline extensions.
As I’ve pointed out, President Obama and his Administration and the American people Own the ACA.
So
The rules will be changed each time a benefit to the American people is identified.
Problems will be fixed.
Exceptions to deadlines will be extended.
We own it. We will fix it.
Not a damn thing the GOP can do but squeal.
Preach Vicki!
I wonder if Smiley or West will be invited, I think the last invitation sent by the Obamas’ got lost in the mail.
TOD will be dancing at home and in spirit. turn up the music!
They’ll be invited, and like the last one, this invitation will also get lost in the mail.
What fun!!
Oh look! There’s more DEFRAUDING THE GOVT FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR
http://auburnpub.com/ap/state/updated-rural-metro-to-pay-million-in-medicare-fraud-case/article_b6cbb0bb-3ba6-5b14-ad72-201903e6518e.html
People need to pay attention. NOW.
Over a four-year period from 2007 to 2011, companies owned by Rural/Metro Corporation in Arizona, New York, Oregon and Delaware billed Medicare for numerous emergency patient transportation trips when the calls were not emergencies, leading to substantially higher payments from Medicare for the services, according to the government.
“The need to protect federal funds, including the Medicare trust fund, from fraud, waste and abuse has never been greater,” John Leonardo, U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said in a statement. “This settlement agreement is a substantial recovery for taxpayers and sends a clear message that the federal government will not stand idly by when its programs lose money due to false claims for payment.”
Leonardo said the government chose to settle the civil case “to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of protracted litigation.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Rural/Metro does not admit wrongdoing, but remains subject to investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and any criminal liability that may arise through ongoing federal probes of the company.
In a statement, Rural/Metro said it had reached a “voluntary civil settlement agreement” that does not include “any admission of liability.”
Don’t be fooled. They didn’t want protracted litigation so that this could quietly go away and they wouldn’t have to admit wrongdoing….and it wouldn’t be all over the news everyday….keeping the public in the dark, once again, as to who/what is really gaming the system!
Agree with you, df.
If we were entirely cynical we could advance the view that diverting public money into private hands is the #1 priority of way too many people who “govern” us.
Well….I must be entirely cynical. It goes on FAR too often and doesn’t get to see the sunshine like it should.
This RACIST IMAGE was posted at HUFFPOST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/. I am permanently banned from commenting on the website so I need someone else to respond to this. I have tweeted my followers.
I don’t see the image as racist, idon. It’s a silly headline with an equally silly article.
Most of the writer’s “stupid” stuff we can agree with. PBO only there because of health care rollout. And he was pictured front and center because——OBAMA.
🙂 http://www.cagle.com/2013/12/christmas-gop-and-obama/
They really think minorities are that stupid. It’s almost as dumb as the Rosa Parks tweet. The responses are hilarious. They actually think tweets are going to endear them to minority communities.
Give this a read. Bob….if you’re here….what you said.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_12/the_defeatresistant_tea_party048378.php
Agree with the assessment. We need to commit not just to defeating ‘radical conservatism’ in whatever form it morphs but much more importantly to refusing to enable in any way a ‘two America’ class stratification – the underlying goal of the plutocrats. It will take at least a decade to reverse the internal threat to the American Promise that was launched by Nixon and significantly expanded by Reagan. That process began in 2008, but was hampered considerably by those who stayed home in 2010. That mistake can never be repeated.
#FORWARD
Yes WE MUST
Good Afternoon TOD
Put down the food and drinks before you read this. Seriously. Don’t have ANYTHING in your mouth.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/glenn-greenwald-i-defend-snowden-like-msnbc-defends-obama-24-hours-a-day
https://twitter.com/msnbcDisrupt/status/416322376393957376
My President is wearing a brand new shirt. Must be a Christmas gift he got. 🙂
I was hoping for some new pants. The gray ones he had on yesterday he’s had since college. (just kidding, everyone—sorta)
Heheh….I wish I could fit in the same pants I wore in college…. 🙂
Ummmm—-me too. Might be able to get them on but no zipping. And that would look silly.
LOL! At least you can get them on… 🙂
hopefruit2, I was thinking the same thing, it might be a Christmas gift.
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/12/26/news-of-the-day-28/