Since I did the Beatles, now it’s time for their dark doppelgangers.
Sympathy for the Devil
Gimme Shelter
Continue reading ‘Night owl chat – Ladies and gentlemen, the Rolling Stones’
Archive for January 10th, 2014
10
Jan
14
Babies ♥ Barack Obama
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10
Jan
14
A Tweet or Two
15 Ridiculously Cute President-Meets-Baby Seconds (President Obama at @thecoupedc today) http://t.co/HlOe0WUKPl
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) January 10, 2014
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#ObamasAmerica: AG Holder says the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages already performed in Utah. http://t.co/KdIEcFpGcF
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) January 10, 2014
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Battling for civil rights every step of the way, thank you gentlemen. #Utah #GayRights pic.twitter.com/ReA2G33m85
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) January 10, 2014
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‘Chris Christie Press Conference – The Reviews Are In’ pic.twitter.com/oD93Z0tytL
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) January 10, 2014
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Help TPM Dig Through The Chris Christie Bridge Scandal Documents http://t.co/ZuTFqUVQ7t
— Donna NoShock (@NoShock) January 10, 2014
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Amazing email from the NJ Port Authority chief just 20 mins before the bridge lanes were restored: http://t.co/FRNA2SmWYd
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 10, 2014
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“I believe this hasty and ill-advised decision violates Federal law and the laws of the States.” #christie pic.twitter.com/19wkMQzsUe
— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) January 10, 2014
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Wow: Port Authority was telling people that traffic debacle was Fort Lee mayor’s fault: pic.twitter.com/kpgE8KOIUC
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) January 10, 2014
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Can we stop saying Bridgeghazi? 1 was a crime of blatant disregard for lives/safety of Americans.The other was a terrorist attack in Libya.
— Collide-A-Scope (@CMMR123) January 10, 2014
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We shut down bridges. We shut down government. We shut down jobs. We shut down economy. We are .@gop.
— amk4obama (@amk4obama) January 10, 2014
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Chat away!
10
Jan
14
Listening
President Obama listens as he has lunch with five young people at The Coupe restaurant in the Columbia Heights section of Washington, Friday, Jan. 10. The five are spearheading creative outreach efforts to connect with and help enroll young consumers through the Marketplaces or are interested in getting more involved with these efforts. Seated at the table with Obama are, from left, Anne Johnson, Andres Cruz, Obama, Jasmine Hicks, Tommy McFly and David Dimock:
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He knows a good lookin’ kid when he sees one! @SamCBays: The Prez at @thecoupedc! pic.twitter.com/8MTEQGcIGw
— The Coupe (@thecoupedc) January 10, 2014
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This baby just fiddled with the president’s face pic.twitter.com/G05KDfEcf1
— John Gramlich (@johngramlich) January 10, 2014
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Amazing photo. What a smile! @clmoreho: His down to earth demeanor rings true pic.twitter.com/hhYziIHyfI
— The Coupe (@thecoupedc) January 10, 2014
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Chat away!
10
Jan
14
Rise and Shine
On This Day: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk towards the White House after observing a moment of silence for the victims of the Arizona shooting, on the South Lawn, Jan. 10, 2011 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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Today:
The President has no public events scheduled
12:45: Press Briefing by Jay Carney
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USA Today: Obama to visit North Carolina next week
President Obama will prepare for his Jan. 28 State of the Union speech with a visit next week to North Carolina. Obama will travel to the Raleigh-Durham area on Wednesday for an event on the economy, the White House announced Thursday.
More here
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6.7% unemployment rate is lowest since Oct. 2008, more than five years.
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) January 10, 2014
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Steve Benen: December job totals disappoint
…. The new report from Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. economy added only 74,000 jobs in December, far below economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.7% – its lowest point since October 2008 – but that appears largely to be the result of people dropping out of the workforce.
…. this is an initial estimate, which will be revised twice more, and may end up looking far less discouraging than it does right now. Indeed, the revisions from October and November showed an additional 38,000 U.S. jobs that had been previously unreported.
…. For congressional Republicans to undermine the economy on purpose by cutting off extended unemployment benefits makes it that much more difficult for the job market to return to where it needs to be.
All told, so far in calendar year 2013, the economy added 2.18 million jobs, while the private sector alone created 2.21 million jobs.
Full post here
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The U.S. has now had 46 consecutive months of private sector job growth and created more than 8 million new jobs. http://t.co/MTZ4XLEZxb
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 10, 2014
Before Obamacare, 7 million private sector jobs lost. Since Obamacare, 8 million private sector jobs created. http://t.co/MTZ4XLEZxb
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 10, 2014
The US has recovered nearly all the jobs lost during Bush recession but the population has expanded so we still need a lot more jobs.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 10, 2014
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Steve Benen: Putting 2013 job totals in context
December’s job totals were clearly a bitter disappointment, but now that we have 12 months of job data, we can ask a different question: how did 2013 shape up?
In all, the U.S. economy added 2.186 million jobs last year, while the private sector created 2.213 million. Looking back over the last couple of decades, that means when it comes to the overall economy, 2013 was the best year for jobs in the United States since 2005 and the second best year since 1999.
That’s right: last year, the economy created more jobs than seven of the eight years Bush/Cheney was in office….
More here
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Brian Beutler: Most important political news this week: New report kills GOP’s radical agenda
Christie and the bridge is big. But Obamacare driving down healthcare inflation is even bigger. Here’s why.
The furthest-reaching political news of the week has nothing to do with who clogged the George Washington Bridge or what Robert Gates thinks of Barack Obama’s completely justifiable skepticism of David Petraeus and the war in Afghanistan.
It came in a seemingly boring actuarial report from a government agency most people probably have never of, showing that for the first time since the 1990s, total U.S. healthcare spending grew at a slower rate than the U.S. economy at the beginning of the current decade.
This sounds like the kind of thing only wonks and other nerds care about, which is probably why it didn’t become a #hashtag meme on Twitter or whatever, but the implications of the great healthcare spending slowdown are vast, and have thus reignited a long-simmering academic and ideological debate over whether, and to what extent, Obamacare deserves credit.
More here
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Before #Obamacare, patients with serious illnesses would reach their lifetime health care spending limit: http://t.co/VqaWRwXwJg #TBT
— OFA (@OFA) January 9, 2014
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Paul Krugman: The Medicaid Cure
Something really interesting is happening on the health-care front: costs are rising much less rapidly than anyone expected. This is good news for the budget; it’s also good news for Obamacare. There was much skepticism about promises that health reform would “bend the curve”, reducing cost growth; well, the curve is bending, and it’s likely that the cost control measures that are part of Obamacare (and have been in effect for several years) are part of the reason.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned much, however, is that another aspect of recent developments — the rapid rise in Medicaid enrollment, despite Republican efforts to block it — adds to the prospect of continuing good news on health costs.
More here
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Greg Sargent: Steve Beshear: Don’t fear the politics of Obamacare, Dems
The rollout of Obamacare in Kentucky may represent the most interesting experiment in the politics of health care in the country right now. Dem governor Steve Beshear is perhaps the most outspoken defender of the Affordable Care Act in the south. This, in a deep red state where the reform known as “Obamacare” is deeply unpopular; where the leading foe of the President’s agenda is on the ballot this year; and where the need for reform is urgent.
In an interview today, Beshear offered fellow Dems — red state and otherwise — some startling advice: Stand up for Obamacare because it’s the right thing to do. What’s more, Beshear insists, Republicans are wrong: the health law will be a political positive for Dems next fall.
“We’re doing the right thing,” Beshear told me. “That’s the most important point here. The people of America, and the people of Kentucky, deserve access to affordable health care. For the first time in the history of this country, we have a tool that allows us to accomplish this goal.”
More here
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FACT: Lifetime limits on health care spending are gone, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. pic.twitter.com/bgACzeKyaB
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 9, 2014
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LA Times: Remember the deficit? It’s melting
The capital may be enduring a brief spell of record-low temperatures this week, but the federal deficit continues to melt away.
According to the latest figures from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the red ink for the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which began Oct. 1, dropped by almost 40% compared with the same period a year earlier.
The deficit has gone down so much that the federal government actually ran a surplus for December — a one-time occurrence that resulted from some special circumstances but still an indicator of the rapidly improving state of the government’s finances.
More here
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The New York Daily News isn’t often linked here …. but if you missed it, the editorial on Christie is a bit of a must-read: here
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The Wire: The Four Key Questions Chris Christie Didn’t Answer at His Press Conference
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a lengthy press conference on Thursday aimed at answering questions about his administration’s involvement in the sudden decision to close traffics lanes in the town of Fort Lee last September. But a number of critical questions went unanswered.
Background: The closure of most of the on-ramp lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York the week of September 9 meant a massive traffic back-ups in Fort Lee, slowing emergency vehicles (with dangerous effect) and delaying commuters. The town’s mayor, Mark Sokolich, wrote a letter on Thursday of that week, suggesting the closures were punitive.
At the time, two Christie appointees ran the Port Authority’s New Jersey arm, both of whom have resigned. One, David Wildstein, had his emails subpoenaed, revealing that Bridget Anne Kelly, deputy chief of staff to Christie, told him shortly before the traffic change that it was “time for traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
Christie’s press conference lasted about two hours, but there remain some outstanding questions….
More here
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Pretty sure Rachel Maddow just turned everyone’s theory of Christie’s Bridge-gate on its head. Very persuasive: http://t.co/o4zOu8Vtcp
— Jonathan Shainin (@jonathanshainin) January 10, 2014
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Read Steve Benen here on Rachel Maddow’s Bridgegate theory
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TPM: New Jersey Residents File Lawsuit Against Christie Over Traffic Jam
Six New Jersey residents have filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Chris Christie, the state of New Jersey, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and others over traffic jams in September.
The suit filed in federal court Thursday appears to be the first civil claim over traffic jams that appear to have been caused as political punishment for the Fort Lee mayor.
The plaintiffs want it certified as a class action.
More here
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Charles Pierce: Big Chicken Exposed
…. I spent a couple of hours watching his bop-til-you-drop press conference this morning, and I came to the following conclusion.
What a fking poltroon.
…. The basic theme of the press conference was that Big Chicken was responsible for one thing and one thing only — of trusting people who preyed on his well-known innocence and his extensively documented and deeply held faith in his fellow human beings …. What a world it is when a man cannot trust the hacks whom he appoints to serve him. Jesus H. Christ in the HOV lane, Nixon threw Haldeman and Ehrlichman out the windows with more compassion and fellow feeling than Christie demonstrated yesterday.
…. the simple fact is that Big Chicken remains a bully, and now he stands exposed as a coward, as most bullies are, and an entirely self-centered cad. “You need to understand this,” he said. “I am resolved to do the job, but I am a very sad person today. A person I gave a high public office betrayed me. I might get angry later. But I am a sad person today.”
In so goddamn many ways.
Full post here
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ThinkProgress: All-Male Congressional Committee Considers Imposing Far-Reaching Abortion Restrictions
On Thursday morning, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice held a hearing on HR 7, the “No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act.” That subcommittee, which is headed up by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and comprised of 12 other male lawmakers, is deciding whether to advance sweeping restrictions on abortion coverage that would make the procedure less affordable for women across the country.
Abortion opponents are relentless in their efforts to ensure that taxpayer dollars don’t end up financing abortion services. But HR 7 is actually deceptively titled. Under the guise of preventing federal money from covering abortion, it would actually have dramatic consequences for the insurance industry and the tax code as a whole, potentially creating a society in which private insurance no longer includes abortion care.
More here
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This @WhiteHouse video sets the record straight on the #polarvortex: http://t.co/CdjCy5yTqi #ActOnClimate
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) January 10, 2014
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MoooOOOooorning!
10
Jan
14
Early Bird Chat
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MoooOOOooorning Early Birds!
Huuuuuuuge thanks to UT for all her mega posts yesterday, and to LL for his outstanding piece – treasures!
Happy Friday!
The Obama Diary 
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