The Week Ahead

 

Success Is: #7MillionAndCounting

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Russell Simmons: President Obama, Go Ahead & Dust That Dirt Off Your Shoulders!

I’ve always believed that the collective prayer of young people can change the world. From the early days of hip-hop to the emergence of the millenial’s to the power of the Obama presidency, young people have pushed forward a much more progressive agenda than any generation prior. When young people want something, they go get it. No waiting in line, no asking their turn, no seeking permission; their tenacity to achieve the impossible is unmatched. A few months ago, it almost seemed impossible that the Obama administration would reach their original goal of enrolling 7 million people into the new affordable health care system. After a bumpy start with the crash of their website, very few people believed that the administration would get to a place where the program would be deemed successful. The President needed at least seven million new people enrolled in ACA in order for the most important program of his presidency to actually work. Republicans had certainly written him off and many Democrats quietly gave up.

Our work certainly is not done, but with over seven million people enrolling in Obamacare, we ought to be very proud of what we have accomplished. The legacy of this great President is growing by the day, as one who leads with compassion, tolerance and generosity with always a focus on equality. I thank him for his resilience for never giving up, even after so many thought he would fail and so many actually wanted him to fail. He led this campaign with incredible determination and this nation will forever be indebted to him for uplifting all Americans and changing our health care system forever. Now, let’s go enroll another 7 million people next year!

More here

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What To Do Now

Friends, I’ve been feeling down for a couple of weeks.

As Obamacare was surging to success, I couldn’t quite delight in it. Something niggled at me. That’s why I wrote this piece. The hoops through which Barack Obama has had to go through just to get anything done is without parallel in US political history.

But then it was revealed that Pres. Obama asked the major networks for primetime space to speak to the nation about ACA reaching its most generous enrollment targets, and what this meant for ordinary Americans, alone among industrialized nations denied the security of access to basic healthcare. The networks denied him.

Now I’m riled up. This disrespect shown Pres. Obama by the Big 3 networks was the last straw.

The media went on a jihad after the failed rollout of healthcare.gov, loudly trumpeting every failure, every glitch, every frustrated user of the website. The blandishments were endless and incessant. For weeks, newscasts led with the problems faced by the website, as if the website were the totality of the Affordable Care Act. It would feature every detractor of Obamacare on its newscasts, would consign the entire enterprise to dismal doom. As AP so famously put it, it would “take a miracle” for the law to reach its target.

But reach its target it did. In fact, it has surpassed it, to the consternation not only of the right wing wurlitzer, but of the perspicacious segments of our failed media experiment, the supposed gatekeepers of all that is newsworthy.

Rise and Shine

President Obama lifts up a baby April 4, 2009, during the U.S. Embassy greeting at a Prague hotel (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Today

2:10: The President meets with Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa

5:40: Hosts a reception for Greek Independence Day

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Rest in Peace, Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) pic.twitter.com/PzfB0XwO9V

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) April 4, 2014

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Paul Krugman: Rube Goldberg Survives

Holy seven million, Batman! The Affordable Care Act, a k a Obamacare, has made a stunning comeback from its shambolic start. As the March 31 deadline for 2014 coverage approached, there was a surge in applications at the “exchanges” — the special insurance marketplaces the law set up. And the original target of seven million signups, widely dismissed as unattainable, has been surpassed.

But what does it mean? That depends on whether you ask the law’s opponents or its supporters. You see, the opponents think that it means a lot, while the law’s supporters are being very cautious. And, in this one case, the enemies of health reform are right. This is a very big deal indeed.

Of course, you don’t find many Obamacare opponents admitting outright that 7.1 million and counting signups is a huge victory for reform. But their reaction to the results — It’s a fraud! They’re cooking the books! — tells the tale. Conservative thinking and Republican political strategy were based entirely on the assumption that it would always be October, that Obamacare’s rollout would be an unremitting tale of disaster. They have no idea what to do now that it’s turning into a success story.

More here

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By 2017, #Obamacare will cover 36 million grateful Americans. http://t.co/wT4PcJymHq pic.twitter.com/AvTtd2QgQ8 #ACAWorks #ThanksObama

— Wisdom Rocks (@GetWisdomDude) April 3, 2014

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‘The Right Is Wrong Again: Obamacare Hits 7 Million Enrollment Goal’ pic.twitter.com/65d962ZydD

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) April 4, 2014

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Politicususa: Harry Reid Completely Hammers Mitch McConnell On Obamacare Success In Kentucky

During a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tore into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) regarding the success story that the Affordable Care Act has been in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky. Days after it was revealed that the number of people who signed up for private insurance plans on the state and federal exchanges under Obamacare exceeded the administration’s goals, Reid pointed out some basic facts in regards to the health care law’s effect in Kentucky.

More here

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Revealed: GWB’s painting. pic.twitter.com/ijWQxWVSQl

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) April 4, 2014

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‘Minimalist – George Bush’ pic.twitter.com/jdHuMqUvrq

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) April 4, 2014

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Steve Benen: Job market continues to show signs of life

After discouraging monthly job reports in December and January, there were broad concerns about which way the job market was headed. Would it remain stuck or start to bounce back?

The latest evidence seems to suggest the latter. In fact, the new report from Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. economy added 192,000 jobs in March, roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate remained the same at 6.7%.

For the second consecutive month, public-sector layoffs did not drag down the overall employment figures. Though jobs reports over the last few years have shown monthly government job losses, in March, the private sector added 192,000 while the public sector broke even.

More here

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Obama something something impeach! RT @CNNMoney: Dow and S&P 500 open at record highs following a solid jobs report. http://t.co/drXxbImkPt”

— BWD (@theonlyadult) April 4, 2014

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Michael Grunwald: Republicans Want Us To Be Europe

The party that talks the most about the dangers of America going Continental is the one dead set on making it happen. When it comes to economics, the GOP is the party of croissants and lederhosen

The basic Republican critique of President Obama is that he’s Europeanizing America. In the last campaign, Mitt Romney claimed Obama “takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe.” Paul Ryan warned “we will turn out just like Europe if we stick with European policies.” Europe’s continuing economic stagnation—12 percent unemployment, near deflation, tepid growth—is certainly an unattractive model for the United States. You can see why conservative cartoonists like to draw Obama in a beret.

But the policies that created the mess in Europe are not Obama’s policies. They are the policies—especially tight money and fiscal austerity—that Republicans have pushed for America. And where economics is concerned, the GOP is still the party of croissants and lederhosen.

More here

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No way on God’s green earth wld any white President be snubbed by the media for primetime airing on an accomplishment of healthcare reform. — 3ChicsPolitico (@3ChicsPolitico) April 3, 2014

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#ShameOnNetworkNews @ABC @CBS @NBC You don’t deny the President of the United States when he wants 2 address the Nation #7MillionAndCounting

— Donna NoShock (@NoShock) April 3, 2014

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TPM: TV Networks Denied Obama Airtime To Tout Obamacare Enrollment

 The White House reportedly wanted to put President Barack Obama on primetime television Tuesday to tout Obamacare’s 7 million enrollees — but network TV officials denied him the airtime.

 BuzzFeed had the scoop, citing three sources with knowledge of the request. Details of the request are unclear from the report, but it appears that the White House was seeking primetime space on broadcast TV networks.

 More here

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Someone who isn’t blocked by @markknoller should ask him when was the last time @CBS denied POTUS request for prime time address. — BWD (@theonlyadult) April 3, 2014

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@chucktodd You’re the political director. Tell me when your network refused another PRESIDENT airtime to discuss a law. DISGUSTING!!!!

— LiberalPhenom (@LiberalPhenom) April 3, 2014

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NYT: After Push by Obama, Minimum-Wage Action Is Moving to the States

The more President Obama talks about the need to raise the federal minimum wage, the less likely it appears that Republicans in Congress are inclined to do it.

But the stalemate matters less and less. In the last 14 months, since Mr. Obama first called for the wage increase in his 2013 State of the Union address, seven states and the District of Columbia have raised their own minimum wages, and 34 states have begun legislative debates on the matter. Activists in an additional eight states are pursuing ballot referendums this year to demand an increase in wages for their lowest-paid workers.

More here

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Read the facts about the Kochs’ radical agenda: http://t.co/TwbsEaU6it

— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) April 3, 2014

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Charles Pierce: The Cri De Koch

…. Anybody who had any doubts about whether or not the Kochs have imbibed fully their father’s devotion to the old Birchite view of things can rest easy, This is something out of the collected works of John Stormer, the stuff that was supposed to have died in conservatism with the end of the Goldwater campaign. None Dare Call It Antiquated. But, if you have more money than God and Solomon, you can bring even the most decomposed ideology back to life, I guess.

…..Koch: “….. Those in power fail to see that more government means less liberty, and liberty is the essence of what it means to be American. Love of liberty is the American ideal.”

Says the gentleman who’s poured more millions into voter-suppression efforts all over the country. Again, all done out of altruism and in the name of saving America from the tyranny of clean air and insurance-friendly health-care reform. If I’m Harry Reid, I keep pounding on these guys. The public butthurt is getting quite entertaining.

Full post here

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The shooter Muslim? He’s a terrorist! He Latino? Tougher immigration laws, please! Was he white? Aw, needed medical help. 😦 #FortHood

— Josh Shahryar (@JShahryar) April 3, 2014

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ThinkProgress: Why The Fort Hood Shooter Was Able To Purchase A Gun Despite Serious Mental Health Issues

A gunman identified as 34-year-old Iraq War veteran Ivan Lopez opened fire at the Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas on Wednesday, reportedly killing three service members before committing suicide. Officials reported that Lopez was being treated for several mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, and was being screened for possible Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But despite his ongoing treatment, Lopez wasn’t barred from owning a gun. In fact, he recently purchased the .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol that he used during Wednesday’s shooting spree.

More here

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What it takes to get action against a corporate wrongdoer: 8 deaths http://t.co/wZLhe4zf3P

— Michael Hiltzik (@hiltzikm) April 3, 2014

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ThinkProgress: Stand Your Ground Is About To Get Even Worse In Florida

Attempts to roll back any of the Florida Stand Your Ground law’s most incendiary elements have foundered more than two years after the death of Trayvon Martin. But a bill to expand the law passed Thursday, mere months after it was introduced. The National Rifle Association-backed bill would expand Stand Your Ground-like protections to those who point a gun at an attacker or fire a gun as a self-defense threat or warning, expanding the scope of the discretion judges and juries retain to exempt shooters from criminal charges for gun violence. The final bill also includes a provision to keep Stand Your Ground records secret. More here

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PHOTOS – #Obama brings #minimumwage populism and campaign-style energy to Ann Arbor (by @Anne_Savage) http://t.co/BDWiXSueMA #POTUSatUMich — Chris Savage (@Eclectablog) April 3, 2014

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On This Day

President Obama’s personal aide Reggie Love, left, and White House physician Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman check their notes as they travel in the Presidential motorcade April 4, 2009 in Strasbourg, France (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama makes remarks at a press conference April 4, 2009, following the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, France. (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and fellow NATO leaders step down from a photo platform April 4, 2009, following their group photo at the NATO meeting in Strasbourg, France (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama gestures during a fiscal policy meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, April 4, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama addresses United States Secret Service Uniformed Division officers before a group photo at the South Portico of the White House, April 4, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden joke together while taping a Joining Forces public service announcement in the East Room of the White House, April 4, 2011 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Obama sits alone on the patio outside the Oval Office, following a meeting with his senior advisors, April 4, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama jokes with Vice President Biden backstage before the STOCK Act signing event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, April 4, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)

On This Day: President Obama greets the Zion Baptist Church Children’s Choir before the Easter Prayer Breakfast, in the Blue Room of the White House, April 4, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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First Lady Michelle Obama and students from around the country participate in the White House Kitchen Garden spring planting on the South Lawn of the White House, April 4, 2013 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Obama smiles before boarding Marine One helicopter from a field overlooking the iconic golden gate bridge in San Francisco, California, on April 4, 2013

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MoooOOOooorning – Happy Friday!

tod toon time

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That’s all folks

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Also. Too.

1%ers supreme court. 1%ers congress. 1%ers media. 99%ers better wake the fuck up. Now.

— amk4obama (@amk4obama) April 4, 2014