A Tweet Or Two

The First Lady is teaming up with @PeaceCorps to help girls #LetGirlsLearn around the world: letgirlslearn.peacecorps.gov #LetGirlsLearn

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The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 03, 2015

"Every girl deserves an education." —President Obama #LetGirlsLearn http://t.co/9L7MTiYog6

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Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 03, 2015

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FACT: 70% of the 1 billion people living in extreme poverty are women and girls. Education can change that → u.pw/1B5bSmx

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The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 03, 2015

It's time to help more girls around the world get the education they deserve → wh.gov/LetGirlsLearn #LetGirlsLearn http://t.co/Bs8Dz2UzsE

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White House Af-Am Ed (@AfAmEducation) March 03, 2015

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Justice Department finds Ferguson police routinely violated the civil rights of the city's black residents: on.wsj.com/1AWz1bU

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Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) March 03, 2015

NPR source: Ferguson cops, officials traded racist e-mails about Obama - bit.ly/1NdjFoR http://t.co/2CNEfB8dCF

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Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) March 03, 2015

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#BREAKING Department of Justice: Ferguson police engaged in racially biased policing usat.ly/1BDXyTN

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USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 03, 2015

Official: Justice Department concludes Ferguson police engaged in a “pattern and practice” of discrimination. cnn.it/1GgDXMh

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CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) March 03, 2015

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.@Talkmaster You should be ashamed. The Floor of the House shouldn't be used as a tool to re-elect a foreign leader.

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John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 03, 2015

It is not fully understood just how big a deal it is that several Jewish members of Congress are boycotting a speech by an Israeli PM.

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Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) March 03, 2015

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Agree w them or not, the Obama admin has begun laying out substantive case for Iran deal. latimes.com/world/middleea…

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David Lauter (@DavidLauter) March 03, 2015

Newly available, once-classified documents show senior Bush officials & lawyers repeatedly approved the CIA torture. trib.al/BfNa5C6

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Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) March 03, 2015

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The President And First Lady’s Day

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama announce a new government-wide coordinated strategy to help millions of girls around the world attend and stay school called “Let Girls Learn” in the East Room of the White House. Saying that she will focus on this program beyond her time in the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama will soon travel to Japan and Cambodia to promote the new initiative.

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White House: Working Together To Open The Doors Of Education For Girls Around The World

To educate a girl is to build a healthier family, a stronger community, and a brighter future. Unfortunately today, 62 million girls around the world are not in school. Half of them are adolescents. We know that countries with more girls in secondary school tend to have lower maternal mortality rates, lower infant mortality rates, lower rates of HIV/AIDS, and better child nutrition. But too often, a girl who could change her world for the better is locked out of that future by the circumstances of her birth or the customs of her community. We know that a girl with an education can shape her own destiny, lift up her family, and transform her community.

That is why President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be championing our efforts to help adolescent girls around the globe attend and complete school through the Let Girls Learn initiative, which will build upon the public engagement campaign the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched last summer. Let Girls Learn is a government-wide effort that will leverage the investments we have made and success we have achieved in global primary school, and expand them to help adolescent girls complete their education. A key part of Let Girls Learn will be to encourage and support community-led solutions to reduce barriers that prevent adolescent girls from completing their education.

More here

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President Barack Obama embraces Peace Corps volunteer Charlene Espinoza

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"I want to use my time and platform as First Lady and beyond to make a real impact." —FLOTUS #LetGirlsLearn http://t.co/o1kjFJBNYi

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The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 03, 2015

"As part of #LetGirlsLearn, we’re going to be launching a new, community-focused girls’ education initiative" —FLOTUS http://t.co/ND2SS8cT6m

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The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 03, 2015

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"Wherever they live, whoever they are, every girl on this planet has value." —President Obama #LetGirlsLearn http://t.co/9rqaFRsvf6

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The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 03, 2015

"A good education can lift you from the most humble circumstances into a life you never could have imagined." —FLOTUS http://t.co/NoWAdOxHhc

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The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 03, 2015

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First Lady Michelle Obama playfully takes a bow as she is introduced by President Barack Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama playfully gestures as President Barack Obama makes a joke

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President Barack Obama makes a statement after meeting with the Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and US Army General Martin Dempsey in the Oval Office. President Obama gave remarks on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address given during a joint meeting of the United States Congress.

Small Businesses Prospering. Thanks, ObamaCare

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Amy Lynn Smith: Michigan Small Business Offers Competitive Employee Benefits Thanks To The ACA

Ryan Irvin and Amanda Stitt are the kind of small business owners who want to do the right thing for their employees. But they’re also business owners who need to pay attention to the bottom line. Fortunately, they’re able to do both. The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace at Healthcare.gov gives businesses with less than 50 employees everything they need to find the right plan for their employees and get them all covered. Last year, Irvin and Stitt — who are married with a baby girl, Amelia — were paying for their own insurance after Stitt transitioned from her previous job to become chief executive officer of Change Media Group. They were also paying the premiums of one full-time employee who purchased her coverage at Healthcare.gov.

But setting up an employer plan through the SHOP Marketplace made a lot more sense, says Irvin. For Amanda, Amelia and myself, we were paying $1,282 in premiums last year. We’ll get to deduct those premiums from our taxes but we won’t get the small business tax credit offered through SHOP. Add on what we were paying for our employee’s coverage and we were paying $1,539 a month. For 2015, with our SHOP plan, we’ll be paying $1,448 a month for our family and that one employee, which is a savings of $100 a month in premiums. Plus, instead of a tax deduction of 25-30% for our premiums we’ll get a 40-50% tax credit to the business for the premiums we pay.

More here

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Employee health insurance, made more affordable thanks to Obamacare. Here's how it's working for one small business: eclectablog.com/2015/02/michig…

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Amy Lynn Smith (@alswrite) February 22, 2015

The President and First Lady Speak On Let Girls Learn Initiative

Keep chatting!

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, @patbagley

Chat Away

President Barack Obama talks with senior advisors following a meeting in the Oval Office, March 3, 2011. Fom left: Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication; Press Secretary Jay Carney; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; and Dan Restrepo, Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs. (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama works on his speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) with Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, in the Oval Office, Saturday, March, 3, 2012. (Photo by Pete Souza)

Early Bird Rise and Shine

On This Day: President Barack Obama examines the Resolute Desk on March 3, 2009, while visiting with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg in the Oval Office. In a famous photograph, her brother John F. Kennedy Jr., peeked through the FDR panel, while his father President Kennedy worked (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Morning everyone, see you all later – this is a scheduled post, so apologies for not saying hello in the comments!