Posts Tagged ‘2008
15
Jun
14
Happy Father’s Day, 44!
Happy Father’s Day also, to the men of TOD – be you biological, adopted, step, father figure. Thank you for having our backs, thank you for the smiles, thank you for the encouragement, thank you for your bad dad jokes, thank you for the embarrassment, thank you for the hi-5’s, thank you for letting us know that as long as we give it our best shot, we are more than good enough; thank you for the foundation that allows us to lift our heads high as we venture out into the world. Thanks for being great dads!
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02
Jun
14
Elections Matter
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Washington Post: Obama Judges Tip Appeals Court To Democrats
When President Bush II left the White House in 2009, the 13 U.S. courts of appeal were firmly under Republican appointees’ control. Ten appeals courts had majority GOP judges, two were evenly split and only one had a majority of Democrats. President Obama’s 49 appeals court appointees have dramatically altered the landscape. As of the Senate’s recess on May 23, nine of those courts had majority Democratic appointees and four had Republican majorities.
(There are 10 vacancies in the circuit courts. One Obama nominee is awaiting a Senate vote and three nominees pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.) The change, much feared by Republicans, is not necessarily shocking. But the transformation, in just 5 1/2 years, said University of Pittsburgh law professor Arthur D. Hellman, an authority on the federal circuit courts, marks ”a huge shift in a very short period of time.” And it means that Democratic appointed judges “have the ability to control every important case if they wish to” in those nine circuits, he said.
More here
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Timothy B. Lee: Obama Has Secured Democratic Majorities On Most Federal Appeals Courts
A president’s Supreme Court nominees get a lot of attention, but presidents shape less visible parts of the judiciary too. Barack Obama is no exception. The Washington Post has a chart showing how the president has changed the composition of the nation’s appeals courts over the last five and a half years: Now, it’s important to say that courts are not supposed to be partisan institutions.
Still, Democratic judicial nominees tend to be more liberal than Republican nominees. And so the growing number of Democrat-appointed judges in our appeals courts will push American jurisprudence to the left on a wide range of issues. And because Obama’s nominees will stay on the bench long after Obama leaves office, these nominations will be one of his most durable legacies.
More here
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15
Feb
14
The World ♥ The Obamas
08
Feb
14
Change Has Come To America
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TPM: Justice Department To Launch Push For Full Recognition Of Same-Sex Marriage
In an assertion of same-sex marriage rights, Attorney General Eric Holder is applying a landmark Supreme Court ruling to the Justice Department, announcing Saturday that same-sex spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other, should be eligible to file for bankruptcy jointly and are entitled to the same rights and privileges as federal prison inmates in opposite-sex marriages. The Justice Department runs a number of benefits programs, and Holder says same-sex couples will qualify for them. They include the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and benefits to surviving spouses of public safety officers who suffer catastrophic or fatal injuries in the line of duty.
“In every courthouse, in every proceeding and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States, they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law,” Holder said in prepared remarks to the Human Rights Campaign in New York. The advocacy group works on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equal rights.
On Monday, the Justice Department will issue a policy memo to its employees instructing them to give lawful same-sex marriages full and equal recognition, to the greatest extent possible under the law. After the Supreme Court decision last June, the Treasury Department and the IRS said that all legally married gay couples may file joint federal tax returns, even if they reside in states that do not recognize same-sex marriages. The Defense Department said it would grant military spousal benefits to same-sex couples. The Health and Human Services Department said the Defense of Marriage Act is no longer a bar to states recognizing same-sex marriages under state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said it is now able to extend benefits to legally married same-sex spouses of federal employees and annuitants.
More here
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.@glaad What PIONEERS look like. MT @TheObamaDiary They’ve done more for LGBT rights than anyone in American history. pic.twitter.com/GR0KKddoLp
— Only4RM (@Only4RM) February 8, 2014
Obama’s greatest accomplishment? Doing more for LGBT rights than every other president combined and getting almost no credit for it.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) February 8, 2014
So @GLAAD, will you finally get around to honoring the greatest champions #LGBT people in America have ever had? pic.twitter.com/jf54qakxHu
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) February 8, 2014
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04
Feb
14
Rise and Shine
On This Day: Senator Ted Kennedy, speaking at a rally for the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama in Hartford, the day before the Connecticut Super Tuesday primary. Congressional Representatives Rosa DeLauro, Chris Murphy and John B. Larson are onstage behind Ted Kennedy, along with Caroline Kennedy and Barack Obama. February 4, 2008
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RIP Archie Hackney, the then 90-yr-old WWII Vet who showed his President the utmost respect http://t.co/KlkQrG9qFL pic.twitter.com/gdYLWKcjhy
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) February 4, 2014
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Today:
11:10: President Obama visits a Buck Lodge Middle School classroom, Adelphi, Maryland
11:30: Delivers remarks on ConnectED
1:0: Press Briefing by Jay Carney
3:0: The President and Vice President meet with Department of Defense leadership on Afghanistan
4:30: The President and Vice President meet with the House Democratic Caucus, The East Room
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AP: Obama Secures $750M in Pledges to Get Kids Online
Claiming progress in his campaign to get American schools wired for the future, President Barack Obama is announcing commitments from U.S. companies totaling about $750 million to connect more students to high-speed Internet.
Apple is pledging $100 million in iPads, computers and other tools. AT&T and Sprint are contributing free Internet service through their wireless networks. Verizon is pitching in up to $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions. And Microsoft is making Windows available at discounted prices and offering 12 million free copies of Microsoft Office software.
Obama was to announce the commitments Tuesday at a middle school in the Maryland suburbs near Washington. Also in the pipeline: an addition $2 billion that the Federal Communications Commission is setting aside from service fees over two years to connect another 20 million students to high-speed Internet.
More here
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Haaretz: Boycotting reality
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement at the Munich Security Conference, that Israel will face boycotts should negotiations with the Palestinians fail, is a level-headed view of reality that the Israeli government chooses to continually ignore.
…. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu beats them all: Instead of welcoming Kerry as an ally, he publicly quarrels with him and hints that the secretary of state is trying to pressure Israel to “give up essential interests.”
Netanyahu refuses to understand that Israel’s most essential interest is ending the conflict, and that Kerry is a fair, dedicated, mediator who needs the support of all parties in order to complete this complex process. Netanyahu refuses to understand that now is the time for big decisions, not small politics.
Full article here
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Congratulations Secretary @JohnKerry on one year at the helm! pic.twitter.com/eXPenhDDHI
— Department of State (@StateDept) February 4, 2014
It only took a year but @StateDept finally let me have my own @Twitter account. #JKTweetsAgain
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) February 4, 2014
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National Journal: How Obama Won the War on Iran Sanctions
A month ago, the president was on the outs – even among Democrats. Today, he’s quelled critics and getting his chance to make negotiations work.
The push for new sanctions on Iran has stalled. The Democrats who bucked President Obama to back the sanctions bill are backpedaling mightily—no longer even pretending they’re pushing Harry Reid to hold a vote on the measure. And while there’s still plenty of chest-pounding and posturing, the debate’s end result seems clear: The Senate will wait, at least so long as the negotiations move in the right direction.
That’s a full flip from just more than a month ago. Before the December recess, the Senate’s pro-sanctions faction was surging. Senators—including Democrats who are typically Obama loyalists—were agreeing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that the nuclear negotiations with Iran bordered on capitulation.
So how did Obama — a supposedly feckless president when it comes to handling Congress — turn the tide? Obama’s in-person, all-hands-on-deck advocacy campaign with the Senate appears to have advanced his cause, but it’s not that simple.
More here
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South Carolina’s battle over Medicaid expansion: After the Supreme Court ruled that states were not obligated to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, South Carolina was one of the first to opt out. PBS NewsHour’s Mary Jo Brooks reports on the effects for residents who are still uninsured, plus a small alternative program designed to reach some of them.
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John built his construction company from the ground up. He #GotCovered and saves $500 a month: http://t.co/E4SRQOomYa pic.twitter.com/cTC8NbRyEk
— OFA MA (@OFA_MA) February 4, 2014
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Bill Hammond (NY Daily News): Anti-Obamacare, facts be damned
House Speaker John Boehner lobbed a social media stink bomb this weekend that distilled Republican attacks on the Affordable Care Act to their cynical, knee-jerk essence.
“Sick kids denied specialty care due to #Obamacare,” his Twitter feed proclaimed on Saturday, linking to a conservative blog post based on a TV news report out of Seattle. His Facebook page weighed in on the same story, calling it “heartbreaking” and vowing that House Republicans “will continue working to scrap this broken law.”
There’s just one problem: The shocking claim — that the President’s health reforms resulted in sick children being denied care — was flat-out false. Which Boehner’s staff must have known, assuming they actually read the material they were helping to spread across the Internet.
In fact, all of the children in question did get care, as was perfectly clear in the Jan. 30 press release from Seattle Children’s Hospital that got this snowball started.
More here
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And the #Fermi Award goes to… http://t.co/6VUAzluBIx #EnergyEfficiency #Solar #ActOnClimate #ScienceRules, pic.twitter.com/XEklYLIAFO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 3, 2014
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USA Today: Obama to visit Saudi Arabia in March
President Obama will visit Saudi Arabia next month amid reports of a strained American-Saudi relationship over Iran and Syria.
White House press secretary Jay Carney announced that Obama would meet with Saudi King Abdullah in late March, calling it “part of regular consultations” between the two countries.
“The president looks forward to discussing with King Abdullah the enduring and strategic ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia as well as ongoing cooperation to advance a range of common interests related to Gulf and regional security, peace in the Middle East, countering violent extremism, and other issues of prosperity and security,” Carney said.
The Saudi stop will be added to a late March trip that includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Vatican City.
More here
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I like this @BilldeBlasio guy. Because of quotes like this. pic.twitter.com/jxZ4zuealA
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) February 4, 2014
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Brian Beutler: Angry right’s secret revulsion: Why they really dodge minimum wage questions
Obama’s decision to increase the minimum wage for a small number of federal contractors has drawn out the crazies
It’s no great secret that Republicans oppose increasing the minimum wage. They don’t pretend it’s something they want to do under any circumstances. They don’t even really bother disguising their opposition. They cloak their view in dated and oversimplified economic arguments about labor demand and economic growth when the real impediment is ideological, and so it’s a somewhat better kept secret that many Republicans oppose the minimum wage altogether.
Opposing the minimum wage isn’t a politically seemly thing to do, though, and thus the great political consequence of President Obama’s decision, announced during his State of the Union address, to institute a $10.10 minimum wage for future federal contracts, will be to draw the extent of this opposition out into the open.
More here
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#Maryland is 1 step closer to making #NoKidHungry a reality. Join us in thanking @GovernorOMalley for his leadership! pic.twitter.com/BZJO4sW1kM
— No Kid Hungry (@nokidhungry) February 3, 2014
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Missed this yesterday:
Jonathan Capehart: O’Reilly outFoxed by Obama
The pre-Super Bowl interview with President Obama conducted by Bill O’Reilly was not only notable for the Fox News anchor’s constant interruptions, but also for his harping on old news. The travails of HealthCare.gov, the murderous attacks in Benghazi and the actions taken by the IRS against conservative groups chewed up 9 minutes and 45 seconds of the 10-minute sitdown.
We all know that those topics are nothing but chum for O’Reilly’s anti-Obama audience. But the president successfully avoided the rhetorical traps set by the ambassador from “fair and balanced.” And he respectfully stood up to the disrespect demanded by said audience by giving as good as he got.
…. It’s always difficult to tell whether the tail is wagging the dog over there at Fox, but I would argue that the IRS conspiracy theories and others are in large part due to O’Reilly and Fox. Neither the station nor its anchor has shown Obama or his office the respect both deserve. And that 10-minute interview was a perfect illustration of it.
Full article here
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If they don’t want us playing the “race card,” they need to stop being so BLATANTLY racist. pic.twitter.com/VeHIAdLfvV
— BlueTexas (@JudiU883) February 4, 2014
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Steve Benen: A narrow path for ‘common ground’
Every Saturday morning, President Obama delivers a weekly address, which is immediately followed by a Republican response, but this week’s GOP address was a little different: it was delivered by four Republicans instead of one. The message: there may be some room for a little “bipartisan common ground.”
…. Before getting into the particulars, it’s striking to realize just how small the “common ground” is. There are all kinds of popular ideas that enjoy broad public support – on job creation, aid to struggling families, immigration, public safety, etc. – but none of them made the cut in the official Republican statement.
Instead, progress is now possible in just four areas – four narrow areas.
More here
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Steve Benen: NRCC crafts new fundraising gambit
Florida’s 13th congressional district will host a special election next month and by all appearances, it should be a close contest. Democrats have nominated former state CFO Alex Sink, who very nearly won the 2010 gubernatorial race, and have high hopes about her chances.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is also taking the race very seriously – so seriously, in fact, that the NRCC has come up with an unusual fundraising gambit.
Folks can go to a website that looks legitimate – contribute.sinkforcongress2014.com – and find a nice photo of the Democratic candidate alongside a graphic that reads, “Alex Sink – Congress.” If you’re not reading carefully, you might assume this is a page for Sink supporters to make a campaign contribution to their preferred candidate. But it’s not – this is a page set up by Republicans.
More here
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On This Day:
Hartford, February 4, 2008
Senator Obama shakes hands with supporters at the end of a rally at the XL Center in Hartford
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President Obama greets attendees after making remarks in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2010 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama signs pictures and other items in a holding room before making remarks in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2010 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
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Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, Feb 4, 2013
The Minneapolis Police Department Special Operations Center, Feb 4, 2013
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MoooOOOooorning!
03
Feb
14
Early Bird Chat
On This Day: Michelle Obama poses with Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver and Oprah Winfrey at a rally for Barack Obama, UCLA, Feb. 3, 2008
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MoooOOOooorning Early Birds – Happy Monday!
04
Nov
13
Memories …. Five Years Ago Today
President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle and their daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, arrive on stage during his election night party at Grant Park in Chicago, Nov. 4, 2008
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Sen. Joe Biden, his wife Jill and his mother Jean Biden after voting at The Tatnall School in Greenville, Delaware
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President-elect Obama and his mother-in-law Marian Robinson watch election results
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The Obama Diary 
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