Rise and Shine

President Obama greets the crowd after campaigning in support of Rep. Edward Markey at a rally in Boston, June 12

****

Today:

11:40: The President meets with Congressman John Dingell (at 3:30 there will be a ceremony on Capitol Hill to honor the longest-serving member of Congress)

12:0: Newtown Action Alliance holds press conference at Capitol to mark 6 month anniversary of Sandy Hook shootings. Live on C-Span

12:15: Press Briefing by Jay Carney

5:05: The President delivers remarks at LGBT Pride Month celebration

****

In case you missed this incredible photo – See Smartypants

In a protest, Renata Teodoro, right, and her mother, Gorete Borges Teodoro, who was deported in 2007, met at a Mexican border fence.

****

U.S. retail sales rise at the fastest rate in 3 months: on.mktw.net/11JJBkH

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) June 13, 2013

****

Steve Benen: Jobless claims show unexpected improvement

Lately, just about all of the news on initial unemployment claims has been good, and the new figures out this morning were unexpectedly encouraging.

…. In terms of metrics, when jobless claims fall below the 400,000 threshold, it’s considered evidence of an improving jobs landscape, and when the number drops below 370,000, it suggests jobs are being created rather quickly. We’ve been below the 370,000 threshold 23 of the last 26 weeks, and below 350,000 in 7 of the last 10 weeks.

More here

****

Retail sales climb 0.6%, jobless claims drop 12,000 to 334K

— MarketWatch Economy (@MKTWeconomics) June 13, 2013

****

NY Post: In a stunning move, the Obama Administration has thrust itself into the middle of the explosive federal stop-and-frisk trial and is taking sides against the NYPD, raising the odds of a outside monitor being appointed to oversee the controversial crime-fighting program.

…. The source said that Attorney General Eric Holder’s office notified the city that it intends to file briefs in support of claims by the Center for Constitutional Rights that cops are stopping suspects on the basis of race.

More here

****

Legal Times: When President Barack Obama nominated two women to a key appeals court last week, he was adding to his lead when it comes to adding women to the federal bench, according to a new study.

Obama has successfully appointed a greater percentage of women to federal judgeships than any other president in American history …. The study doesn’t include the two recent nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit—Patricia Millett and Cornelia Pillard. (Neither pick has been confirmed.)

Forty-two percent of Obama’s successful nominations have been women, according to the study. That’s well above the rates of President George W. Bush (22 percent) and President Bill Clinton (29 percent), the study found. President Obama is the first president to appoint two women to the Supreme Court.

“This administration deserves credit for working to create a federal judiciary that more closely reflects the richness and diversity of the American people,” said AFJ President Nan Aron.

More here

****

NYT: Six months after the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., and with no major gun legislation on the horizon in Congress, the White House is quietly moving forward on an executive package of gun safety measures.

The package, which includes 23 executive actions announced by President Obama earlier this year, is intended to bolster the nation’s database used for background checks and make it harder for criminals and people with mental illnesses to get guns.

Among other things, the executive orders relax health care privacy regulations that some state executives say prevent them from putting the names of those Americans with mental health records into the database. The orders also give states more money to help them add data to the system and compel federal agencies to share more mental health data on workers. The goal is to add thousands of new people into the database — those with a history of mental illness, for example — who would not legally be allowed to buy a gun under current law.

More here

****

****

Kevin Drum: …. there’s a little piece of me that admires such naked chutzpah. Issa is basically saying that it’s OK to release little pieces of the interviews that are ripped out of context to create a false impression of White House involvement, but it would be reckless to release full transcripts that pretty clearly shows the White House had nothing to do with any of this.

Who thinks up this stuff?

More here

****

****

Bill Scher (The Week): Why conservatives can’t whitewater Obama – The Republican Noise Machine is falling on deaf ears

Twenty years ago, conservative media mavens seemed able to turn any minor flap into scandal gold …. yet today, no matter how loud conservatives scream “Benghazi,” “Solyndra,” “Fast and Furious” and even “Intim-O-Gate” (Glenn Beck’s failed attempt to brand the IRS and leak investigation controversies), President Obama glides past. His poll numbers remain relatively stable.

There is not really a “what did the president know” drumbeat, and no suggestion he warrants independent investigation. Calls for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation died down following his meeting with Washington media bureau chiefs. Benghazi lightning rod Susan Rice just got a promotion, and her Republican antagonists are pledging cooperation.

What happened to the Republican Noise Machine? Here are three reasons it’s sputtering….

More here

****

In case you missed it, serious questions that demand answers on the NSA reporting. thedailybanter.com/2013/06/greenw…

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) June 13, 2013

I want to send a HUGE shout-out to @bobcesca_go for his most excellent reporting on the NSA surveillance story. THANK YOU!!!!

— Smartypants (@Smartypants32) June 13, 2013

NSA story demonstrates why the media is in trouble immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2013/06/nsa-st…

— Smartypants (@Smartypants32) June 13, 2013

****

Mediaite: …. Stephen Colbert sent up the NSA’s expansive surveillance programs, saying, “Millions of Americans whose privacy has been invaded were shocked to learn that anything on the internet was ever private.”

“Now, I have to admit, at first I found this program to be a shocking breach of the public trust,” Colbert said of PRISM. “The intimate details I share from my Gmail account are no business of big government. They are for one purpose only: so I can get targeted ads for boner pills.”

“But then I learned that PRISM targets only foreigners!” Colbert put up a photo of the Statue of Liberty. “Evidently that torch of freedom is only for Americans. For the rest of the world, she’s holding a boom mic.”

More here – including the video

****

****

Obama and Xi’s summit success: My take in @time goo.gl/QfwTB

— Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) June 13, 2013

****

Washington Post: The CIA’s deputy director plans to retire and will be replaced by White House lawyer and agency outsider Avril D. Haines, Director John O. Brennan said Wednesday.

Haines, who will succeed career officer Michael Morell on Aug. 9, has served for three years as President Obama’s deputy counsel in charge of national security issues and as legal adviser to the National Security Council. Although she has never worked inside the intelligence agency, “she knows more about covert action than anyone in the U.S. government outside of the CIA,” Brennan said in his first interview since becoming CIA director in March.

More here

Avril Haines is one of the most brilliant, hardworking, decent people I worked with at NSC. CIA lucky to have her but sad to see Michael go

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) June 12, 2013

Avril’s problem at WH was she was too good. Everyone wanted her in all their meetings because her legal knowledge and judgment invaluable

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) June 12, 2013

****

Steve Benen: ….. Wisconsin Republicans are poised to approve a rather remarkable piece of legislation. The state Senate, led by an enraged Senate President Mike Ellis, pushed through an anti-abortion measure that would, among other things, require women in Wisconsin to have an ultrasound before terminating an unwanted pregnancy….

…. It is a profound example of big government run amok: the bill Scott Walker intends to sign puts politics between people and their doctors, on purpose, requiring invasive medical procedures to satisfy the agenda of a right-wing culture war.

…. This is, of course, exactly the kind of right-wing agenda voters rejected in 2012, when Republicans were slammed for having launched a “war on women,” giving Democrats a crucial gender-gap advantage.

More here

****

itsnotjustakin.com

****

****

Greg Sargent: House GOP stomps all over Republican rebranding

Consider what the House GOP is up to right now. House Republicans recently passed an immigration amendment, pushed by anti-reform diehard Steve King, that would effectively mandate the deportation of the “DREAMers” who were taken to the U.S. as children. House Republicans are planning a vote next week on a measure that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, after defeating amendments that would exempt cases of rape or incest. And yesterday, House Republicans approved a version of the 2012 National Defense Reauthorization Act that contains what The Advocate calls “three controversial, antigay amendments, one of which is aimed at delaying repeal implementation of don’t ask, don’t tell.”

More here

****

Bloomberg News: Thanks to Obamacare, “hospitals are improving care and saving millions of dollars.” at.wh.gov/lYptF #Obamacares

— The White House (@whitehouse) June 12, 2013

****

ThinkProgress: Connecticut is on the cusp of enacting a major new law to protect people who are homeless from discrimination.

Last week, Connecticut lawmakers passed the “Homeless Person’s Bill Of Rights” at the literal 11th hour — 11:30pm on June 5th, one half hour before the legislative session ended. The bill, SB 896, a landmark piece of legislation to protect homeless individuals’ rights, adds homeless people as a protected class who can’t be discriminated against in employment, housing, or public accommodations. It also includes protections for homeless people to move freely in public spaces, such as parks and sidewalks, without being singled out for harassment by law enforcement officers.

More here

****

****

Headline of the Week?

‘Congressman Demands Obama Apologize To Oklahoma For Investing In Climate Change Research’

ThinkProgress

****

****

TPM: A survey released Wednesday by a Republican-aligned pollster found Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) earning the support of nearly half of voters and claiming a decisive 12-point edge in the Massachusetts special U.S. Senate election.

The automated survey from Harper Polling showed Markey with the support of 49 percent of Massachusetts voters, while Republican businessman Gabriel Gomez trailed with 37 percent support. Harper launched in December with the intention to rival Democratic-leaning outlets such as Public Policy Polling that have long owned the automated poll market.

More here

****

Dont hold your breath Mr. President MT @whitehouse Good luck to the Blackhawks tonight – hope to welcome you back as #StanleyCup champs.

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) June 13, 2013

****

****

A year ago….

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama present a birthday cake to Assistant Usher Reggie Dickson following a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony and dinner, June 13, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)

****

MooooOOOOoooorning!

This and That

Mt Adams, OH, Sept 17 (Scout Tufankjian)

****

An airplane pulls a banner in protest at remarks made by Mitt Romney over the site of the Univision Facebook “Meet the Candidates” Forum in Miami, Sept 19

****

President Barack Obama reacts to a photograph during an interview with David Letterman during a taping of the “Late Show with David Letterman” at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, N.Y., Sept. 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

****

Um, alternative version:

****

Link

****

Rise and Shine – and Heads Up!

****

Heads up!

10:55 ET (estimated time): President Obama delivers remarks at St. Petersburg College-Seminole Campus

C-Span * CNN * CBS 1 * CBS 2

Later:

4:30 ET: Delivers remarks at Kissimmee Civic Center

****

SeaCoastOnline: Folks were as optimistic as the sunny day as they left Strawbery Banke Museum after President Barack Obama’s remarks to a crowd of an estimated 6,000 people.

“You really got the feeling that this was about you,” said Jude Flynn of Kittery, Maine. …. “He needs to finish the job he began on turning around the economy,” he said. “I also agree on his principles of allowing people to make choices on marriage and other things. I feel safe with him. The other side is scary to me.”

“We definitely need to go forward with the president’s plans,” said Pat Dunnell of Manchester, who was accompanied by her husband, Bud. “I don’t want Medicare vouchers,” she said.

….. “I’m also for women’s choice,” Corinne Baker of Hampton said. “If you’re a woman, you have to vote for him.”

Lilly Ramos-Spooner of Manchester was with two friends and her 9-year-old granddaughter, Sophia Victoria Spooner. “I am so motivated right now,” she said. “There were a lot of young people surrounding us and they all said they were signing up to vote after today.”

More here

*****

Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Sept 7

****

Rise and Shine

Msg from The Obama Diary: Genuine bloggers who create their own posts in support of PBO are welcome to use anything from TOD – rebloggers, who only copy others in an attempt to up their traffic, are not. eg The reblogger who treats women like this – explicit – while using TOD posts on women’s rights. He belongs in the GOP.

President Barack Obama reacts after recognizing actress Sissy Spacek in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 29, 2012. The President happened upon Spacek while greeting people following a stop in the town. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

****

Jonathan Cohn: …. I’d like to talk, instead, about what Ryan actually said — not because I find Ryan’s ideas objectionable, although I do, but because I thought he was so brazenly willing to twist the truth.

At least five times, Ryan misrepresented the facts. And while none of the statements were new, the context was. It’s one thing to hear them on a thirty-second television spot or even in a stump speech before a small crowd. It’s something else entirely to hear them in prime time address, as a vice presidential nominee is accepting his party’s nomination and speaking to the entire country.

Here are the five statements that deserve serious scrutiny….

Full post here

****

****

Steve Benen: At the Republican National Convention last night, Paul Ryan told so many demonstrable lies, he raised important questions about his character and what’s left of his integrity. What matters next, however, is whether anyone notices.

….. let’s not ignore those inclined to give Ryan a pass. Howard Kurtz said last night’s speech included “distortions,” but it didn’t matter, because the speech “worked.” Similarly, Charles Mahtesian noted some of Ryan’s more obvious falsehoods, but said the dishonesty was irrelevant….

Chris Cillizza named Ryan one of the night’s “winners,” for “eloquently” delivering a well-written speech “packed with great lines.” What about all of the claims in the speech that were obviously untrue? Cillizza didn’t mention it. Evaluating “delivery” matters; evaluating the truth is someone else’s job.

…. Ryan, like his running mate, tells obvious falsehoods because he’s confident there will be no consequences. He simply assumes he can lie with impunity because the media doesn’t care to separate fact from fiction.

This is a critical test of the political world, and a few too many are failing.

See full post here

****

PolitiFact

****

I never thought I’d see the day I’d link to Foxnews.com (thanks amk), but this piece from Sally Kohn is worth reading, even for this line alone:

“….. to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was  Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold.”

****

And on and on it goes…..

Smith = Tom Smith, the Republican challenging Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-PA) seat

ThinkProgress

Thank you Ladyhawke

“They Drove Our Economy into a Ditch”

Yet another TOD post that has been reblogged by Jueseppi B, despite requests that he make his own effort to support PBO rather than copying others simply to drive up his reblog’s traffic. He doesn’t take kindly to being challenged, as another woman found out: explicit. Genuine bloggers are welcome to use anything they ever see at TOD. Thanks

****

ABC: The private equity firm founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made use of arcane techniques in several of its Cayman Islands-based funds to avoid U.S. taxes, according to a trove of Bain Capital’s private audit and finance records made public on the website Gawker today.

The audited financial statements of one of the Cayman Islands funds make note of the use of “blocker” entities, which are used to help retirement accounts and nonprofit entities avoid some taxes. Financial statements for another fund note that it “intends to conduct its operations so it will … not be subject to United States federal income or withholding tax …”

Those details emerge on the statements of two funds in which Romney still holds a sizeable investment, according to the financial disclosure statements he filed when he announced his bid for president.

More here

****

Cagle

****

First lady Michelle Obama greets Sikh temple secretary of the board of trustees Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, left, and Oak Creek, Wis. Mayor Stephen Scaffidi, before talking to victims of the August 5th shooting in Oak Creek, Wis.

****

****

Cagle

Rise and Shine

****

****

Washington Post: President Obama’s reelection campaign will begin accepting donations sent by text messages this week, marking the first foray into a potentially lucrative new avenue of grass-roots fundraising for federal candidates.

The program, announced by campaign officials early Thursday, will allow supporters to send contributions of less than $50 by texting “GIVE” to 62262 — which corresponds with the letters in “Obama.”

Officials said the service will be available almost immediately for Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular customers, and for AT&T and other carriers “in the near future.” Possibilities include soliciting text donations in broadcast and Internet ads and during major political events, such as the upcoming Democratic Party convention in Charlotte, N.C.

“Accepting small donations by text message will help us engage even more grassroots supporters who want to play a role by donating whatever they can afford to the campaign,” campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement.

…. As an example of what to expect, the campaign said video screens at upcoming events could include a plea for cellphone funds that reads: “To contribute $10 to Obama for America, text GIVE to 62262.”

More here

****

@Anne_Savage

Vice President Joe Biden with Olympic boxing gold medalist Claressa Shields during a campaign stop at Renaissance High School, Detroit, August 22

****

This and That

Yet another TOD post that has been reblogged by Jueseppi B, despite requests that he make his own effort to support PBO rather than copying others simply to drive up his reblog’s traffic. He doesn’t take kindly to being challenged, as another woman found out: explicit. Genuine bloggers are welcome to use anything they ever see at TOD. Thanks

Steve Benen: …. I watch a whole lot of Obama’s speeches, and I’d say he seemed a little more fired up than usual. (Pay particular attention to his tone of voice in the last 90 seconds.)

Las Vegas, August 22

****

Politico: President Obama said he’s beating Mitt Romney “by a few points” and said time is running out in the 2012 presidential election.

“I can’t resist a basketball analogy,” he told donors at a Lincoln Center fundraiser that featured NBA commissioner David Stern and current and former basketball stars including Michael Jordan. “We are in the fourth quarter. We’re up by a few points but the other side is coming strong and they, they, they play a little dirty. We’ve got a few folks on our team in foul trouble. We’ve got a couple of injuries and I believe that they’ve got one last run in them.”

“I’d say there’s about seven minutes to go in the game. And Michael’s competitiveness is legendary and nobody knows better than Michael that if you’ve got a little bit of a lead and there’s about seven minutes ago, that’s when you put them away.”

****

Cagle

Politico: President Obama mocked Missouri Rep. Todd Akin here, telling a fundraising crowd packed with pro basketball stars that the embattled Senate candidate “somehow missed science class.”

“Recently some of you have been paying attention to the commentary about the senator from Missouri, Mr. Akin,” Obama said. “The interesting thing here is that this, this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology but somehow missed science class. And it’s representative of the desire to go backwards instead of forwards and fight fights that we thought were settled 20 or 30 years ago.”

****

Politifact

Rise and Shine

Mmm, guacamole!

****

****

12:05: President Obama participates in a roundtable discussion with teachers at Canyon Springs High School in Las Vegas, Nevada

12:40: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at Canyon Springs High School, Las Vegas, Nevada

1:15: VP Biden attends a campaign event in Detroit, Michigan

1:25: Michelle Obama visits Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla

1:50: President Obama departs Las Vegas en route New York City

3:00: VP Biden delivers remarks at a campaign event at Renaissance High School

5:00: VP Biden attends a campaign event in Detroit

6:05: President Obama arrives New York City

7:35: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center

9:45: Attends a campaign event at Jazz at Lincoln Center (Closed press)

11:35: Departs New York City en route Washington, DC

****

****

This and That

‏@SaraLang

****

Coming up:

6:15: VP Biden delivers remarks at a campaign event at the Olmstead County Fairgrounds, Rochester, Minn.

8:00: President Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at Truckee Meadows Community College, Reno

****

****

Michael Tomasky: The addition of Paul Ryan was supposed to infuse the Romney campaign with big ideas that would be argued in big debates with the Democrats, but so far all the GOP campaign has done is grossly distort the truth.

….they muddy the waters as much as possible and lie as much as possible, and hope the press doesn’t call them on it and hope voters buy it.

…. they know that the truth would crush them electorally. And so it follows that they know they must lie. They must lie about their Medicare plans. They must lie about the effects of their tax plans on average people and rich people. And they must tell a number of lies about Obama, all the better if they involve race, as the welfare lie does.

…. the Obama campaign and the Democrats generally have to nail these guys to the wall on what their actual positions are and what the impacts of their policies will be. Romney and Ryan are terrified of a real Big Debate. Obama and Biden need to drag them into one.

Full post here

****

****

OFA

****

Nick Anderson

****

****

****

President Obama poses for a photos with students inside Sloopy’s diner in the Ohio State Student Union in Columbus, Ohio