favreau | The Obama Diary

Message left for Nelson Mandela on the wall outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria where he has been hospitalized since June 8:

“I hope you feel better. I love you so much. And I know you love me too.”

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Today:

11:0: VP Biden Speaks on the Fair Labor Standards Act

1:55: The President delivers remarks on Climate Change at Georgetown University

(listed in some places as 1:35)

3:35: The President and Vice President meet with members of the Congressional Leadership, Oval Office

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President Obama talks with Rob Nabors, Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Policy, center, and Miguel Rodriguez, Director of Legislative Affairs, in the Oval Office, June 24 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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CBS: With little to no hope on Capitol Hill for action on climate change, President Obama on Tuesday plans to bypass Congress and move forward with executive actions designed to reduce carbon emissions.

In a speech at Georgetown University, the president will lay out what the administration is billing as a comprehensive plan built on three pillars: cutting the nation’s carbon pollution, leading global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and preparing the United States for the impacts of climate change. As part of that effort, Mr. Obama on Tuesday will sign a presidential memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to start engaging with states, the private sector and other stakeholders to set carbon pollution standards for both new and existing carbon power plants.

The president, a senior administration official said, has “made it very clear his preference would be for Congress to act.” At this point, however, he is ready to rely on the existing authorities in the executive branch.

More here

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Keeping our eyes on the ball http://t.co/CkR5IbKet1

— Smartypants (@Smartypants32) June 25, 2013

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USA Today: President Obama tries to conduct some summertime legislative business Tuesday in a meeting with congressional leaders from both parties. Among the likely topics: An immigration bill and the debate to extend a low interest student loan program set to expire on Monday.

The guest list features Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell …. Republican House Speaker John Boehner is also scheduled to attend the presidential meeting, as is House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

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The #scotus liveblog is up and running. Love to see you. http://t.co/cvRf0nHM0T.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 25, 2013

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Jon Favreau: When Journalists Attack

If you saw the news at any point in the last month, chances are that you heard Barack Obama compared in some way to Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. A quick and admittedly unscientific Google search on the comparisons turns up 1.7 million hits, and they are not limited to right-wing media or Republican politicians. Partisan and nonpartisan journalists across the political spectrum casually and frequently linked Obama to Nixon over and over again, this publication included.

…. the facts that have emerged over the last month, through more solid reporting and independent investigation, are proving once again that the political media’s addiction to sensationalism and snap-judgment hyperbole has contributed to a lack of serious, informed debate about issues that badly deserve it.

Full post here

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The virtual absence of MSM coverage on the #reprorights goings-on in Texas is SHAMEFUL. #texlege #SB5 #HB60 #HB16 #fem2

— Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) June 24, 2013

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ThinkProgress: …. Nancy Pelosi blasted the GOP’s continued assault on reproductive rights in an exclusive interview with ThinkProgress. She noted the 20-week abortion ban was just the latest example of House Republicans’ priorities, which have included attempts to kill the Violence Against Women Act and to defund Planned Parenthood.

Though House Speaker John Boehner’s Congress has gone down in history as the least productive Congress since World War II, House Republicans have aggressively pursued anti-choice legislation in recent years. In response, Americans increasingly brand the GOP as a party of anti-woman extremists, which sunk the 2012 campaigns of several Republican candidates who were too blunt about their desires to restrict women’s access to health services. Women – even Republican lawmakers-— have fled the party.

Since Republicans took the House in 2010, Pelosi explained, Americans are beginning to understand just how far beyond abortion the GOP’s war on women reaches:

“…..They don’t believe in government…except when it comes to the bedroom.”

Full post here

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IMPORTANT: You don’t have to be a Texan to stop the destructive #SB5 anti-women bill. Want to help? Use this: http://t.co/ZtDo5SUW8O

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 25, 2013

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I’m so inspired by women in Texas right now. #FeministArmy #GirlPower #TXlege pic.twitter.com/8gjPBy6WSn

— The Queen Regnant™ ⛵ (@TheQueenRegnant) June 24, 2013

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RH Reality Check: An Open Letter to Anyone Ready to Write Off Texas: Don’t, Because it’s *Your* Future at Stake

Read here

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News Observer: More than 2500 people rally outside the North Carolina State Legislative Building on Halifax Mall Monday, June 24, 2013, prior to an act of civil disobedience opposing the Republican legislature’s agenda. About 120 activists were arrested by General Assembly and Raleigh police. About 600 have been arrested over the course of 8 “Moral Monday” demonstrations.

More here

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How will we find the time to read all the mea culpas from Very Serious People who went all-in on IRS story?

— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) June 24, 2013

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AP: The Internal Revenue Service’s screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed … Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Ways and Means panel, said he was writing a letter to J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general whose audit in May detailed IRS targeting of conservatives, asking why his report did not mention other groups that were targeted.

“The audit served as the basis and impetus for a wide range of congressional investigations and this new information shows that the foundation of those investigations is flawed in a fundamental way,” Levin said.

…. Democratic staff on Ways and Means said that they had verified that of the 298 groups seeking tax-exempt status that George’s audit had examined, some were liberal organizations – something George’s report did not mention.

More here

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Daily Banter Staff: As the IRS Scandal Goes Down in Flames, An Important Lesson for the NSA Story http://t.co/GMCzAqSsxD

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) June 25, 2013

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Steve Benen: Stick a fork in the IRS controversy; it’s done

The good news for conservatives is that new information about the IRS controversy came to light late yesterday, which renewed coverage of the story Republicans are heavily in. The bad news for conservatives it that the revelations were the opposite of what they wanted to hear.

More here

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Start proceedings to charge Darrell Issa with ethics violations, and remove him from Congress. http://t.co/h769o9h0pw #lastword

— RB Blair (@TuxcedoCat) June 25, 2013

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Dana Milbank: The most remarkable thing about the Supreme Court’s opinions announced Monday was not what the justices wrote or said. It was what Samuel Alito did …. when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her dissent from the bench, Alito visibly mocked his colleague.

Ginsburg was making her argument about how the majority opinion made it easier for sexual harassment to occur in the workplace when Alito, seated immediately to Ginsburg’s left, shook his head from side to side in disagreement, rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

His treatment of the 80-year-old Ginsburg, 17 years his elder and with 13 years more seniority, was a curious display of judicial intemperance….

Days earlier, I watched as he demonstrated his disdain for Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor….

More here

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