Rise and Shine

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Today:

10:35: President Obama departs the White House en route Woodbridge, Va.

11:05: Arrives in Woodbridge, Va.

11:30: Delivers remarks via satellite at the AARP Life@50+ National Event & Expo at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge

12:45: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge (C-Span)

1:30: VP Biden and Jill Biden travel to Hanover, N.H., to deliver remarks at a campaign event at Dartmouth College

2:30: President Obama arrives at the White House

3:0 First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks at Morgan State University, Baltimore (need to check the time on this)

5:15: VP Biden and Jill Biden travel to Concord, N.H., to deliver remarks at a campaign event at the New Hampshire State House

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Washington Post: The last of the 33,000 “surge” troops President Obama ordered to Afghanistan in December 2009 have left the country, the Pentagon announced Friday, just ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.

The number of U.S. troops in the war zone now stands at 68,000, Secretary of State Leon E. Panetta told reporters traveling with him during a week-long visit to the Asia-Pacific region. The troop count is down from a peak of 101,000 U.S. forces last year and marks the end of a critical phase in Obama’s war strategy.

…. The drawdown of U.S. forces is in keeping with Obama’s timetable to pull out all conventional combat forces by the end of 2014…

Full article here

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USA Today: Medicare beneficiaries have saved a total of about $4.5 billion on prescription medications because of the 2010 health care law since January 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services plans to announce today.

“We’re seeing consistent, steady savings for seniors thanks to the health care law,” said Jon Blum, director of the Center for Medicare. “In just 21/2 half years, seniors have seen billions in savings, and those savings will continue to grow as the doughnut hole is fully closed.”

More here

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Washington Post: In 3 1/2 years in office, President Obama has set in motion a broad overhaul of public education from kindergarten through high school, largely bypassing Congress and inducing states to adopt landmark changes that none of his predecessors attempted.

He awarded billions of dollars in stimulus funding to states that agreed to promote charter schools, use student test scores to evaluate teachers and embrace other administration-backed policies. And he has effectively rewritten No Child Left Behind, the federal law passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, by excusing states from its requirements if they adopt his measures.

More here

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Loved this bit:

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Cagle

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This and That – And More On The Enthusiasm Gap

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Michael Cohen (The Guardian): Two conventions, two Americas. Seldom has the divide been greater – Witnessing both conferences is to see anger from the Republicans and abiding hope from the Democrats

…. the philosophical and tonal divide between them has never felt broader. Quite simply, Democrats and Republicans operate in two completely distinct realms, one that is defined by an attachment to reality and one that is increasingly detached from it.

…. Republicans reside in a fantasy world where government plays no role but that of malevolence, where the free market is the salvation to all that ails this nation and where the country is locked in a Manichaean struggle between the forces of freedom and a failed, socialist interloper named Barack Obama.

…. For four decades, Republicans have relied on an undercurrent of white resentment toward social and economic change to maintain their pre-eminence in national politics. But with an African-American president and the country moving closer to “minority-majority” status, that dominance is slipping away and it feeds the sense of anger and desperation they tried to keep hidden in Tampa, but that all too often crept to the surface….

…. the contrast between the hues in Charlotte and Tampa was remarkable. The Democratic party is a party that looks like the palette of the American experience, not just in skin colour, but in class level. The Republican party (the one in the Tampa convention hall) is one that looks like Sunday brunch at a country club.

Full article here

Thanks Ladyhawke and amk

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President Obama’s introduction at The Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, Sept 9

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Genius:

‏@RafalcaRomney

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AP: Ford is adding 1,200 workers to a suburban Detroit factory to build the Fusion, a sign of confidence that the revamped sedan will be a big seller.

Ford Americas President Mark Fields told workers at the Flat Rock plant Monday that the Fusion’s market segment is growing two times faster than the rest of the U.S. auto industry. The new Fusion goes on sale this fall.

…. Ford will hire the 1,200 new workers starting next spring. It will also invest $555 million in new equipment at the plant.

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NYT

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President Obama demonstrates size of bounce received by Romney after Republican convention:

Florida, Sept. 9

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R.E.M.‘s “Losing My Religion” was used in the Fox News coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night. R.E.M. today, through its music publisher, Warner-Tamerlane Music, demanded that Fox News cease and desist from continuing its unlicensed and unauthorized use of the song. Michael Stipe said, “We have little or no respect for their puff adder brand of reportage. Our music does not belong there.”

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McClatchy

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Steve Kornacki (Salon): Barack Obama is winning …and he has been pretty much all year

The final evidence isn’t in yet, but there are strong indicators that Barack Obama received a real boost from the Democratic convention – bigger than the paltry bump Mitt Romney got out of his party’s gathering and potentially big enough to push Obama’s national lead to heights not seen since Romney emerged from the GOP primaries back in the spring.

Gallup’s daily trendline, which remained flat during and immediately after the Republican convention, has spiked in Obama’s favor over the last few days; as of Sunday afternoon, his lead was five points. He’s also pulled a few points ahead in Rasmussen’s daily poll, which has tended to be more Romney-friendly than other surveys, grabbed a four-point lead in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, and seen his job approval rating crack the 50 percent mark. A PPP poll released Sunday night also showed Obama hitting 50 percent in Ohio…..

The movement in Obama’s direction reinforces a point that many neutral campaign observers have been reluctant to make for months now: The presidential race is not, and has not been, a virtual tie – Obama is, and has been, winning.

More here

Thanks BWD

Rise and Shine

St. Petersburg, Florida, Sept 8

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Today:

11:10: The President delivers remarks at a campaign event at Charles & Ruth Clemente Center, Melbourne, Florida

4:50: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at West Palm Beach County Convention Center, West Palm Beach, Florida

5:55: Departs West Palm Beach

8:0: Arrives Joint Base Andrews

8:15: Arrives the White House

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University of Iowa medical student Shadee Giurgius’s white lab coat has new significance. President Barack Obama, in Iowa City for a campaign rally, took a black marker and wrote “Go Obamacare!” and signed his autograph, Giurgius said.

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The week ahead:

Monday: The President will attend meetings at the White House.

Tuesday: To mark the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the President, the First Lady and White House staff will gather on the South Lawn of the White House Tuesday morning to observe a moment of silence. Later that morning, they will travel to the Pentagon Memorial. In the afternoon, the President will travel to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and visit with wounded warriors who are being treated at the hospital and their families

Wednesday: The President will travel to Las Vegas and Denver for campaign events. He will remain overnight in Denver

Thursday: The President will travel to Arvada, Colorado. He will return to the White House in the evening

Friday: The President and First Lady will welcome the 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams to the White House

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Kissimmee, Florida, Sept 8

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‘The President and Me Go Way Back’

Six-month-old Madelynn Schnedler wears a shirt with a photo of her being held by President Barack Obama on his last visit to Iowa on April 25, during a campaign rally at the University of Iowa September 7, 2012. Madelynn’s parents Eric and Katie Schnedler had the shirt printed with the words ‘The President and Me Go Way Back’.

Better Off? Yup.

LA Times: Consumers bought cars at a steady pace in August as the automobile industry continued to help anchor the U.S. economy.

“August continues this summer’s trend of healthy growth,” said John Humphrey, senior vice president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power and Associates.

…. General Motors Co. said its U.S. sales rose 10% to 240,520 in August compared with the same month a year earlier.

Ford Motor Co. reported that sales increased 13% to 197,249 vehicles as shoppers gravitated to smaller cars.

…. Chrysler Group said its sales rose 14% to 148,472 vehicles compared with the same month a year earlier. It was the automaker’s best August sales since 2007.

More here

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ThinkProgress

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LA Times: Nationwide home prices shot up 3.8% in July, making their largest year-over-year leap since 2006…. The gain marks the fifth straight rise in the gauge, part of a positive swing following a year and a half of slumps. The last time prices rose so much was in August 2006, when they jumped 4.1%.

Prices in California bounded up 4.4%. Without distressed sales – including foreclosures and short sales – national prices were up 4.3% compared with last July.

The report, coming as a glut of house-hunters clamor after a shrinking inventory, suggests that the real estate market is “clearly seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel,” said CoreLogic Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi in a statement.

More here

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‏@CharlesMBlow

Half-time in America…..

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 copying TOD posts on women’s rights. He belongs in the GOP.

Thanks again to Clint for the best ‘Four More Years!’ ad yet produced. The best bit? The last 10 seconds 😉

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Friday:

9:30: President Obama departs the White House

11:0: VP Biden travels to Lordstown, Ohio, to deliver remarks at a campaign event at UAW Local 1714

1:30: President Obama arrives in El Paso, Texas

2:15: Participates in a roundtable discussion with service-members and military families

3:00: Delivers remarks to troops

4:10: Departs El Paso en route Joint Base Andrews

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President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden talk before having lunch on the patio outside the Oval Office, Aug. 30, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Chat away everyone …. and to those who can stomach watching the Tampa hate-fest, I salute your courage!

Let’s Go

TOD Fundraisers:

a4alice * Alycee * BWD * CollegeKay * Cookemom * DonnaDem4Obama

Hachikō * Hgerhard * HZ * Judith Fardig * Mae Who Love Our CIC

Marlz * Meta * Pamela *prettyfoot58 * proudmemberofglobalzero * Rita * Theo67 * The Obama Diary

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Children watch as President Obama takes off from the South Lawn on board Marine One at the White House, August 6

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Next:

6:55: President Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at the Stamford Marriott Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut

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…. greeting members of the Air Force’s Presidential Logistics Squadron at Joint Base Andrews. The Air Force formally presented the President with an upgraded version of Air Force One, one of two nearly identical aircraft used to fly the president, before his Monday trip to Connecticut

Drive on!

SacBee: General Motors Co. says its U.S. sales rose 11 percent in May on strong sales of trucks and the new, pint-size Chevrolet Sonic.

GM sold 245,256 cars and trucks in May, its highest monthly total since the Cash for Clunkers deal in August 2009.

Sales of small cars rose 16 percent compared with last May thanks to the Sonic subcompact. Buick sales rose 19 percent due to demand for the new Verano small car.

Pickup truck sales were also strong as construction activity picks up. Chevrolet Silverado sales rose 22 percent.

Obama campaign co-chair and ex-Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland:

“Today’s report that the auto industry is surging ahead is good news for our state and the 1 in 8 Ohioans who depend on the auto industry for their livelihood. Despite what the polls, pundits, and prominent Republicans like Mitt Romney said, President Obama bet on the American worker to spur the comeback of the American auto industry. Now, we have a critical choice in this election between President Obama, who is fighting for us and working to create an economy built to last, and Mitt Romney who would have ‘Let Detroit go bankrupt,’ with devastating consequences for Ohio.”

“I think this is one of his Etch-a-Sketch moments”

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Rise and Shine

Morning everyone, will post again in a while, just wanted you to start your day with this highly excellent ad.