evening all

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talk in the Green Room of the White House before hosting a Smithsonian Museum of African American History reception in the East Room, Feb. 22, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Barack Obama listens during the groundbreaking ceremony of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, February 22

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Don’t miss Liberal Librarian’s latest post at The People’s View

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Business Week

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The Hill: The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that President Obama’s 2009 stimulus package continues to have a significant effect.

The bill raised fourth-quarter 2011 gross domestic product by as much as 1.5 percent, it states, and lowered the unemployment rate by as much as 1.1 percentage points.

The package reduced the rolls of the jobless by up to 2 million people in the last three months of 2011.

More here

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LA Times: Sales of previously owned homes rose 4.3% in January and inventories fell to nearly seven-year lows as lower prices, unusually warm weather and an improving economy lifted demand.

….. January sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million …. Sales rose in all four major regions, including an 8.8% pop in the West.

Job creation, mild weather, rising rents and increased household formation contributed to the sales gains, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Realtors group. “Things are genuinely improving,” Yun said.

More here

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Slate

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Link

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One photo, two cool cats.

Thank you Pam!

(You can buy the PBO poster here – thank you Donna Dem)

cover story

Des Moines Register: Better Homes and Gardens will feature First Lady Michelle Obama on the cover of its August issue — the first public figure to grace the magazine’s cover in 48 years.

Obama will be the focus of an article on healty eating for children. The issue will hit newsstands July 19.

Editors from the magazine, which is owned by Des Moines-based Meredith Corp., and the first lady co-hosted a picnic in May for D.C. fifth-graders. The magazine features photos of the picnic and an interview with Obama about her efforts to promote healthful habits.

More here

Thanks COS

she’s so, um, presidential

Boston Herald: “The American people have had enough. They’ve had it up to here,” a fiery Michele Bachmann told a crowd of roughly 250 gathered in a back yard in Raymond, N.H….New Hampshire is the second stop on her three state announcement tour…..

…… Bachmann even unloaded a risque revelation about her and her husband’s first dates, saying that they would visit the elderly in nursing homes. When the audience chuckled, she added “Well I didn’t tell you what we did afterwards … we do, you know, have red blood in us. What can I say?”

Realizing she may have revealed too much, she joked, “the kids won’t appreciate that mom said that.”