Rise and Shine

****

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

****

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

****

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

****

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

****

Loved this bit:

****

Cagle

****

ah yes, the texas miracle….

NBC: Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s efforts to tout his record on jobs and the economy as a centerpiece of his presidential campaign took a hit today with new figures from one of his own state agencies: They show the Texas unemployment rate increased to 8.5% in August – the highest level in more than 24 years and more than twice the rate when Perry took office in December 2000.

The new unemployment rate for Texas is still below the national average of 9.1%. But the new figures from the Texas Workforce Commission included some disturbing trends: There was a net jobs loss of 1,300 in Texas during the month of August, even worse than than the latest national figures showing zero job growth.

While the private sector did add 8,100 jobs in Texas during August, this was more than offset by a shrinking public sector resulting in the loss of 9,400 government jobs, state figures show.

…. Mark Lavergne, a spokesman for the Texas Workforce Commission, confirmed that the new unemployment rate of 8.5% is the highest unemployment rate for Texas since July, 1987. When Perry took office in December 2000 after George W. Bush resigned, the unemployment rate in Texas was 4.2%

At this week’s GOP presidential rate, Perry touted his record of “creating more than one million jobs” in Texas, but made no mention of the recent downward trends in the state’s economy.

‘if it’s a miracle i’d hate to see what a catastrophe is like’

once a hero, always a hero

JS: Jeff Skiles, the co-pilot in the famous “Miracle on the Hudson” landing in January 2009, has been involved in the budget protests that engulfed Madison in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, he took another big step, choosing to withdraw what he said was hundreds of thousands of  dollars of his own money from M&I Bank to protest the actions of bank executives there who backed Gov. Scott Walker.

Skiles said Wednesday that he put the money in other financial institutions, and did not technically close his M&I accounts.

“They have supported Gov. Walker and I wanted to send a message to them,” Skiles said.

Skiles, on a leave of absence from his U.S. Airways job, said he had no plans to run for public office. He is the highest-profile person who has acted to boycott certain businesses for their support of Walker’s bill that would eliminate most collective bargaining for public-sector unions. The bill is set to become law on March 25.

More here

attention!

President Barack Obama talks with kids from the Children’s Miracle Network in the East Room of the White House, June 9, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)