This and That

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Tuesday (all times Eastern):

10:10 AM: President Obama departs the White House

1:40 PM: Arrives in Phoenix

2:10: Tours Erickson Construction

3:05: Delivers remarks

4:10: Departs Phoenix

6:25: Arrives in Los Angeles

7:30: Tapes an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

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Fantastic article by @IgorVolsky. Don’t believe the hysteria about #ObamaCare premium spikes. http://t.co/Sk3FZaoX02

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) August 5, 2013

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BOOKMARK THIS PAGE. This is the ObamaCare subsidy calculator. It should be your best friend for the next six months. http://t.co/HUyVlfeZey

— YeaYouRite (@YeaYouRite) August 5, 2013

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By now, you may have heard of the campaign to undermine Obamacare that the conservative group FreedomWorks is running. If not, read Sarah Kliff’s article on it in the Washington Post. The article will take you inside the “Obamacare resistance,” as she calls it, where leaders are printing up fake Obamacare cards and urging young people to burn them in protest. The idea is to undermine the law: If only older and sicker people sign up for coverage in large numbers, then insurers will have to raise premiums, increasing costs for the govenrment and for those who buy without subsidies.

More here

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For President Obama’s birthday, @OFA spent the day spreading the facts about #Obamacare: http://t.co/Z4n3tqOyYV

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 6, 2013

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President Obama walks with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the South Grounds of the White House, Aug. 5 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Congress needs to #StandWithOurFuture and pass comprehensive immigration reform. Show your support: http://t.co/E4ethHTSfJ

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 5, 2013

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USA Today: President Obama, who has addressed VFW and American Legion conventions over the years, will speak this week to an extra-special group of veterans: The disabled.

Organizers of the Disabled American Veterans National Convention in Orlando announced Monday that Obama will address their group on Saturday.

First lady Michelle Obama will introduce her husband.

More here

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More than 10,000 at Moral Monday today in NC. Folks are mad as hell and are standing up for their rights. pic.twitter.com/SX3gs1oGXX

— Donna NoShock (@NoShock) August 5, 2013

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Zillow

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@AmbassadorRice @AmbassadorPower @UN @twitter You two ladies inspire me. Thank you for your service to our great President Obama.

— LiberalPhenom (@LiberalPhenom) August 5, 2013

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NYT: Someone Tell Cantor: The Deficit Is Shrinking

On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace asked Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, for a preview of what will happen the next time Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling. It was a remarkable exchange, in part because Mr. Cantor made a remarkable error.

…. For your convenience, we’ve highlighted the mistake. Mr. Cantor appeared to be defending his party’s shenanigans by arguing that the “ultimate problem” is the “growing deficit.” The thing is, the deficit is not growing. It is shrinking.

More here

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Better RNC debate plan. Held in hermetically sealed Fox studio. Avoid exposing swing voters to Crazy S*#t My Nominee Says.

— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) August 5, 2013

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Steve Benen: Florida’s Scott readies second ‘disgusting’ voter purge

The voting process in Florida last year was a national disgrace, which was unfortunately the result of a deliberate scheme – state Republican policymakers closed the early-voting window, cracked down on voter-registration drives, and created painfully long voting lines, especially for minorities and the poor.

But that’s not all they did.

Last summer, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) launched an aggressive voter purge, which he claimed was necessary to remove non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls. As we discussed at the time, this too was a fiasco …. in an unfortunate twist, Rick Scott apparently enjoys this disaster so much, he’s ready to do it again.

More here

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@WhiteHouse

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Charles Pierce: The Rugged Rhetoric Of Reince Priebus

Obvious anagram Reince Priebus, figurehead high priest of the Silly Party, has decided to butch himself up again.

…. Reince is never more adorable than when he pretends he is an Important Person Of Influence. Really. It’s like watching a toddler in a Mark Hanna suit.

Read here

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Peter King worries Rand Paul presidential run would “set Rs back 50 yrs.” Wrong. There’s no indication Paul would improve the GOP that much.

— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) August 5, 2013

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Steve Benen: The wrong message for the wrong issue

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1 yr today a white supremacist killed 6 Sikhs at a temple in WI. That incident should be remembered w other massacres like Newtown & Aurora

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) August 5, 2013

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Steve Benen: Can a president be a radical socialist and a Wall Street shill?

….. Republicans can tell Americans that President Obama is a radical socialist who hates free-enterprise capitalism, or they can tell us he’s a Wall Street shill, but when they make both arguments at the same time, it’s awfully difficult to take them seriously. Indeed, it reinforces the thesis that, even now, the right still doesn’t know how it wants to criticize the president.

But I also believe there’s another angle to this to keep in mind.

For good or ill, Obama has gone to extraordinary lengths to try to reach compromises with congressional Republicans, frequently offering to accept GOP policy goals that congressional Democrats find abhorrent.

But because so many congressional Republicans have become post-policy nihilists, GOP officials not only reject attempts at compromise, they often announce their opposition to whatever it was they urged Obama to do in the first place.

More here

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I’ll Stop Writing About Glenn Greenwald’s NSA Coverage When He Stops Lying http://t.co/A9eGXuB3O3

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) August 5, 2013

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Random pic from the last few days because, well, because:

President Obama boards Marine One to fly to Camp David on August 3 at Andrews Air Force Base

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As requested, my Storify: “Breaking [at]breakobama the Unmasking of a Twitter Thug” http://t.co/vSoQ6r8hc2

— Wieland (@lawscribe) August 5, 2013

I think I’ll have to marry @lawscribe. Well, just because…

— Goldie Taylor (@goldietaylor) August 5, 2013

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I completely missed this …. Jim Messina will be working for David Cameron? Seriously? (Michael Tomasky)

This is almost as awful as the prospect of Wayne Rooney playing for Chelsea.

Oh, I need a brandy.

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Woah……

WP: The Washington Post Co. agreed Monday to sell its flagship newspaper to Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos, ending the Graham family’s stewardship of one of America’s leading news organizations after four generations.

Bezos, whose entrepreneurship has made him one of the world’s richest men, will pay $250 million in cash for The Post and affiliated publications to The Washington Post Co., which owns the newspaper and other businesses.

More here

James Fallows: Why the Sale of the Washington Post Seems So Significant – A moment that will define an era’s upheaval in journalism.

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Another exclusive™ from my break in the rain: I now know for certain that I am blood-related to my dog-nephew – he knows bay leaves are evil too. The leftovers from his dinner:

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A huuuuuuuuuuge PS:

Happy Birthday to the inspirational and very, very, very wonderful @GoBrooklyn – we love ya GB!

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 6, 2013

thank you, espn

ESPN

Thank ESPN on Twitter – Monday Night Football’s PR guy here

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USA Today: ESPN has dropped Hank Williams Jr. from opening Monday Night Football tonight after Williams controversial comments today about President Obama.

….. Williams, perhaps best known for his “are you ready for some football?” lead-in to ESPN’s Monday Night Football, Monday compared this summer’s so-called golf summit between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner as “one of the biggest political mistakes ever.”

As Williams put it on Fox News’ Fox & Friends: “It would be like Hitler playing golf with Benjamin Netanyahu.”

When asked on Fox to explain his analogy, Williams said Obama and Vice-President Biden are “the enemy.”

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It still isn’t clear if ESPN have just dropped the creep from tonight’s show – or completely. Keep tweeting, let them know what you think 😉

monday

1:0 Michelle Obama and Jill Biden host a lunch in honor of Deborah Mullen, wife of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who retires this week

4:0 Michelle Obama speaks in the East Room on retaining women in STEM fields

“every man cannot have his way in all things”

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President Obama speaks in a prime-time address to the nation on July 25 from the East Room of the White House

Thomas Jefferson: “Every man cannot have his way in all things…Without this mutual disposition, we are disjointed individuals, but not a society.”

Text of President’s remarks here

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Contact details for members of Congress here

John Boehner: 202-225-6205

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Earlier today:

Statement by White House press secretary Jay Carney:

“The President has been advocating a balanced plan that would reduce our deficit by $4 trillion by making large cuts in domestic and Pentagon spending, reforming entitlement programs, and closing tax loopholes for corporations, millionaires and billionaires. This sort of approach won support from Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, but the House Republicans walked away after insisting that the budget be balanced on the backs of seniors and the middle class.

“Now, faced with the ‘my way or the highway,’ short-term approach of the House Republicans, Senator Reid has put forward a responsible compromise that cuts spending in a way that protects critical investments and does not harm the economic recovery. All the cuts put forward in this approach were previously agreed to by both parties through the process led by the Vice President. Senator Reid’s plan also reduces the deficit more than enough to meet the contrived dollar-for-dollar criteria called for by House Republicans, and, most importantly, it removes the cloud of a possible default from our economy through 2012. The plan would make a meaningful down payment in addressing our fiscal challenge, and we could continue to work together to build on it with a balanced approach to deficit reduction that includes additional spending reforms and closing tax loopholes for corporations, millionaires and billionaires.



”Senator Reid’s plan is a reasonable approach that should receive the support of both parties, and we hope the House Republicans will agree to this plan so that America can avoid defaulting on our obligations for the first time in our history. The ball is in their court.”

busy, busy

President Barack Obama walks to board Marine One helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House, June 13

President Obama boards Air Force One en route to Durham N.C.

monday’s interviews

newsnet5: President Barack Obama had an overall optimistic message for Northeast Ohioans Monday as NewsChannel5’s Leon Bibb sat down with him for an interview in Washington. The topics discussed included the auto industry, the economy, the future of NASA Glenn Research Center, Osama bin Laden death on the impact of American troop withdrawal and urban education….

…Bibb asked the president if the death of Osama bin Laden would mean the acceleration of withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan.

“What I’ve said is that this summer is going to be a summer of transition,” said Obama. He said it’s time for the Afghans to take responsibility for their own security, citing the training that American troops are providing to them.

“By killing bin Laden, by blunting the Taliban, we have now accomplished a lot of what we set out to accomplish 10 years ago,” said Obama.

The president said he will be making an announcement soon about the transition plan about the pace of the troop reduction.

More here

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Detroit

a warm chile welcome

Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama to Santiago, Chile

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, stand with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and his wife Cecilia Morel, during the arrival ceremony at La Moneda Palace in Santiago

First ladies Michelle Obama and Cecilia Morel walk together in La Moneda government palace

tchau

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama leave Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 21, en route to Santiago, Chile

bear down

ABC: After the pool spray with President Hu Jintao in the Oval Office, a cameraman asked President Obama “If the Bears win, are you going to the Super Bowl?”

“Oh we’re going,” responded the President, “no doubt.”

On Sunday, the Chicago Bears will play the Green Bay Packers at Chicago’s Soldier Field for the NFC Championship.

As a freshman senator in December 2006, with the political world wondering about his plans for 2008, Mr. Obama appeared in a mock-commercial during Monday Night Football:

Thank you Brezzydee! 😉

next…

Monday, Nov. 8:

(Indian times, obviously!)

Live coverage, videos and reports on the trip to India here and here