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Sweet dreams and wake up tomorrow ready to continue the march for a more equal and just world. 😀
Posts Tagged ‘Myra
08
Feb
14
A Year Of Action
02
Feb
14
Rise and Shine
Feb. 2, 2009 – Pete Souza: “The light was streaming through the windows behind his Oval Office desk as the President talked with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.”
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A brotha is FINALLY getting some health insurance, thank you Mr. President!
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Marc (not Mark) (@DrMarctagon) January 30, 2014****
Washington Post: Life After Jan. 1: Kentucky Clinic Offers Early Glimpse At Realities Of Health-Care Law
The envelopes began arriving in December across eastern Kentucky, one of the sickest and poorest corners of the country. “Dear member . . . We want you to be healthy . . .” read the letter to Mary Combs, and with it came a plastic card representing the first insurance she ever had: a Medicaid plan made possible by the nation’s new health-care law, effective Jan. 1. Nine days into the new year, the 41-year-old call-center worker headed to the health clinic on Highway 15. She saw a doctor about her chronic stomach ulcers, had her blood drawn for tests and collected referrals for all the specialists she had been told she needed but could never afford. The next week, she saw a neurologist, who found lesions on her brain and prescribed medicine for the cluster headaches, which are also called “suicide headaches” for pain that is far more intense than a migraine and which Combs had been treating with an alcohol-soaked cloth wrapped around her head.
“That’s the big question — does getting insurance bend the cost curve or the health outcomes curve?” said Karen Ditsch, the executive director of Juniper Health, which runs the nonprofit Breathitt clinic. Life since Jan. 1: The number of uninsured has dropped by 520 people, which represents about 21 percent of the those without coverage. Of that 520, 472 qualified under the health-care law’s expanded income parameters for Medicaid, which is aimed at the working poor. Here and there, for-profit clinics that never accepted the uninsured have hung “Welcome new patients!” signs on doors. A new blue billboard hovering above the Hardee’s advertises surgery to treat acid reflux.
More here
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Hot off the press at #RWJFRR - Kentucky official says 195,502 have used Kynect to get coverage (up by 12,000 this week). 44,160 are in QHPs.
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Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) January 31, 2014****
Michael Hiltzik: What’s Behind Anthem’s Huge Premium Increase? Not Obamacare
Insurance companies, bless their hearts, seem determined to remind us why we need the Affordable Care Act. The latest example comes from Anthem Blue Cross, which has just hit 306,000 customers in California with premium increases of up to 25%. As reported by my colleague Chad Terhune, the increases average 16% and are scheduled to kick in April 1, unless the state Department of Insurance jawbones Anthem into backing down.
Here’s the kicker: No one can blame these increases on the mandates of the Affordable Care Act, a popular argument among critics of the act. That’s because the increases are for grandfathered policies exempt from the act.
“It’s a rich irony,” says Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, a leading California consumer advocacy group. “The insurers can’t have it both ways — they can’t blame the increases on the ACA while increasing rates on their non-ACA-compliant plans as well.” Luckily, Anthem customers have a choice this time around. They can check the state’s insurance exchange at coveredca.com to see if they can replace their old plan with a new one that might well be better, at lower cost.
More here
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Why? Because corporatists are spinning the political dialogue and STUPID PEOPLE are buying it. http://t.co/bLMl3gqVS5
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RC deWinter (@RCdeWinter) February 02, 2014****
Sandra Fluke: What Mike Huckabee Wants To Take Away From Women
Memo to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and the bosses at for-profit corporations who think they belong in every doctor’s office and that they should be able to decide whether their employees have access to birth control: Women who use birth control do not have an “overactive libido.” We are not looking for a handout from “Uncle Sugar” to score a contraceptive fix. We are not sluts. This is not the reality for women — it never has been and never will be.
In fact, women who use birth control are your mother, partner, sister, and daughter. Ninety-nine percent of sexually active American women have used birth control at some point in their lives. We are just regular people trying to take care of ourselves medically and financially. That’s why seven in ten Americans believe that health insurance companies should be required to cover the full cost of birth control, just as they do for other preventive services.
More here
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Jonathan Cohn: Farewell To Henry Waxman, A Liberal Hero
One of America’s most accomplished lawmakers—a crusader responsible for cleaner air, safer food, and healthier kids—is calling it a career. On Thursday, Congressman Henry Waxman announced that he would retire at the end of this term, 40 years after he first came to Congress. The list of laws for which he deserves substantial credit is simply staggering—not only for its length, but also for its breadth. Waxman was behind the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, plus laws regulating lead, greenhouse gas emissions, and formaldehyde. That arguably makes him his generation’s most influential lawmaker on environmental issues.
He was also behind a series of Medicaid expansions, the Ryan White Care Act, the Orphan Drug Act, the Waxman-Hatch Generic Drug Act, and, of course, the Affordable Care Act. That almost certainly makes him the most influential living lawmaker on health care issues. Other major accomplishments include the Food Quality Protection Act and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act—and, somewhere along the way, he found time to modernize the postal service. How has Waxman done it? For one thing, Waxman recognizes that lawmaking requires patience and persistence—that you have to build the case for legislation, through investigations and stagecraft, even if that takes years or even decades.
More here
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@chucktodd @meetthepress this the process laid out originally, so not moved
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Dan Pfeiffer (@pfeiffer44) February 02, 2014****
@chucktodd @meetthepress yep, always been the process
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Dan Pfeiffer (@pfeiffer44) February 02, 2014****
.@pfeiffer44 @chucktodd @meetthepress right. And @PressSec laid out process Friday including comment period for other agencies
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Matt Lehrich (@Lehrich44) February 02, 2014****
Hannah Allam: Kerry’s First Year As Top U.S. Diplomat Yields Breakthroughs On Thorny Issues
A year ago, John Kerry succeeded Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, joking on one of his first days at work that he had “big heels to fill.” Now a year into his role as America’s top diplomat, Kerry has proven that any trepidation about following such a high-profile figure was misplaced. Kerry’s anniversary this week – he assumed office on Feb. 1, 2013 – finds him, in the opinion of foreign policy analysts, with more significant, concrete breakthroughs than Clinton had in her entire four-year term. As showpieces they hold up the nuclear deal with Iran and the chemical weapons pact with Syria.
A year into Kerry’s tenure, Ross said, the picture from Asia is brighter. Ross, who’s in Beijing for six months, said U.S. diplomacy has brought about improved cooperation with China on North Korea, including landmark banking and other sanctions. And while there are still no U.S.-Chinese military agreements, he said, there are deeper military contacts so that American officials can “pick up the phone and call them if there’s an escalation.” “Secretary Kerry speaks with a quieter voice and made real policy adjustments,” Ross said. “The quiet approach has been more useful than his predecessor’s.”
More here
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How many hours it would take you to make a living working at Costco vs. Walmart? bit.ly/1k8jBXO http://t.co/i216UBU5qI
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Mother Jones (@MotherJones) January 29, 2014****
Robert McCoppin and Lolly Bowean: Low Wage Workers Struggle To Get By
In the bitter cold, dark hours of the night, as many others are sleeping, Rocio Caravantes begins her hourlong journey on public transportation from her home in Logan Square to one of her two jobs downtown. Once she arrives at work, Caravantes spends hours vacuuming and scrubbing floors, polishing sinks and toilets, cleaning the bar areas and event spaces and tidying up the rugs in an upscale luxury hotel where she can’t afford to spend a night. Panic at times grips her as she thinks about how she will pay all her bills, she said.
“It is impossible to live on $8.25 an hour,” Caravantes said in Spanish, through an interpreter. “Not even three jobs are enough. I earn $495 biweekly. The first check goes to rent — it’s $500 a month. The second is for transportation, food, (phone) and education.” Caravantes, 40, is one example of the minimum wage workers who have become the focus of a national conversation about salaries for the working poor. It’s a political debate in the Illinois governor’s race, and Gov. Pat Quinn used his State of the State address last week to renew his push for an increase in the state minimum wage. President Barack Obama weighed in on the issue too when he asked Congress to increase the federal wage to $10.10.
But the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., paints a broader portrait of low-wage workers. “People tend to think of low-wage workers as teenagers who are working on the weekends for extra spending money,” said David Cooper, an analyst with the institute. “While that is a portion of these workers, the vast majority don’t fit that stereotype.” According to the institute’s research, more than half of low-wage workers are older than 30.
More here
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Jacob J. Lew: MyRA: A Start To A Secure Retirement
As President Barack Obama made clear in his State of the Union address, it is time to focus on restoring opportunity for all. That means helping to make sure more Americans can take part in our growing economy and build some economic security for the long term. To get that done, we are putting forward real, concrete solutions to our most pressing problems – from college affordability and job training to fair wages and a stable retirement. This program, which will begin later this year, is called myRA or My Retirement Account. This account is designed to help low- and middle-income workers, who are too often overlooked or ignored, begin saving for retirement. We are talking about the waitress who is holding down two part-time jobs to support her kids; the recent graduate who landed a job but is grappling with student loans; the janitor who has never been given the chance to invest in a retirement account.
Here is how myRA, which is simple, safe and affordable, will work. You will be able to start saving with an initial deposit of as little as $25 and contribute as little as $5 each payday. If an employer chooses to participate, contributions are made through automatic payroll deductions, making them hassle-free. There are no fees – 100 percent of any contribution goes into the account and is invested in a Treasury security. That means it will be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, will earn the same interest rate that is available to federal employees for their retirement savings, and the balance will never go down. Finally, myRA is not tied to any one employer – it belongs to the worker, not the workplace. In other words, the account is portable and can be easily rolled into a Roth IRA. And if myRA savers ever need to, they can withdraw their contributions tax-free, at any time.
More here
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Christie alleges #BridgeGate official will "say anything to save" himself in new email: talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris…
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Talking Points Memo (@TPM) February 01, 2014****
Brian Murphy: Well, That Escalated Quickly
It is utterly irrelevant if Chris Christie ‘wins the day’ or the weekend or the next 5 minutes or the next week. Irrelevant. The bottom line is that he is in serious trouble, politically and legally. On the legal front, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey is probing allegations by the mayor of Hoboken that a member of Christie’s cabinet and the lieutenant governor linked federal Hurricane Sandy relief funds to the the mayor’s support for a redevelopment project in Hoboken that would exclusively benefit one of Christie’s closest allies – whom he appointed to chair the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
This morning on his MSNBC show Steve Kornacki discussed reporting he and I (and producer Jack Bohrer) did showing that those federal Hurricane Sandy funds have not been monitored by the Christie Administration as required by a law that Christie himself signed last March. Furthermore, relief funds have been extremely hard to account for because Christie vetoed a bill that would have created a single website to track Sandy funding and contract information. Based on the reactions of two congressmen who watched the report with me, officials in Washington will be loath to trust Christie with the next round of federal funds and we should not be surprised if an investigation is on the horizon.
More here
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Questions about the Foundation or President Obama’s future library? Find the answers: obamapresidentialfoundation.org/about#faq
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The Obama Foundation (@44Foundation) January 31, 2014****
Chicago Tribune: Push To Bring Obama Library To Chicago Begins
The push to build Barack Obama’s presidential library officially got underway Friday with the establishment of a foundation managed by three of his longtime supporters. “The president’s future library will one day serve as an important part of our nation’s historical record, and our mission is to build a library that tells President Obama’s remarkable story in an interactive way that will inspire future generations to become involved in public service,” Nesbitt said.
The foundation is responsible for developing a library that reflects Obama’s values and priorities, according to Nesbitt. He said it will focus on economic opportunity, inspiring an ethic of American citizenship and promoting peace, justice and dignity around the world, among other things.
More here
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Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
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On This Day:
St Louis, Feb. 2, 2008
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Pete Souza: “White House valets had moved the sofas in the Oval Office to accommodate the large number of press photographers that were covering the President’s meeting with Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas. When the photo-op ended, the President said to Gov. Douglas, ‘let’s move the sofas back in place.’ Gov. Douglas didn’t quite know what to do as the President did the heavy lifting. The valets now good-naturedly cringe when they look at this picture because it was their responsibility to move the sofas back in place.” Feb. 2, 2009
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President Obama walks to the Oval Office after returning to the White House following a trip to Nashua, N.H., Feb. 2, 2010 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
First Lady Michelle Obama speaking alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, on childhood obesity during a meeting with Cabinet and Congressional members in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House, February 2, 2010
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Vice President Joe Biden talks with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., after President Barack Obama signed the New START Treaty in the Oval Office, Feb. 2, 2011. Behind them, the President talks with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama is updated on the severe winter storm currently moving across the country during a phone call with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in the Oval Office, Feb. 2, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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Vice President Joe Biden snaps a photo of President Barack Obama and keynote speaker Eric Metaxas during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., Feb. 2, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama speaks after a tour of the U.S. Steel Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
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This is how you win the day
#MadeInAmerica: go.wh.gov/gcJsaH, http://t.co/tk7sara6TH
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The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 29, 2014****
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Here are the details of President Obama's 'MyRA' plan to make sure workers without a pension aren't left behind. usatoday.com/story/news/201…
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Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) January 29, 2014****
President Barack Obama signs a memorandum instructing the U.S. Treasury Department to create a new retirement account system after touring the U.S. Steel Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
President Barack Obama holds up a memorandum instructing the U.S. Treasury Department to create a new retirement account system
29
Jan
14
Rise and Shine
On This Day: President Obama meets with members of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Jan. 29, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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Today:
10:10: The President tours Costco, Lanham, Maryland
10:25: Delivers remarks
11:20: Departs Joint Base Andrews en route Pittsburgh
12:15: Arrives Pittsburgh
1:20: Tours U. S. Steel Irvin Plant, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
1:45: Delivers remarks
3:10: Departs Pittsburgh
4:05: Arrives Joint Base Andrews
4:20: Arrives the White House
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Eugene Robinson: Obama’s Best State Of The Union Speech
With a strong, optimistic beginning and an unforgettable ending, that may have been President Obama’s best State of the Union speech. Apparently none of the commentators who have been saying his presidency is on its last legs bothered to let him know. He opened with a portrait of the country – not an America gripped by crisis or mired in despondency, but a sunny place where unemployment is falling, school test scores are rising, housing prices are recovering, deficits are shrinking and manufacturing jobs are coming home.
the president’s tone throughout the speech was buoyant, not sour. His defense of the Affordable Care Act was an observation that House Republicans’ first 40 useless votes to repeal the law really should suffice. Even when he bludgeoned the GOP over long-term unemployment benefits or the minimum wage, he did it with a smile. His argument for equal pay and family leave? “It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a ‘Mad Men’ episode.” His call for raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10? “Join the rest of the country. Say yes. Give America a raise.”
The end of the speech, a tribute to wounded Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, was an indelible moment. To end with such a powerful story of bravery and resilience gave emotional depth to the overall theme of the speech: America is back. I don’t know how much of his agenda Obama will achieve. But I’m pretty sure the last three years of his presidency won’t be boring.
More here
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Most-quoted #SOTU moments on Twitter:
1. "Son of a single mom can be President"
2. Equal pay
3. Sgt. Cory Remsburg http://t.co/ANdLV6vZyb
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Twitter Government (@gov) January 29, 2014****
Charles Pierce: The State Of Our Union Is Long
Once again, he was the only obvious president in the room, much good may that do him. He did not rile up the base. He was not combative. He did not dwell on issues that his base wanted to hear. (If you had “Keystone XL,” or “NSA,” or “TPP” in your State of the Union drinking game, you probably wound up as the designated driver.) But he was firm on one thing. He is not going to be a lame duck as long as he can still walk. There were a lot of sentences that began with some variation of, “If Congress won’t act…” And he can still throw a sneaky right hand over the top: Now, I do not expect to convince my Republican friends on the merits of this law. But I know that the American people are not interested in refighting old battles. So again, if you have specific plans to cut costs, cover more people, increase choice, tell America what you’d do differently. Let’s see if the numbers add up. But let’s not have another 40- something votes to repeal a law that’s already helping millions of Americans like Amanda.
He was extraordinarily strong in spots, particularly on voting rights, where he plainly had a lot to say, and said it all, and on the process of getting the country off what he rather daringly described as the “permanent war footing” it had been on since 2001. But, if this speech burned no barns, it didn’t sound anything like a last chance, either. The president seemed to have a pen and one hand, and that well-worn olive branch still in the other. He is what he always has been, the coolest head in the room. You can never say he isn’t that.
More here
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#FLOTUS brought a wounded US Veteran to the #SOTU, while a republican brought a "reality" TV duck guy... #Prioties http://t.co/u6pdGxAn40
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KHARY PENEBAKER (@kharyp) January 29, 2014****
BBC: Stem Cell ‘Major Discovery’ Claimed
Stem cell researchers are heralding a “major scientific discovery”, with the potential to start a new age of personalised medicine. Scientists in Japan showed stem cells can now be made quickly just by dipping blood cells into acid. Stem cells can transform into any tissue and are already being trialled for healing the eye, heart and brain. The latest development, published in the journal Nature, could make the technology cheaper, faster and safer.
The human body is built of cells with a specific role – nerve cells, liver cells, muscle cells – and that role is fixed. However, stem cells can become any other type of cell, and they have become a major field of research in medicine for their potential to regenerate the body. Embryos are one, ethically charged, source of stem cells. Nobel prize winning research also showed that skin cells could be “genetically reprogrammed” to become stem cells (termed induced pluripotent stem cells).
More here
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President Obama's ability to connect remains completely baffling to the people who get paid to hate him. democracycorps.com/attachments/ar…
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(@LOLGOP) January 29, 2014****
Via @USAToday - POLL: 73% say raise #MinimumWage, 63% extend jobless benefits usat.ly/1jCiW0F #inequality #1u #RenewUI
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(@AFSCME) January 29, 2014****
NYT: The Diminished State Of The Union
Every winter since 2009, President Obama has stood at the podium of the House and pleaded for the cooperation of Congress. For the last three State of the Union speeches, he has largely been ignored. That has left a growing trail of unfinished business: background checks for gun buyers, immigration reform, a higher minimum wage, tax fairness, universal preschool. This year was different. Mr. Obama’s speech on Tuesday night acknowledged the obvious: Congress has become a dead end for most of the big, muscular uses of government to redress income inequality and improve the economy for all, because of implacable Republican opposition.
“America does not stand still, and neither will I,” he said. “So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.” Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for federal contract workers might benefit only a few hundred-thousand people, but it increases the pressure on other businesses and, ultimately, Congress to raise the wage for everyone. One particularly promising request the president made of Congress was to expand the earned-income tax credit, which now benefits 15 million families a year, to workers without children. That would not only boost the incomes of many at the bottom of the ladder, but it would provide the incentive to work that many Republicans say they support.
More here
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WATCH: The reporter who was physically threatened by Rep. Michael Grimm describes the confrontation bit.ly/1eg8jPS
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Talking Points Memo (@TPM) January 29, 2014****
What the #SOTU2014 brought home. If we want prosperity, opportunity, health care for all and #ImmigrationReform: http://t.co/YgA6rwd1LN
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Tracy (@taiping2) January 29, 2014****
Brian Beutler: The Right’s Agenda Is Reviled: The Lesson From Obama’s Confident State Of The Union
Intentionally or otherwise, Obama’s speech was a reminder to Democrats that the storm clouds of Obamacare implementation have obscured their view of the popular platform the party ran on so confidently in 2012. That there are a series of issues that animate Democratic constituencies on the docket, both ahead of 2014 and beyond, and all of them are political and substantive winners for the party.
To the extent that the GOP agenda isn’t in flux or concealed by sensitivity training, it remains broadly less popular than the Democratic agenda. Republicans understand this well enough to recognize that they need to at least pretend to want to narrow inequality, but these ideas don’t layer neatly atop the existing party platform.
And, of course, in the long run, fanatical opposition to national health care isn’t easily compatible with any serious equality agenda. Democrats don’t have that problem. And structurally that puts them in a sound place, even if the politics of the moment feel pretty wobbly.
More here
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Annie-Rose Strasser: Obama Goes Full Feminist: ‘Time To Do Away With Workplace Policies That Belong In A ‘Mad Men’ Episode’
President Obama let his feminist flag fly during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Citing pay disparity and paid leave policy, he argued — to loud applause — that women are still unequal in the United States, and that there are policies that can change that: Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship – and you know what, a father does, too. It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a “Mad Men” episode. Let’s work together – Congress, the White House, and businesses from Wall Street to Main Street – to give every woman the opportunity she deserves. Because I believe when women succeed, America succeeds.
The President’s ‘Mad Men’-era assessment is apt. Women earn less than their male counterparts in the United States no matter their job, industry, or education. Nationally, women earn 77 cents on a man’s dollar — and that number is not getting better. It affects women right out of college and women at the tops of their fields. Obama is right to call out leave policy, as well, as an issue that keeps women on unequal footing in the workforce. The U.S. is one of the few developed nations without any requirement for paid maternity leave. Over 40 percent of women are forced to take unpaid leave from their jobs when they get pregnant, while about 25 percent quit or are forced out.
More here
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Ive seen GOPrs not applaud when Obama called for mid class tax cuts. Now they didnt when he calld 4 end of war. They ARE against all he's 4.
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Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) January 29, 2014****
USA Today: Obama Unveils New Retirement Savings Plan: ‘MyRA’
A new savings plan will allow Americans to buy savings bonds in a starter retirement account that “guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in,” President Obama said Tuesday evening in his State of the Union address. Details: Safe: The new savings bonds would have its principal guaranteed by the U.S. government, much like a traditional savings bond. Tax benefits: The MyRA bond would be like a Roth IRA: Your contributions would not be tax-deductible, but your earnings would be free from tax when you withdraw it. As with a Roth, your contributions can be taken out tax-free at any time.
Affordable: Minimum initial investment could be as low as $25, and subsequent investments could be as little as $5, through payroll deduction. Savers can keep the same account when they change jobs. Rates: Savers will earn interest at the same variable interest rate as the federal employees’ Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Government Securities Investment Fund. The fund earned 1.74% last year. Availability: The MyRA would be open to households earning up to $191,000 a year through their employers. Employers won’t incur any cost to offer the MyRAs. You’ll be able to save up to $15,000 a year for up to 30 years before transferring to a private Roth IRA.
More here
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Ryan Cooper: In The State Of The Union, Obama Pledges Strong Action On Climate Change
During President Obama’s speech tonight, he announced many different ways he would use the executive branch to pursue strong action on climate change. The policy framework hasn’t changed. Instead, this is a good signal that President Obama intends to finish what he has started. To a first approximation, climate change is about coal. The oldest and filthiest coal-fired power plants are already being retired, squeezed by cheap natural gas and ever-cheaper renewables on one side, and the EPA on the other. With a bit of luck, and if the president keeps up the pressure, by the time he hands off to his successor coal will be on a permanently downward trajectory.
Here’s the money quote: Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth. But we have to act with more urgency – because a changing climate is already harming western communities struggling with drought, and coastal cities dealing with floods. That’s why I directed my administration to work with states, utilities, and others to set new standards on the amount of carbon pollution our power plants are allowed to dump into the air.
The final sentence is the key one. Remember, the EPA still hasn’t even finalized its rule for carbon pollution from existing coal-fired power plants, yet it has managed to close down dozens of plants using rules governing mercury and particulate emissions. Should it come out with an even slightly aggressive rule, it could force all coal plants to eventually shut down. Doing that tomorrow would be ill-advised, but if phased in over a decade or so, the long-term benefits would be spectacular.
More here
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76% of State of the Union viewers had a favorable impression of Obama's speech last night
politicalwire.com/archives/2014/…
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Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) January 29, 2014****
Welcome to #BigBlockofCheeseDay! I’ll be answering questions throughout the day so ask me questions using #AskTheWH http://t.co/II0hFMzpGc
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Paulette Aniskoff (@PAniskoff44) January 29, 2014****
On This Day:
President Obama during a budget meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Jan. 29, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
Surrounded by members of Congress, and Lilly Ledbetter, President Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Bill, Jan. 29, 2009
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican member of the Cabinet, feigns being a blocking back for President Obama as he arrives backstage to meet with GOP House leaders before speaking to their issues conference at the Renaissance Baltimore Harbor Place Hotel in Baltimore, Md., Jan. 29, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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President Obama is briefed on the events in Egypt during a meeting with his national security team in the Situation Room of the White House, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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The first family walk together to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, Jan. 29, 2012
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President Obama delivers remarks on immigration at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 29, 2013 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama signs an accompanying letter to Congressional leaders after signing H.R. 152, which provides fiscal year 2013 supplemental appropriations to respond to and recover from the severe damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Jan. 29, 2013 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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01
Jun
12
Before I Sleep…..
President Barack Obama greets members of the audience following his remarks at the Honeywell Golden Valley Facility in Golden Valley, Minn., June 1, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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Helloooooooo everyone.
Before I depart for an extended sleeping session, me being a sleep-loving kind of gal, a few things:
(1) I’m most certainly not the brightest star in the sky (I need a calculator to add 57 + 8 … I’m not kidding), but with the kind assistance of WordPress’s troll-detecting devices I can, with a single click, figure out who’s being a silly billy.
So, to the people trying to post stuff like:
“I’m a long-time lurker and a passionate supporter of President Obama, but ……”
….. you do know you’re logged here already under, oooooooh, several different names? Each one of them expressing no support at all for PBO, just grave ‘concerns’.
Three words: Must. Try. Harder.
eg ‘Legend of Eldorado’ …. you attempted to post your “first” comment yesterday, which was a personal attack on a regular here …. unaware that WordPress’s James Bond-ish troll-detecting devices showed it was about your 10th attempt, under as many names, to post your “first” comment.
🙄
(2) To those who claimed to be “long time lurkers” and “HUGE” PBO supporters, who chose to finally emerge from their lurkdom yesterday to complain about me shrubbing that pathetic excuse of a man, GWB, I say:
Give me a f**king break!
Seriously, are you kidding me? Absolutely none of the treatment dished out to President Obama over the last three and a half years stirred your juices enough to leave lurkdom and comment in his support …. but an irreverent post about the turd that is Bush energized you?
You know, methinks that says a whole lot more about you than it does about me.
Passionate PBO supporters? Thanks for the laughs.
If you don’t like how things are done here, then click elsewhere – okay? It’s not Blog.gov, so to those ordering me to remove the shrubs from Scumbag Bush’s face, I bare my buttocks in your direction. And trust me, they’re not a pretty sight.
Again, if you don’t like the blog’s disrespectful ‘tone’ towards that contemptible piece of crap, who stole his second term and started an illegal war that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocents, then maybe you need to tune in to GeorgeRocks.com ….. trust me, this place will never be for you. And NO apologies – ever.
(3) To the good folk who’ve attempted to post here for the first time the last few days, there’s a shiny new policy (I’ll update the ‘How Do I Comment Here?’ page asap): no newcomers will be accepted between now and November unless they sign up with longstanding Twitter/Facebook/WordPress accounts that show they’re PBO supporters and not dim-witted Willard-worshipping twats. I have neither the time nor the desire to weed out the trolls.
(4) Today was, maybe, the worst of days. Shitty, crappy, etc. And there’ll be a whole heap of days just like it between now and November.
So, we have two choices:
(a) Give up. Curl up in a ball and die, and prepare for Willard’s inauguration.
or
(b) Take a deep breath, have a gin or three, dust ourselves down, have a good night’s sleep, wake up, and vow to fight back even harder.
I go for (b).
Are you in?
Myra Soukup is, and that’ll do for me:
The President signs Myra Soukup’s framed photo of him at the airport in Minneapolis:
“Dream big Dreams”
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01
Jun
12
Minneapolis
President Obama greets Randy Hobbs with his daughter Isabella, 5, after arriving in Minneapolis
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Sullivan Harris look over the barricade as President Obama speaks at Honeywell in Golden Vale
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President Obama shares a laugh with Sen Al Franken and Sen Amy Klobuchar
…. posing for a photo with Myra Soukup, 16
A portrait of President Obama shows his autograph and a message “Dream big Dreams” after he signed the picture for Myra Soukup
****
…. touring the Honeywell Golden Valley facility in Minneapolis
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President Obama is greeted by Ryan Sullivan, Honeywell Electrical Technologist and Navy veteran, before delivering remarks at the Honeywell Golden Valley facility in Minneapolis
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4:20: Departs Minneapolis en route Chicago
5:20: Arrives Chicago
7:10 Delivers remarks at a campaign event at the Chicago Cultural Center
(listed in CNN’s live streaming schedule)
8:25 Delivers remarks at a campaign event, private residence
9:55: Delivers remarks at a campaign event, private residence
The Obama Diary 
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