President Obama talks with members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams in the Oval Office, Nov. 15. Pictured, from left, are: Steven Gluckstein, Savannah Vinsant, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Steve Penny, USA Gymnastics President, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber (Pete Souza)
President Obama greets Olympic and Paralympic athletes on the South Lawn of the White House, Sept 14
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Washington Post: President Obama’s reelection campaign will begin accepting donations sent by text messages this week, marking the first foray into a potentially lucrative new avenue of grass-roots fundraising for federal candidates.
The program, announced by campaign officials early Thursday, will allow supporters to send contributions of less than $50 by texting “GIVE” to 62262 — which corresponds with the letters in “Obama.”
Officials said the service will be available almost immediately for Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular customers, and for AT&T and other carriers “in the near future.” Possibilities include soliciting text donations in broadcast and Internet ads and during major political events, such as the upcoming Democratic Party convention in Charlotte, N.C.
“Accepting small donations by text message will help us engage even more grassroots supporters who want to play a role by donating whatever they can afford to the campaign,” campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement.
…. As an example of what to expect, the campaign said video screens at upcoming events could include a plea for cellphone funds that reads: “To contribute $10 to Obama for America, text GIVE to 62262.”
More here
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Vice President Joe Biden with Olympic boxing gold medalist Claressa Shields during a campaign stop at Renaissance High School, Detroit, August 22
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President Obama puts his shoes back on after meeting wrestlers on the mat at the U.S. Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, August 9
….President Obama, visiting the Olympic training center here, had slipped his shoes off to greet athletes on a wrestling mat.
When he went to retrieve them, he plunked right down to put them on, with a gaggle of cameras rolling and reporters standing in front of him.
One reporter, CBS’s Peter Maer, remarked, “Very presidential, sir,” according to a pool report.
“Thanks. No holes in my socks,” the president joked. “My grandmother would be proud.”
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The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, August 9
Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pa, Aug. 9
Montgomery County, Pa, August 9
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Grand Junction, Colorado, August 8 (Flickr)
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Morning everyone 😉
President Barack Obama talks with staff in Senior Advisor David Plouffe’s West Wing office at the White House, Oct. 6, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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Jonathan Cohn (The New Republic): Remember when President Obama wouldn’t even utter the word “Republican”? Those days are long gone. And maybe, just maybe, the change in rhetoric is starting to pay off.
We’re now into week four of the administration’s campaign to promote its jobs proposal. And instead of dialing down the pressure, Obama has been dialing it up….
…. A new ABC-Washington Post poll suggests that, so far, Obama’s campaign is working …. public support for the elements of his jobs bill is high. And, more important, Obama has opened up a substantial gap with the Republicans over which party voters trust more to handle “job creation.”
… whether or not the Democrats have every single member in line is less important than whether they have 50 votes to pass it – because if they have the 50 votes, then the obstacle to enactment won’t be Democrats. It will be Republicans….
And that ought to matter to the voters. Everybody assumes Obama is campaigning hard for his jobs plan primarily to make a point to the voters about who stands for what, in advance of the 2012 elections. That’s probably true. But he’s adopted this posture because Republicans refuse to compromise. And if Republicans start to pay a political price for holding up popular legislation, there’s still a chance they will relent – and pass legislation before the year is done….
Full post here
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Based on Symmetry’s brilliant twitpic here (Thanks Meta)
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Business Week: Railroads shipments are the highest in almost three years, helping to defy concerns about a double-dip recession.
Total rail volumes averaged 381,831 carloads in August, the most since October 2008 … these shipments represent the bulk of materials for industrial production, so rising volumes show the economy is still growing…
… since reporting quarterly earnings in July, the three largest U.S. railroads haven’t given any indication of a sharp decline in demand similar to 2008 and 2009, when volumes fell as much as 24 percent on an annual basis.
…. Earlier this month, CSX’s Chief Financial Officer Oscar Munoz said he isn’t concerned about “any kind of overarching sort of dire circumstances around the corner,” as there is still a “general level of optimism” among customers and suppliers.
“Sure, things have moderated, but there is no one in that near state of panic that we saw certainly in late ‘08 and ‘09,” Munoz said….
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Greg Sargent (Washington Post): John Boehner has a new line he’s trying out to justify the Republican House’s rejection of Barack Obama’s jobs bill: “We’re legislating. He’s campaigning. It’s very disappointing.”
Huh? Really?
… legislating? The House of Representatives? The 112th Congress? Hard to believe that Boehner could say that one without bursting out laughing. The current House has done hardly any legislating at all. They could barely pass a bill to keep the government’s lights on back in the spring, and they almost send the nation into default in the summer…..
And outside of that there’s … well, almost nothing. As Obama pointed out today, there is no Republican initiative that can meaningfully be called a jobs bill…
…. The key here is that real legislating requires compromise, especially during times of divided government. And House Republicans have no intention of compromising with either the Senate or with Barack Obama … Even now, if Boehner really offered to deal on jobs, I don’t think anyone doubts that Obama would hop off the campaign trail and try to work something out. But there will be no legislating, because the House isn’t going to do it.
No matter what talking points John Boehner might trot out.
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About one thousand people gather and form a large ‘99%’ in the middle of Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, October 6
Thanks nintendowii10
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Perry and Bachmann finally talk some, err, sense:
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GOPolitico’s race-baiter supreme, Julie Mason – get over it Julie, your President is black 😉 – had yet another pitiful dig at the President today for not mentioning, when he hosted the Texas A&M University women’s championship basketball team at the White House, that her beloved Rick Perry attended the college. Maybe Julie missed her buddy Knoller’s tweet…..
The President invited Perry to the White House?! See, that’s what you call class, Julie – you should try and acquire some one day 😉
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Captain Mark Kelly hugs his wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, after receiving the Legion of Merit from Vice President Joe Biden during a retirement ceremony in the Secretary of War Suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in Washington, D.C., Oct. 6, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
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The photo I love more than any:
Forty years after their silent protest at the 1968 Olympics, Gold Medalist Tommie Smith hugs Bronze Medalist John Carlos, and their wives Delois Smith and Charlene Carlos after Barack Obama is officially sworn in as the President of the United States. (Boston Globe/Stan Grossfeld)
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Night everyone 😉
Forty years after their silent protest at the 1968 Olympics, Gold Medalist Tommie Smith hugs Bronze Medalist John Carlos, and their wives Delois Smith and Charlene Carlos after Barack Obama is officially sworn in as the President of the United States. Photo taken in the Smith room at the Sheraton Boston in Boston, MA. (Boston Globe/Stan Grossfeld)
See all the Picture Perfect photos here
….with David Axelrod and speechwriters Jonathan Lovett and Jon Favreau, while reading a draft of his remarks for the White House Correspondents Association dinner, April 30, 2010
….with Bono in the Oval Office, April, 30, 2010
….with patrons at Jerry’s Family Restaurant in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, April 27, 2010
…at Jerry’s Family Restaurant, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, April 27, 2010
…with patrons at 12 Bones restaurant in Asheville, N.C., April 23, 2010
…with members of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team, April 21, 2010
…holding an “I’m an Obamanaut” bumper sticker at NASA operations at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 15, 2010
…with Garth Brooks at the White House, April 14, 2010. The President was presented with the 2007 Grammy Award for best spoken word album for his book “The Audacity of Hope”
….walking to an outdoor meeting in the Rose Garden, April 6, 2010
…pitching in the Rose Garden of the White House, March 31, 2010
…giving personal secretary Katie Johnson a birthday gift, March 26, 2010
More 🙂 photos….The Best Medicine
Copenhagen, October, 2009
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama watch Olympian Ryan Reser, in white, and Paralympian Myles Porter during a judo demonstration, part of the U.S. Olympians youth sporting event on the South Lawn of the White House, Sept. 16, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama uses a plastic saber to stab U.S. fencer Tim Morehouse during an Olympic Games event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, September 16, 2009.
Obama White House.gov WH Tumblr The People’s View Smartypants Steve Benen
The Obama Diary 
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