Rise and Shine

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Morning everyone, I’ll be back later today, chat away 😉

Bits ‘n Pieces

President Obama chats with Col. Mike Minihan while making his way to board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. the President is heading to Albany to visit the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s Albany NanoTech Complex at the State University of New York and to speak on the economy.

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Coming up:

White House live

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AP: U.S. companies in March posted the highest number of job openings in nearly four years, a sign that hiring could strengthen in the coming months after slowing this spring.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that employers advertised 3.74 million job openings in March. That’s up from a revised 3.57 million in February. The March figure was the highest since July 2008, just before the financial crisis erupted that fall.

The increase in job openings suggests that weaker hiring gains in March and April could be temporary. It usually takes one to three months for employers to fill openings…..

More here

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Steve Benen: ‘With a polarized Congress already on the defensive, President Obama on Tuesday will outline a five-point “to do” list for lawmakers that packages job creation and mortgage relief ideas he has proposed before, administration officials say.

Mr. Obama will present the election-year list during a visit to a university science complex in Albany. The components of his challenge to Congress – and to the Republican-led House in particular – will be a feature of his appearances throughout the spring, aides said.’

…. Will Congress approve the list? Well, no, probably not. While these fairly non-controversial ideas might have been easy to pass in previous years, Republican filibusters and GOP control of the House probably makes any kind of economic legislation impossible. It’s not even clear if Republican lawmakers want the economy to improve before the election.

Then why bother? I suspect the point is to show the president presenting mainstream economic ideas that would have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support, while a do-nothing Republican Congress sits on its hands…..

More here

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