Early Bird Chat: Weekly Address

Rise and Shine: The Week Ahead

On This Day: Fredericksburg, September 13, 2012

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Saturday and Sunday

The President has no public events scheduled

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Monday

The President will award the Medal of Honor to Army Command Sergeant Major Bennie G. Adkins and to Army Specialist Four Donald P Sloat for conspicuous gallantry (more here)

In the evening, the President will attend a DSCC event in Washington DC.

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Tuesday

The President will travel to Atlanta, GA to visit the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he will receive a briefing on the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, discuss the U.S. response and thank the scientists, doctors and health care workers helping those affected by disease at home and around the world. The President will also receive an updated on the respiratory illness reported in several states in the Midwest.

That evening, the President will travel to Tampa, Florida, where he will remain overnight.

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Wednesday

The President will visit U.S. Central Command at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL.  CENTCOM’s area of responsibility includes 20 countries in the Middle East and Central and South Asia, including Iraq and Syria. The President will receive a briefing from his top commanders at CENTCOM, and thank the men and women who will partner with others in the region to carry out the President’s strategy to degrade and defeat ISIL.

In the afternoon, he will return to Washington, DC.

In the evening, the President will host a picnic for members of Congress.

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Thursday

On Thursday morning the President will participate in an Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony in the Oval Office.

In the afternoon, he will host President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine at the White House.

That evening, the President will attend a DNC event in Washington, DC.

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Friday

The President will participate in an event with the DNC’s Women’s Leadership Forum in Washington, DC.

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On This Day: Ricky Watson of Littleton, Colorado wipes tears from his eyes after he thanked President Barack Obama for repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at a campaign rally in Golden, Colorado, September 13, 2012. Watson was kicked out of the Air Force 25 years ago for being gay.

Rise and Shine: The Week at TOD

@petesouza: Pres Obama talking to a youngster outside Arthur Bryant’s BBQ tonight in KC

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All the week’s White House videos here

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Sunday

Early Bird Chat • • • Rise and Shine: The Week At TOD

10 Years Ago Tonight • • • Chat On: Electric Ladyland

Readout of the President’s Call with PM Netanyahu • • • Chat On

Chat Away: Psychedelic Rock

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Monday

Early Bird Chat • • • Rise and Shine

ObamaCare Works – And Kentucky Is Proof

President Obama Awards the 2013 National Medal of Arts and Humanities

The Fire Next Time • • • The President’s Day • • • A Tweet Or Two

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Tuesday

Early Bird Chat • • • Rise and Shine

First Lady Michelle Obama Presents The Most Important Meal Of The Day

President Obama Delivers a Statement on Ukraine

A Tweet Or Two • • • Chat Away

Welcome to Kansas City, Mr President

Night Owl Chat: What The World Needs Now Is FLASH MOBS

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Rise and Shine: The Week at TOD

Parade

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See the week’s White House videos here

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Sunday

Early Bird Chat • • Rise and Shine: The Week at TOD • • Happy Father’s Day, 44! • • ObamaCare: 14 Million And Counting • • A Tweet Or Two • • 140 Characters Of Laugh Out Loud

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Monday

Early Bird Chat • • Rise and Shine • • This Is What Change Looks Like • • ObamaCare: Good News All Around • • World Cup Chat Away • • World Cup Chat Away: Second Half • • Chat On! • • A Tweet Or Two

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Tuesday

Early Bird Chat • • Rise and Shine • • Next Up: President Obama at TechShop Pittsburgh • • President Obama at TechShop Pittsburgh • • President Obama Joins the Library Conspiracy • • Techshop Pittsburgh Welcomes President Obama • • The President at the DNC LGBT Gala, Gotham Hall • • America Under President Obama Means Progress

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Wednesday

Early Bird Chat • • Rise and Shine • • The First Lady Speaks at Naturalization Ceremony • • A Nation Of Makers • • The Affordable Care Act Lives Up To Its Name • • A Tweet Or Two

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Thursday

Early Bird Chat • • Rise and Shine • • The President Delivers a Statement on the Situation in Iraq • • The President awards the Medal of Honor • • The President’s Day • • A Tweet Or Two • • Chat On!

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Friday

Early Bird Chat • • Rise and Shine • • John McCain: Always Wrong • • ObamaCare: Signed. Sealed. Delivering. • • The President’s Day • • Chat Away • • The President Gets 3D Printed…Zot!…Zot!…Zot! Thanks Jay!

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Saturday

Early Bird Chat • • Rise and Shine: The Week Ahead • • Chat Away • • Chat On • • Governor O’Malley at the Iowa Democratic Party’s State Convention • Chat Away • • The Saturday Funnies

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MoooOOOooorning!

The Week Ahead

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Monday

The President will host an event on education at the White House.

Later in the afternoon, he will welcome the NCAA Champion UConn Huskies Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams to honor the teams and their 2014 NCAA Championships.

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Tuesday

The President will take to Tumblr in an event at the White House moderated by Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp. He will deliver remarks and answer questions from people across the country on the importance of education, college affordability, and reducing student loan debt.

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Wednesday

The President will travel to Worcester, Massachusetts to deliver the commencement address at the Worcester Technical High School graduation ceremony.

He will also attend a DSCC event in the Boston area.

Following the event, he will return to Washington, DC.

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Thursday

The President will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia at the White House (sorry, 99ts); the Vice President will also attend.

In the afternoon, the President will welcome the WNBA Champion Minnesota Lynx to the White House to honor the team and their victory in the WNBA Finals.

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Friday

The President and the First Lady will travel to the Cannonball, North Dakota area to visit the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Following their visit to Indian Country, they will travel to Palm Springs, CA.

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Saturday

The President will deliver the commencement address at University of California, Irvine on the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the UC Irvine campus by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The President and the First Lady will return to Washington, D.C on Monday.

Rise and Shine: The Week at TOD

President Barack Obama and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tour Memorial Hall at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum prior to the 9/11 Museum dedication in New York, N.Y., May 15, 2014 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Sunday

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Early Bird Chat

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Rise and Shine: The Week Ahead

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@jonfavs: The first speech I ever wrote at age 4 was a real Mother’s Day barnburner. Love you, Mom!

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Chat Away

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@FLOTUS: Thanks for inspiring me to #ReachHigher mom! Wishing you and all the wonderful moms out there a #HappyMothersDay

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Chat On

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I was there when your mother conceived you. In fact she was calling My name. #awwwyeah

— God (@TheTweetOfGod) May 11, 2014

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Laugh Into The Night

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Monday

On This Day: Sen. Barack Obama plays a game of pool during a stop at Schultzie’s Bar & Hot Spot, May 12, 2008 in Springhill, West Virginia. (Photo by Scout Tufankjian)

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Early Bird Chat

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Rise and Shine

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Monday Needs Pictures

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President Obama Honors 2014 Top Cops

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First Lady Michelle Obama Celebrates Moms

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The President And Vice President Honor The Nation’s TOP COPS

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Tuesday

On This Day: Sen. Barack Obama stops to speak with school kids from Holy Cross as he departs after a vote on amendments to S.2284, the “Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007,” on Capitol Hill, May 13, 2008

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Early Bird Chat

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Rise and Shine

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Chat Away

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@petesouza: President Obama signs Medal of Honor award citation with Sergeant Kyle White & family in the Oval Office

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President Obama Awards The Medal of Honor

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The President’s Day

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The Week Ahead

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Saturday and Sunday: The President has no public events scheduled.

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Monday: The President will host an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House.

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Tuesday: The President and the First Lady will mark the beginning of Passover with a Seder at the White House with friends and staff.

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Wednesday: President Obama and Vice President Biden will travel to Leetsdale, Pennsylvania for an event on the economy.

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Thursday: The President will welcome the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride to the White House in celebration of the eighth annual Soldier Ride.

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Friday: The President will meet with the National Commander and Executive Director of the American Legion. Later, he will welcome the United States Naval Academy Football Team to the White House to present them with the 2013 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.

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Rise and Shine: The Week at TOD

Photo of the Week? First Lady Michelle Obama, Sasha and Malia visit the Great Wall of China, March 23 (Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

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And another photo of the week:

Pope Francis and President Obama smile as they exchange gifts at the Vatican, March 27

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Sunday

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The First Lady in China

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Rise and Shine

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Life Can Get Crazy ➞ Get Covered

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ObamaCare Means: Affordable And Comprehensive Coverage

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A Tweet or Two #GetCovered

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Chat Away

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Travels with the First Lady and First Daughters

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Monday

President Obama stands in front of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch during a flying visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

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Early Bird Chat

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Rise and Shine: The Netherlands and China

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Take the #100Challenge

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The President’s Day

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Happy Birthday, Aretha

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Chat Away

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Chat On

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Tuesday

@petesouza: Pres Obama w young girl during an event at the US Embassy in The Netherlands today

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Early Bird Chat

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Rise and Shine

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President Obama’s News Conference

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Wherein I Go On A Little Rant

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ObamaCare: Not Numbers But People

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The President’s Day

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@PeteSouza: Pres Obama talks on phone to Washington Gov Jay Inslee about mudslide in Oso. Alyssa Mastromonaco is in foreground

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Night Owl Chat – MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC! (and a poem)

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Flanders Fields

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West Wing Week: “Madiba, Farewell”

Chat on!

Rise and Shine

Love this front page from Belgium today

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Today (all times Eastern):

1:0: Jay Carney briefs the press

5:0: The First family attends the National Christmas Tree lighting; President Obama delivers remarks

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So much for my intention never to watch anything from MSNBC again … but I never knew the story behind this photo – here it is:

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NYT (June 2013): In Mandela, Obama Found a Beacon Who Inspired From Afar

Barack Obama had been a United States senator for just weeks in early 2005 when Oprah Winfrey offered to carry a message for him to Nelson Mandela, the iconic South African leader.

Mr. Obama disappeared into a back room in Ms. Winfrey’s television studio to write the note, but he was gone so long that his spokesman, Robert Gibbs, popped his head in after half an hour.

“You’ve got to give me some time here,” Mr. Obama, pen in hand, told Mr. Gibbs, who recalled the moment recently. “I can’t just wing a note to Nelson Mandela.”

…. The two have met in person only once, in a spontaneous encounter in Washington in 2005, when Mr. Mandela was in town and was urged by advisers to take a few minutes to meet a rising Democratic senator named Barack Obama.

Mr. Obama was in a car, on the way to a meeting, but diverted to the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown, where Mr. Mandela was staying. The conversation produced a lasting image of Mr. Obama, in silhouette, standing next to a reclining Mr. Mandela.

More here – thank you Meta

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@GoogleEarthPics: The Eiffel Tower has been lit up in the colours of the South African flag to grieve over Nelson Mandela’s death

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USA Today: Obama expected to attend Mandela’s funeral

Expect President Obama to confirm soon he will attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral.

Officials have held off on a formal announcement as travel plans are worked out; Mandela’s funeral will be part of a mourning period in South Africa that will last about ten days.

In the meantime, Obama has directed that American flags be lowered to half-staff through Monday in honor of the freedom fighter who died Thursday at age 95.

More here

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Next time you don’t bother voting, think of this – April ’94: Lines of People outside Soweto polling station #Mandela pic.twitter.com/PQQ5KjDwUM

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

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Schoolchildren hold candles, portraits of Mandela during ceremony in Chennai, India (Reuters) http://t.co/JKS9rjMTlh pic.twitter.com/eCPUFuLZM1

— AJAM Live (@ajamlive) December 6, 2013

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A Word from Japa:

I have deliberately stayed away from commenting on Mandela, not because I have no appreciation for who he was and what he did, but rather both who he was and what he did are beyond my ability to pay tribute to.

I first heard about him about the same time I was reading Patton’s Cry, The Beloved Country. Looking back, it was like it was fated the two would happen together. Here I was reading, and being deeply influenced by, a book that exposed the worse of the apartheid system while along came a person who was willing to sacrifice everything to bring it to an end.

I remember being aghast at the hatred I heard expressed whenever his name was mentioned and the open support for the system of apartheid. Remember, this was during the Civil Rights era here and I was old enough to recognize that part of the support for apartheid was a defense of this country’s segregation policies. I think many were so against Mandela because they knew that if South Africa was able to end its racist approach to existence then the US would be at the forefront of nations that deliberately and maliciously oppressed a major segment of its population.

LL made a comment last night about how in SA they were celebrating his life, not mourning his loss. And that is the way it should be. The man gave so much of himself not for his own glory, which I think matter not one whit to him, but for the welfare of his people. And by “his people” I mean the people of SA, no matter what their color or religion was. He knew that oppression impacts both the oppressed and the oppressors in negative ways. He was never into revenge for prior wrongs but rather about having all move forward. Considering all that was done to him, that may well be his greatest legacy.

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I’m breaking my MSNBC boycott again 😕 – but only for the President!

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Avoided depression. Huge health reform. Jump-started clean energy. School reform. Financial reform. Kinda consequential presidency, no?

— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) December 6, 2013

Ending wars in Iraq/Afghanistan, avoiding quagmires in Libya/Syria/Iran also seems consequential. But I defer to foreign policy types there.

— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) December 6, 2013

We can all agree that 200K new jobs a month is nothing to brag about, and that America was much better off losing 800K jobs a month.

— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) December 6, 2013

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Steve Benen: Job growth picks up steam, unemployment drops

Expectations going into this morning’s new monthly jobs report were fairly strong, and as it turns out, the totals from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were even better than expected.

According to the new BLS report, the U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November, ahead of economists’ predictions. In a pleasant change of pace, the public sector did not drag down the overall figures – the private sector added 196,000 jobs, while the public sector, which has hemorrhaged jobs in recent years, added 7,000.

The overall unemployment rate dropped 7%. That’s a five-year low, though it’s a little misleading – it reflects furloughed federal workers who returned to their jobs after the government shutdown ended.

More here

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Bad News for @GOP, #ObamaCare isn’t killing jobs: Healthcare added 28,400 jobs. Manufacturing added 27K jobs including 7K in auto industry.

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) December 6, 2013

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Bloomberg: Payroll Gains in U.S. on Track for Best Year Since 2005

Job growth in November was probably strong enough to keep payroll gains on track for the best year since 2005, economists said before a report today.

Employers added 185,000 workers last month after taking on 204,000 in October, based on the median forecast of 89 economists in a Bloomberg survey before today’s report from the Labor Department. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.2 percent, matching an almost five-year low, from 7.3 percent as federal employees returned to work, according to the survey median.

The pickup in employment over the last three months signals companies are confident that demand will improve and gives American workers the means to spend.

More here

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Washington Post: Refusing Medicaid expansion will cost states billions of dollars

When the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the federal government could not compel states to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, it gave Republican opponents of the measure the opportunity to decline to participate in one of the law’s central tenets. But a new study estimates the decision not to participate will cost those states billions of dollars over the next decade — costs that will be passed on to taxpayers.

…. By refusing to expand Medicaid, Texas will forgo $9.2 billion in federal funding in 2022. Florida, another state that has said it won’t expand Medicaid, stands to lose more than $5 billion.

Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia will all forgo more than $2 billion in federal funding, while Louisiana, Oklahoma and Wisconsin will miss out on more than $1 billion. Both Tennessee and Indiana, two states that have yet to formally decide whether to expand the program, face losing more than $2 billion in federal funding if they decide against expansion.

More here

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The govt already achieved Obama’s renewable energy goals – tnx, #stimulus! – so he’s tripling them: 20% by 2020. http://t.co/lAiVXEZV1u

— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) December 6, 2013

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On This Day:

As overflow guests look on in the Grand Foyer, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wait to be introduced before the Kennedy Center Honors event that was held in the East Room of the White House, Dec. 6, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

Pete Souza: “Having seen more than 25 Bruce Springsteen concerts since 1978 and having seen just about every movie Robert DeNiro has ever made, it was a great thrill to be in their presence as the President greeted them before the Kennedy Center Honors at the White House.” Dec. 6, 2009

President Obama and Vice President Biden talk before the start of the Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama applaud Bruce Springsteen during the Kennedy Center Honors, Dec. 6, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama pose for a formal portrait in front of the official White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room of the White House, Dec. 6, 2009 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Obama tours the biotech facilities at Forsyth Technical Community College West Campus in Winston-Salem, N.C., Dec. 6, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)

Pete Souza: “En route to his speech at Osawatomie High School in Kansas, I noticed a lot of people lining the motorcade route. So on departure, I rode in his vehicle so I could photograph some of the onlookers waving to the President.” Dec. 6, 2011

President Obama arrives aboard Marine One at Osawatomie-Paola Municipal Airport in Osawatomie, Kan., Dec. 6, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama prays with, from left: Richard Santana, Velma Massenburg, Jimmie Massenburg, and Tiffany Santana, during a visit to the Santana’s home in Falls Church, Va., Dec. 6, 2012 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

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Morning everyone.