This and That

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My Family, Our Cancer, and the Murderous Cruelty of Conservatives http://t.co/sE09N3S7zb via @VanityFair

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) July 16, 2013

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NYT: Health Insurance Within Reach

Ever since Marci Lieber, a part-time social worker in Brooklyn, learned she was pregnant, she and her husband have been scrambling to find health insurance. But insurers consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition, and won’t sell anyone a new policy that covers it.

That changes on Jan. 1, 2014, when insurers will no longer be permitted to deny coverage of pre-existing conditions — and all Americans will be required to have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Ms. Lieber, 37, hopes to purchase a policy through New York State’s new health exchange as early as this October.

Just in time: the baby is due Jan. 25…..

More here

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The Daily Beast: Texas’s Unwanted-Baby Boom

Between the state’s anti-abortion bill, its move to defund contraception providers, and its war on sex education, experts predict tens of thousands of unplanned pregnancies next year.

The war on women is a nationwide phenomenon, but nowhere are women in more danger of having their reproductive health undermined at every turn than in Texas. Under the leadership of Gov. Rick Perry and a Republican Party completely in the thrall of the religious right, Christian fundamentalists have launched a three-pronged attack on the well-being of women of the state….

More here

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@daddylonglegs01

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A peek inside my inbox: Racism & the #GeorgeZimmerman trial. http://t.co/5FH7X934p3 #TrayvonMartin

— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) July 16, 2013

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I wrote more than 60 posts seeking justice for #TrayvonMartin as if my life depended on it – because one day it might http://t.co/2Ed3MGO9Pi

— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) July 16, 2013

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ThinkProgress: In a piece that contains the telling (even in context) line “I am a racist,” longtime Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen employed a mishmash of poorly explained statistics and bafflingly ignorant mathematical reasoning to argue that Trayvon Martin was “understandably suspected because he was black” — that is, Americans should assume any young black men they meet are criminals.

More here

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Trayvon Martin and My Old Doctor http://t.co/VHZPuGWLuC

— The People’s View (@thepeoplesview) July 16, 2013

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Richard Cohen flashback Oct. 1986: “Post Offers Apology to Blacks” http://t.co/XPXedVJ1nO

— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) July 16, 2013

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The inadequacy of a “good heart” http://t.co/3zcAFFfr05

— Smartypants (@Smartypants32) July 16, 2013

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Rise and Shine

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Cagle

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Charles Blow:  Elections often turn on character moments and the slopes of lines. They are about who a candidate reveals himself to be under pressure more than who he says he is on stage…..

Taking that into account, at this moment, President Obama’s chances of being re-elected look stronger than they have in months. The Romney campaign seems to be coming off the tracks with no clear vision for how to get back on.

Romney’s panicky, premature excoriation of the Obama administration over violence in the Middle East — a response that was factually flawed and widely panned — only served to shake the fragile faith of those who might be holding their noses to support him…..

It also doesn’t help that Romney seems incapable of concealing his anxiety. He too often looks like a boy who just stepped on a nail and can’t remember his last tetanus shot.

More here

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Liberal Librarian: I think that this week has been a fulcrum not only in the election, but in the very real fight for the soul of the country.

Yes, way too many of our fellow citizens are still addled by hatred and bigotry. Obama should be ahead by 10-15 points, not 4-8. But let’s put that into perspective: Before the conventions, the polling averages had him ahead by at most 2 points. The debacle of Tampa and the triumph of Charlotte, without the media filter, basically reintroduced the country to both parties.

The GOP was seen as a heartless collection of ideologues whose only interest was in achieving power to service its rich backers. There was no positive vision of the future, but a wallowing in the contention that America was “in decline”. Charlotte highlighted a party and a President who believed in the nation, believed in the ability of its citizens to make an adult decision when presented with facts. The country saw a party united in its determination to make life better for all citizens, not just the fortunate few. It was the antithesis of the malaise bruited about by the GOP.

See the full post here

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Cagle

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Steve Benen: Chronicling Mitt’s Mendacity, Vol. XXXIV

See here – I don’t know where Benen finds the time to chronicle all these lies, but he’s doing an epic job

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Cagle

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ThinkProgress: Biotechnology firm Monsanto Company, which currently owns most of the patents for America’s staple crops, is already cozy with American lawmakers. A new Nation report, however, indicates that “a very old friend in a very high place” may usher in the corporation’s most prosperous years yet.

The Nation’s investigative report has uncovered how Mitt Romney personally helped Monsanto shed its string of toxic chemical-related scandals and reinvent itself to dominate American agriculture. Monsanto, an early Bain & Company client, was so impressed with Romney that they started bypassing his superiors to deal with him directly.

More here

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ThinkProgress: House Republican Leader Eric Cantor announced Friday that after next week, the House will stand in recess until November 13. His plan for a nearly two month vacation will undoubtedly allow more time for campaigning, but will leave several vital bills awaiting action.

Among the important legislation the House will likely not address before the November elections:

1. Violence Against Women Act re-authorization…. 2. The American Jobs Act…. 3. Tax cuts for working families…. 4. Veterans Job Corps Act….

More here

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The Independent (UK): …. Mitt Romney has a fight on his hands if he wants to keep using Thin Lizzy music to back his campaign. The widow of Phil Lynott, the band’s legendary frontman, said there was no way the singer would have supported the Republican candidate.

Caroline Lynott-Taraskevics has told the band’s record company to issue a cease and desist order preventing Romney from using Thin Lizzy classics …. she and his mother Philomena were angered after Mr Romney used the anthem The Boys Are Back In Town at the Republican convention in Florida.

The rocker’s mother has said her son would have rejected any association with the Republicans, particularly the Christian right-wing of the party and what she called anti-gay and pro-rich policies.

In a message published by Irish music magazine Hot Press, Ms Lynott-Taraskevics said that were Lynott still alive, he would back Democrat US President Barack Obama.

“Absolutely in no way would Philip have supported Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan and he would have been so happy about Obama becoming US president,” she said.

More here

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Morning everyone

My kind of town….

Arriving in Chicago tonight

…. greeted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his wife Amy Rule

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…. with British PM David Cameron at Camp David

….. with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia

….. with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany

….. with Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada

All photos by Pete Souza – more here

state dinner

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Dinner guests:

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and her son Ned

Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory

Attorney General Eric Holder and his wife Sharon Malone

Warren Buffett and his wife Astrid

Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry, a medal of honor recipient, and his wife Ashley Petry

Sen. John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry

Sen. Charles Schumer and Iris Weinshall

Gwen Ifill and Wendell Pierce

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and his wife Katie

U.S. Congressman John Dingell and his wife Deborah

Andrew Sullivan and Aaron Tone

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, and Shelby Bryan

Jay Carney and Claire Shipman, Senior National Correspondent for ABC

Hugh Bonneville and LuLu Williams

Golfer Rory McIlroy and guest Conor Ridge

Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman

Idris Elba

George …. you know

Vice President Joe Biden with his wife Jill Biden and British Foreign Secretary William Hague

 

welcome mates (video added)

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha to the White House

dc in dc …. and ohio

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron walk toward Marine One before departing Washington, DC for Dayton, Ohio to attend a NCAA tournament basketball game

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These links are a bit hit and miss, but give them a try:

Here, Here and Here

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First Lady Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron attend a mini-Olympics event with local school children at American University’s Bender Arena

rise and shine

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10:50: PBO meets with the 2012 Intel Science Talent Search finalists.

11:10: PBO will deliver a statement in the Rose Garden about a new effort to enforce U.S. trade rights with China.

1:00: Jay Carney briefs the press.

4:15: Michelle Obama hosts a mini-Olympics competition in celebration of the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

4:20: PBO and Prime Minister Cameron leave the W.H. for Andrews Air Force Base.

4:35: PBO and Cameron depart for Dayton, Ohio.

5:55: PBO and Cameron attend an NCAA Tournament game (live on truTV)

9:00: PBO and Cameron depart Ohio for D.C.

10:35: PBO and Cameron arrive back at the White House.

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Sign up here to get a link to the livestream of the film which will be shown on Thursday

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Bloomberg: The U.S. public’s economic outlook is turning from fear to hope with the presidential election campaign under way. More than twice as many Americans view the economy’s prospects as brightening as see them darkening, a reversal from nine months ago, when more people expected deterioration ahead, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted March 8-11.

“It’s starting to get better,” says survey respondent Kelsey Simeon ….. “Strip malls that were empty are starting to fill up. Everyone’s going out to eat more. People are spending more money on non-necessities…. ”

More Americans now say they are personally better off since President Barack Obama took office than worse off, the first favorable reading for the president on that question since Bloomberg began asking in December 2010.

More here

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TPM

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Washington Post: How much does the president have to do with the price of gasoline?

A lot, say American voters. According to oil experts and economists, not so much – at least in the short term.

Today’s oil prices are the product of years and decades of exploration, automobile design and ingrained consumer habits combined with political events in places such as Sudan and Libya, anxiety about possible conflict with Iran, and the energy aftershocks of last year’s earthquake in Japan.

“This notion that a politician can wave a magic wand and impact the 90-million-barrel-a-day global oil market is preposterous,” said Paul Bledsoe, strategic adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former Clinton administration official.

More here

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See the full infographic here

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Link (Thanks Meta)

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Steve Benen: Mitt Romney called in to a popular sports talk show in Alabama yesterday, a day ahead of the state’s Republican presidential primary. As interviews go, this seemed like a fairly easy one…. it’s not like Romney would go on the show, repeat his mistake from two weeks ago, and talk about being friends with millionaire team owners again, right? Wrong:

At one point, Mr. Finebaum asked Mr. Romney, as a New England Patriots fan, where he thought Peyton Manning should go as a free agent, and the candidate highlighted his friendship with football team owners – echoing comments in which he explained his affinity for Nascar by noting he knew the owners of Nascar teams.

“I’m surprised to hear that Denver’s thinking about him,” Mr. Romney said. “I don’t want him in our neck of the woods, let’s put it that way. I’ve got a lot of good friends, the owner of the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets, both owners are friends of mine,” he added. “But let’s keep him away from New England.”

Romney really is approaching self-parody here….

More here

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Cagle

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Morning everyone 😉

afternoon all

Freep.com (Thanks amk)

Steve Benen: One of the more clear-cut triumphs of President Obama’s first three years has been the success of his auto-industry rescue. Republicans predicted it would fail miserably. They were wrong and the White House was right.

Bloomberg reported this week that auto plants are operating at a capacity unseen in a long while, adding shifts and creating jobs. The Detroit Free Press reported today that GM has reclaimed the crown of world’s largest automaker. And perhaps best of all, Michigan’s unemployment rate has also dropped to its lowest levels since September 2008, buoyed by the auto industry.

More here

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Deadline: It will be Michelle Obama’s late-night debut as the First Lady when she appears on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Tuesday, January 31.

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Political Carnival (Thanks again amk!)

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By a reader at The Atlantic: It’s pretty clear to me that Obama is the chessmaster. Stop looking at this politically – let’s look at policy. Obama has been a master of accomplishing things, even with the Tea Party Terrorists hell bent on shutting down the government and ruining the full faith and credit of the United States.

Look at this from liberal,conservative, and moderate perspectives.

Liberals: Obama will end two wars, ended DADT, created the CFPA, got $20b from BP in the face of strong opposition, saved Detroit, signed New START, and enacted universal healthcare – the defining goal of the liberal movement.

For conservatives: he finished the job successfully in two wars, sustainably entered Libya while ensuring our allies took the heavy burden, okayed two risky operations – one that killed pirates and the other killing Osama – and just did more to stabilize long term deficits than anyone since Ike.

Full post here

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Michael Tomasky: Maybe Mitt will win Saturday night, and the contest will be finished. But Newt is giving Romney a run for his money in South Carolina—and we all know the reason why.

…. Gingrich has re-re-returned, and this time it’s about simple racism. If he actually wins South Carolina, the nomination fight and the party are suddenly in turmoil. It may only be for a week, but even just for that week, it would reveal a primary electorate that is so consumed with its paranoias that it has turned politics completely away from the question of who might govern the country well to who can best embody our hatreds and revenge fantasies. Conservatism has been half that for 30 years anyway, but it is now on the cusp of dispensing with the artifice and becoming that entirely.

Full post here

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MSNBC

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What? These were posted already?! O…..kay:

January 17, 2012. President Barack Obama unexpectedly runs into Michelle on her birthday in the basement of the White House

Though official duties filled much of the day, Tuesday was also Michelle Obama’s 48th birthday. As the president returned to the West Wing in the evening, he unexpectedly met the First Lady. “Obama gave her several kisses and wished her a happy birthday then walked off,” Morris says. “It was the highlight of the day for me—something you can’t plan for as a photographer. It was the most interesting photograph for me of the day by far.”

Time (more photos at the link)

Thanks aamom

catching up

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Friend –

Remember that deadline we kept emailing you about a couple weeks ago? Here’s what you should know about what we’ll report to the FEC tomorrow:

– In the third fundraising quarter of this year, 606,027 people donated to this campaign – even more than gave in the record-breaking previous quarter.

– Those people gave more than 766,000 total donations – 98 percent of them $250 or less, at an average amount of $56. That’s more than twice as many donations than we had at this point in the historic 2008 campaign.

– Together, Obama for America and the DNC raised more than $70 million. And it all happened during a summer when the President was focused on doing the job he was elected to do – a summer when we had to cancel a series of fundraising events and ask everyone to dig a little deeper.

If I could sum up this last quarter in a few words: Supporters like you came through.

Here’s even bigger news: Right now, 982,967 people have donated to this campaign. We’re within striking distance of 1 million donors.

…. Thanks for all you did to get us here. I’m excited for what’s ahead, and I hope you’ll take part in the push to 1 million grassroots donors today.

Match someone’s pledge, double your impact, and become part of the first million today:

Donate here

Thanks,

Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

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President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak shake hands during their joint news conference in the East Room at the White House

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NYT Editorial: It was all predicted, but the unanimous decision by Senate Republicans on Tuesday to filibuster and thus kill President Obama’s jobs bill was still a breathtaking act of economic vandalism. There are 14 million people out of work, wages are falling, poverty is rising, and a second recession may be blowing in, but not a single Republican would even allow debate on a sound plan to cut middle-class taxes and increase public-works spending.

…. The Republicans offer no actual economic plans, only tired slogans about cutting regulations and spending, and ending health care reform…. Their lack of serious ideas was on full display in both the Senate and the presidential debate on Tuesday night in New Hampshire. The debate was ostensibly about the economy, but when the freshest and most-talked-about idea is Herman Cain’s ridiculous “9-9-9” tax plan, it is clear that the economy they were debating is not the one Americans are forced to live in…..

The other candidates were no less vacuous. Mitt Romney offered an ash heap of used ideas … Rick Perry, when he could be stirred to speak, vowed to somehow put 1.2 million people to work in the energy industry, as if the whole country were Texas and drills could pop up on every block.

Republican candidates fear the Tea Party too much to acknowledge that economists are solidly behind government intervention to awaken growth …. But at least the record is increasingly clear who is advocating real ideas and who is selling an empty vessel.

Full editorial here

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First Lady Michelle Obama and South Korea’s First Lady Kim Yoon-Ok arrive to watch a musical performance during a visit to Annandale High School

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Greg Sargent: The public really likes the Obama jobs policies that the GOP blocked: The internals of the NBC/WSJ poll are now up online. Check out this bit:

The jobs bill would cut the payroll tax rate, fund new road construction, continue to extend unemployment benefits, and give tax credits to companies who hire and train long-term unemployed workers. The plan would be paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthy and increasing taxes on businesses by closing some corporate tax loopholes. Do you favor or oppose this plan?

Favor 63

Oppose 32

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everyone’s hungry for a minimum wage job!

Anita Perry