January 30, 2013

ABC/WaPo: Obama’s Popularity Hits Highest Mark Since ‘09

President Barack Obama's personal popularity has returned to a level unseen since the early stages of his first term in office, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday.
http://www.langerresearch.com/uploads/1144a8ObamaUpdate.pdf

Sixty percent of American adults said they have a favorable opinion of Obama, according to the survey, representing the highest mark for the President in ABC/WaPo's polling since November of 2009.

According to ABC/WaPo, Obama's favorability rating at the outset of his second term is higher than that of George W. Bush at a comparable point in his presidency but lower than former Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan when they began the latter half of their time in the White House.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/abc-wapo-obamas-popularity-hits-highest-mark-since


ABC/WaPo: By 2-1, Public Approves Obama’s Second Inaugural Address
http://www.langerresearch.com/uploads/1144a8ObamaUpdate.pdf

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/abc-wapo-by-2-1-public-approves-obamas

January 22, 2013

Clinton Speechwriter: Obama Gave ‘One Of The Most Expansively Progressive Inaugural Addresses

Clinton Speechwriter: Obama Gave ‘One Of The Most Expansively Progressive Inaugural Addresses In Decades’



In an interview with the Washington Post's Greg Sargent, Michael Waldman, chief speechwriter under former President Bill Clinton, praised the progressive vision outlined in President Barack Obama's second inaugural address Monday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/21/an-expansive-case-for-progressive-governance-grounded-in-language-of-founding-fathers/


“The greatest progressive arguments throughout the country’s history have been rooted in the language of the Declaration of Independence,” Waldman said. “This speech was really rooted in that tradition.”

In fact, Waldman said Obama's speech amounted to one of the most progressive inaugural speeches in several years.

“This was the most philosophically clear of any of his major speeches, and one of the most expansively progressive Inaugural Addresses in decades,” Waldman said. “And he rooted those arguments in the civic creed of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution."

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/clinton-speechwriter-obama-gave-one-of-most-expansively

January 22, 2013

NBC/WSJ poll: Majority, for first time, wants abortion to be legal

Source: Mark Murray, NBC News Senior Political Editor

As the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision takes place on Tuesday, a majority of Americans – for the first time – believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

What’s more, seven in 10 respondents oppose Roe v. Wade from being overturned, which is the highest percentage on this question since 1989.

“These are profound changes,” says Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted this survey with Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart and his colleagues.

McInturff adds that the abortion-related events and rhetoric over the past year – which included controversial remarks on abortion and rape by two Republican Senate candidates, as well as a highly charged debate over contraception – helped shaped these changing poll numbers.

Read more: http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/21/16626932-nbcwsj-poll-majority-for-first-time-wants-abortion-to-be-legal

January 21, 2013

Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration

While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama’s second inauguration on Monday, the Virginia State Senate managed to hurriedly pass a bill that would redistrict the state’s senate seats.

The vote, 20-19, would have been a tie had Democratic Senator Henry Marsh been present. Marsh, a civil rights leader, was in Washington, D.C., attending the inauguration.

Had Marsh been present, however, the state’s Lieutenant Governor would likely have broken the tie. The bill was reportedly pushed through in a matter of hours.

According to Virginia politics blogger Ben Tribbett, the move could potentially eliminate at least one Democratic seat, the 25th district, which currently belongs to former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Creigh Deeds (D).

This isn’t the first time that Virginia has attempted to redraw district lines conveniently for Republicans. Just last month, the state’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli lobbied to have the state exempt from the Voting Rights Act’s redistricting requirements because the state had “outgrown” racism. Largely, redistricting has disenfranchised Democratic votes.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/21/1475811/virginia-rushes-redistricting/

BREAKING: While Dems Distracted by Inauguration, Virginia Senate GOP Stages a Coup

You don't get more slimy, sneaky, underhanded, etc. than this (great work by Ben Tribbett alerting us to what was going on in the following series of Facebook updates):

"Wow- Republicans in the Virginia Senate are now trying to redraw the maps and draw at least one Democratic Senator out of the Senate. Happening right now on the floor."
http://www.bluevirginia.us/diary/8554/breaking-while-dems-distracted-by-inauguration-virginia-senate-gop-stages-a-coup

Va. Senate GOP Springs Redrawn Senate Lines on Dems
(snip)
State Senate Republicans have muscled a surreptitious redraft of Virginia’s 40 Senate districts to passage over bitter objections from Democrats who were blindsided by the surprise move.

(snip)
Democratic Sen. Don McEachin of Henrico called it “secretive and underhanded” and warned of a resumption of partisan discord that paralyzed the 2012 Senate. Each party holds 20 Senate seats.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/01/21/va-senate-gop-springs-redrawn-senate-lines-on-dems/

Virginia GOP Pulls ‘Dirty Trick’ On Inauguration Day
(snip)
“It goes against every tradition,” state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D), the party’s 2009 gubernatorial nominee, told TPM Monday. “It was a dirty trick.”

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/01/republicans-dirty-trick-inauguration.php

https://twitter.com/waldojaquith
Waldo Jaquith ?@waldojaquith
This VA redistricting story has gone national. I was one of maybe 6 people in the gallery watching today. Nobody knew.

January 20, 2013

President Obama Officially Sworn In (C-SPAN)

January 20, 2013

Vice President Joe Biden Sworn in for 2nd Term on 2013 Inauguration Day

Biden takes oath of office at the at the Naval Observatory.

January 20, 2013

Vice President Joe Biden Sworn In For Second Term (pic)

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/biden-sworn-in-for-second-term

Vice President Joe Biden took the oath of office at 8:21 a.m. ET Sunday, according to a White House pool report. The ceremony took place at the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory with his family. He was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

President Obama will be sworn in around 11:55 a.m.







video
Biden makes it official with second term swearing-in
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/20/biden-officially-begins-second-term/

(snip)
He placed his hand on the massive, 5-inch-thick Biden family Bible, held by his wife Jill, and repeated the oath offered by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whom Biden personally selected to administer his swearing-in.

(snip)
"It's an incredible honor to have Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor swear me in,” Biden said is a statement. “I believed strongly that she would make a great Justice, and it was one of the greatest pleasures of my career to be involved in her selection to the Court.

“I’m happy for the chance to be sworn in by a friend – and someone I know will continue to do great things,” he added.

January 16, 2013

Sandy Aid Bill Approved By House

Source: Associated Press

More than 10 weeks after Superstorm Sandy brutalized parts of the heavily populated Northeast, the House approved $50.7 billion in emergency relief for the victims Tuesday night as Republican leaders struggled to close out an episode that exposed painful party divisions inside Congress and out.

The vote was 241-180, and officials said the Senate was likely to accept the measure early next week and send it to President Barack Obama for his signature. Democrats supported the aid in large numbers, but there was substantial Republican backing, too, in the GOP-controlled House.

We are not crying wolf here, said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., one of a group of Northeastern lawmakers from both parties who sought House passage of legislation roughly in line with what the Obama administration and governors of the affected states have sought.

(snip)
I just plead with my colleagues not to have a double standard, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York. Not to vote tornado relief to Alabama, to Louisiana, to Mississippi, Missouri, to – with Ike, Gustav, Katrina, Rita – but when it comes to the Northeast, with the second worst storm in the history of our country, to delay, delay, delay.



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/sandy-aid-bill_n_2483017.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

---

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/sandy-relief-measure-passes_n_2480328.html
Sandy Relief Passes House Despite Conservative Opposition


CLARIFICATION: 5:50 p.m. -- An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that a $17 billion Sandy relief measure had passed the House on Tuesday afternoon. That vote in favor of the relief measure was a preliminary vote, not a final vote, which occurred later in the evening.


(snip)
In a joint statement, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy praised members of the House for pulling together in a unified, bipartisan coalition for the vote.

“We anticipate smooth passage when this package moves back to the Senate for final approval and for this long-awaited relief to finally make its way to our residents, they said.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/15/house-prepares-to-vote-again-on-sandy-aid/?hpt=hp_t1


(snip)
Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said in a joint statement:

It's great news for families, communities and small businesses in our region that the House – after weeks of delay - finally passed an emergency relief bill for Superstorm Sandy. Our region extends a helping hand any time another community suffers from a major disaster, and we're pleased that the House voted to provide this emergency relief for New Jersey and New York. As we rebuild, we are committed to making smart investments to ensure that our transportation networks, beach communities, businesses and local neighborhoods can rebuild stronger so that they are better prepared for future storms.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/new-york-new-jersey-senators-praise-house-passage

January 6, 2013

Michael Moore: Good news from Facebook tonight

Good news from Facebook tonight! I have heard from Facebook HQ and there will be no removal of my posts or my site because of what I said about how America doesn't really support its troops (and we should just stop saying that we do). There will be no censorship whatsoever. They apologized and feel bad that I received the notice threatening sanctions against my Facebook account. They said it was a big mistake, an error in their protective systems that produced a "false-positive" regarding me. They're sorry and now everything is back to normal. Thank you Facebook, and thanks to all of you who made your feelings known this evening. Within hours, all was well...

http://www.facebook.com/mmflint

Dear Bill Kristol: More People Than You Thought Are Vulgar, Disgusting and Far-Left

I just sent this to Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard magazine and one of the most influential advocates of our invasion of Iraq. He posted something this morning about my post where I found an old quote from Chuck Hagel about how the Iraq War is all about the oil.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/hagel-war-oil_693833.html

I'll let you know when Bill gets back to me. (If you don't know much about Bill, you can find a good introduction here about his pre-war debate with Daniel Ellsberg.)

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174894

January 2, 2013

The President Delivers a Statement

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President Obama delivers a statement on the bipartisan agreement passed today that will protect 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a tax hike. January 1, 2013.