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February 27, 2009
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February 26, 2009
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February 25, 2009
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February 24, 2009
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February 23, 2009
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February 20, 2009
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February 19, 2009
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February 18, 2009
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February 17, 2009
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February 13, 2009
Evening Open Thread
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House Passes the President's Economic Stimulus Package
President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package cleared the House on a 246-183 vote. Republicans, however, continued their "Just Say No" campaign. House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Martinez, Calif.) spoke about the Republican strategy on the House floor:
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February 12, 2009
Evening Open Thread
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February 11, 2009
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President Obama's Remarks on Infrastructure
President Barack Obama visited Springfield, Virginia and spoke about infrastructure spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. WhiteHouse.gov notes:
Here's some news: even before money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is available to start stimulating the economy, the President’s signature on the act may itself be able to start saving jobs.
Though it could be a matter of weeks or months before funds from the act actually reach businesses and local governments, the Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar said today that if ARRA passes, his company would be able to rehire some of the 20,000 employees it has laid off in the last few weeks.
Creating millions of jobs and investing in our nation's future with a 21st century economy. Fired up and ready to go.
Keep reading "President Obama's Remarks on Infrastructure"
Morning Open Thread
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February 10, 2009
Evening Open Thread
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President Obama in Fort Myers, Florida
President Obama is speaking in Fort Myers, Florida about the economic stimulus and getting our economy back on track. Full remarks are below:
Keep reading "President Obama in Fort Myers, Florida"
Priorities
TPMDC notes John Cornyn's conspicuous absence from the economic stimulus vote in the Senate:
No one doubted last night that the Senate's stimulus bill would clear the 60-vote hurdle it needed to move towards final approval today. But while cancer-stricken Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) summoned the strength to cast his vote, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was the only active senator who missed the boat entirely.
As Ben Smith explains, Cornyn was in New York charming a group of conservative bigwigs -- and likely donors to the Senate GOP's 2010 campaign effort, which Cornyn is leading.
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February 9, 2009
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February 6, 2009
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President Barack Obama on the Economic Stimulus Bill
At the House Democratic Caucus Retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia, President Barack Obama spoke about the economic stimulus bill and the critics who believe we can turn back to the same, tired policies of the past.
The speech was fantastic so be sure to read the whole text.
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February 5, 2009
Evening Open Thread
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President Obama Visits DOE, Talks Energy Independence
Earlier today, President Barack Obama visited staff at the Department of Energy and spoke about energy independence and his plan to stimulate the economy.
After decades of dragging our feet, this plan will finally spark the creation of a clean energy industry that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next few years, manufacturing wind turbines and solar cells for example, and millions more after that. These jobs and these investments will double our capacity to generate renewable energy over the next few years.
We’ll fund a better, smarter electricity grid and train workers to build it – a grid that will help us ship wind and solar power from one end of this country to another. Think about it. The grid that powers the tools of modern life – computers, appliances, even blackberries - looks largely the same as it did half a century ago. Just these first steps toward modernizing the way we distribute electricity could reduce consumption by 2 to 4 percent.
We’ll also lead a revolution in energy efficiency, modernizing more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improving the efficiency of more than 2 million American homes. This will not only create jobs, it will cut the federal energy bill by a third and save taxpayers $2 billion each year and save Americans billions of dollars more on their utility bills. [...]
For the last few years, I’ve talked about these issues with Americans from one end of this country to another. Washington may not be ready to get serious about energy independence, but I am. And so are you. And so are the American people.
Read the President's full remarks.
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February 4, 2009
Evening Open Thread
Some headlines floating around tonight:
- President Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress on February 24.
- The Amazing Spider-Man #583, which features then-President-elect Barack Obama on the cover and in the plot, is so popular that it is headed back to the press for a fifth printing. During the campaign, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Spider-Man was his favorite superhero.
- How many jobs would be created or saved in your state with the President's economic recovery plan? Find out. (PDF file.)
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President Obama Signs SCHIP
President Barack Obama delivered remarks before signing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) legislation that will cover an additional four million children of low income families and include the children of legal immigrants as well.
Full remarks below.
Keep reading "President Obama Signs SCHIP"
President Obama Announces New Rules on Executive Pay
President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced new rules on executive compensation for companies receiving "exceptional assistance" from the federal government. WhiteHouse.gov:
Features in the new rules for companies receiving "exceptional assistance" from the government include a $500,000 cap on salaries for senior executives (compensation beyond that must be in restricted stock), expanded bans on golden parachutes, and increases to "clawback" provisions.
In his remarks, President Obama responded to critics who believe we can tax cut our economy back on track:
Now, in the past few days I've heard criticisms that this plan is somehow wanting, and these criticisms echo the very same failed economic theories that led us into this crisis in the first place -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can ignore fundamental challenges like energy independence and the high cost of health care; that we can somehow deal with this in a piecemeal fashion and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.
I reject those theories. And so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. So I urge members of Congress to act without delay. No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger. No one is more committed to making it stronger than me. But let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let's show people all over the country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task.
With the economic stimulus working through Congress, don't forget to host a house party, or find one near you. Talk to your friends, family and neighbors about the President's plan to get our economy working again.
Read the President's full remarks below.
Keep reading "President Obama Announces New Rules on Executive Pay"
House Sends SCHIP to the President
SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, is headed for President Obama's desk for signing.
By a vote of 290-135, the House passed legislation to concur with the Senate amendments to H.R. 2, State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act, sending the bill to the President’s desk for his signature. This legislation reauthorizes and improves SCHIP. The Senate-passed version is very similar to the bill that the House passed on January 14 by a vote of 289-139. SCHIP was created in 1997 to provide health care coverage for children in modest-income families that earn too much for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance. Over the last ten years, it has proven to be a successful and cost-effective program for providing health care.
The Gavel, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's blog, features a number of videos from the House floor. Check them out.
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February 3, 2009
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February 2, 2009
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