Happy Valentine’s Day folks,
Even though this day is usually full of candy, flowers, cards, and more candy, this year it is important to note a critical event. Of course, I am talking about the St. Valentine’s Day Mass…ive spending spree that President Obama is trying to promote in a cross-country tour. Beginning yesterday in North Carolina, continuing on today in Georgia and tomorrow in Chicago, President Obama is trying to make the case to the American public that we should enact policies that he laid out in his State of the Union address.
The president firmly believes that holding campaign-style rallies is what it will take to get America working again. Not so fast, my friend. An intriguing article in The Washington Post, by Jim Tankersley, highlight’s the president’s vapid proposals: “But outside of some targeted help for manufacturing jobs and some new investments in skills training, the proposals Obama offered focused comparatively little on repairing the relationship between growth and jobs, or growth and income.” Obama’s top-down, special-interest, high-tax economic strategy isn’t what even former Clinton adviser, Robert Shapiro has in mind for true economic revival, who believes “the best way to restart job creation is to help businesses cut the costs of hiring.”
Regulatory uncertainty, high tax burdens, unpredictable health care costs: all of these factors are a part of the package-deal Obama put together Tuesday night. High-profile conservatives have responded well with a vision to contrast the president’s. They highlighted education, tax-reform, and sound health care policy foundations for the future. Majority Leader Eric Cantor laid out a component of that grand vision, and his remarks are focus of a new YG ad campaign to continue the contrast between the conservative policy voice and the president’s liberal agenda.
Seize the day,
Mark Bednar
@MarkBednar
Important Things On Tap For Today
10:00 AM: Senate Resumes Consideration For Chuck Hagel’s Nomination To Be Secretary Of Defense
1:20 PM: President Obama Delivers Remarks Regarding Policy Proposal Unveiled In SOTU Speech, Decatur, GA
ALL DAY: Don’t Forget Flowers And A Nice Card
Tweet Tweet
@ClotureClub “Your weather alert for #DC! The day’s High is 52F with a Low of 36F.”
@NPRPolitics “Obama Tries To Move Spotlight Off Deficit Reduction http://n.pr/Vez2FR”
@BossHoggUSMC “Love it!!!—->>>Jeopardy’ teen wins cash and laughs with final answerhttp://soc.li/E6ah3OC”
@JonathanHoenig “France, where unemployment has exceeded 9% for decades, has highest min wage in Europe. Switzerland has no min wage, 3.4% unemployment.”
@doboyle15 “For all the duke fans who are about to jump my case, NC is unranked. You won by 5. Please tell me how you dominate college basketball”
On The Radar
Economic Growth
Inspector General: Grant Money For Battery Company Not “Managed Effectively” “The Energy Department gave $150 million in economic Recovery Act funds to a battery company, LG Chem Michigan, which has yet to manufacture cells used in any vehicles sold to the public and whose workers passed time watching movies, playing board, card and video games, or volunteering for animal shelters and community groups.”
Six In Ten Americans Favor Ending Saturday Mail Delivery. “Sixty-three percent of Americans say they favor ending Saturday residential mail delivery as a way for the U.S. Postal Service to address its financial problems. A similar majority also favor reducing the number of days local post office branches are open. A majority oppose raising stamp prices.”
Immigration
Obama To Hold Congress To March Deadline On Immigration Reform. “Should Congress fail to meet the March deadline, there is widespread agreement President Obama will take matters into his own hands. Munoz hinted at the possibility of intervention by the White House arguing that the President’s State of the Union speech ”made very clear his sense of urgency.” According to Hincapié, the next step would be for the White House to release its own legislation that would be taken up by Senator Leahy’s committee.”
Health Care
Scott Walker Rejects Medicaid Expansion. “Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said Wednesday he won’t participate in the Medicaid expansion under President Obama’s healthcare law. Walker stuck to the GOP party line, despite defections from a handful of other prominent Republican governors. The federal government initially funds 100 percent of the Medicaid expansion, dropping to 90 percent after the first few years.”
After Seven Years, Will Medicare Finally Have A Leader? “The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is the federal government’s largest agency. It runs on a budget of nearly 1 trillion taxpayer dollars and oversees the two programs largely considered to pose the greatest long-term threat to the federal budget. But for nearly a decade now, this hulking agency has been without a confirmed director.”
The Life And Work Of A Chocolate Health Researcher. “Karin Ried, Ph.D., is research director for the National Institute of Integrative Medicine in Melbourne, Australia, and is one of the leading chocolate researchers in the world. Her main interest is in chocolate’s effect on blood pressure. Her research, along with that of others, has shown that regularly eating small amounts of chocolate can lower blood pressure enough to improve heart health.”
X-Factor
In 2012, Pakistani Disapproval Of U.S. Leadership Soars. “With President Barack Obama’s first term characterized by strained relations between Pakistan and the U.S., more than nine in 10 Pakistanis (92%) disapprove of U.S. leadership and 4% approve, the lowest approval rating Pakistanis have ever given.”
Scott Brown Becomes A Fox News Contributor. “Fox News on Wednesday added the former Republican Senator Scott Brown to its contributor ranks, two weeks after Mr. Brown decided against another run for a Senate seat in Massachusetts. Mr. Brown will make his debut as a paid pundit on Wednesday night’s edition of “Hannity,” the channel’s 9 p.m. program.”
This & That
How You Feel About Valentine’s Day Throughout The Years, In Gifs.
Activists Arrested Outside White House Protestesting Keystone Pipeline
Marco Rubio Has Always Loved Water