The Obama Diary

Two years ago today (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Today:

1:0: Jay Carney briefs the press

3:05: President Obama departs the White House

4:30: Arrives in Hartford, Conn.

5:45: Delivers remarks on common-sense measures to reduce gun violence

6:45: Departs Hartford

8:15: Arrives at the White House

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ThinkProgress: Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy (D) tore into the National Rifle Association during an appearance on CNN’s State Of The Union on Sunday. The NRA this week introduced its legislative response to the massacre in Malloy’s home state. Its plan focuses on arming school staff.

Malloy specifically called out NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre for his absolute opposition to commonsense gun regulations, including the new gun law just enacted by Connecticut. After watching a clip of LaPierre mocking Connecticut’s new law, Malloy shot back, “Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus. They get the most attention”…..

More here

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AP: Talks between two influential senators have emerged as the most promising route for a bipartisan breakthrough on expanding federal background checks for gun buyers, a pivotal part of President Barack Obama’s plan for combating gun violence.

One possibility being discussed by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., would involve expanding background checks to gun show sales and firearms transactions online, Senate aides said.

More here

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The Hill: President Obama, Vice President Biden and first lady Michelle Obama will hold events this week designed to build momentum for a Senate gun control package as lawmakers return to Washington from the Easter recess.

The White House said that in addition to a previously announced trip by Obama on Monday to Connecticut, the first lady will travel to Chicago on Wednesday to rally for gun control measures.

… Carney also announced that Biden will appear on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday for a roundtable discussion on gun safety.

More here

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NYT: The days ahead could be decisive ones for the main pieces of President Obama’s second-term agenda: long-range deficit reduction, gun safety and changes to immigration law.

…. Members of both parties say Mr. Obama faces a conundrum with his legislative approach to a deeply polarized Congress. In the past, when he has stayed aloof from legislative action, Republicans and others have accused him of a lack of leadership; when he has gotten involved, they have complained that they could not support any bill so closely identified with Mr. Obama without risking the contempt of conservative voters.

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As Greg Sargent said about that second paragraph: “This is another way in which the whole “Obama must lead Republicans out of their intransigence” line of punditry is just a crock.”

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Steve Benen: The White House has not yet released President Obama’s new budget plan, but it’s on the on-deck circle and we have a reasonably good idea of what’s in it. As we talked about last week, the administration hopes to resolve the parties’ fiscal fight by trading entitlement “reforms” for new revenue — Democrats would accept cuts to social-insurance programs, including chained CPI for Social Security, and Republicans would accept closed tax loopholes and fewer deductions.

Republicans, who reject the idea of compromise, hate the plan. Democrats, who see no reason to cut Social Security, hate it, too. So what is the White House up to?

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The People’s View: Yes, yes, this will be another post on Chained CPI. But a little more dry. This is about the math. Previously, we have discussed why Chained CPI isn’t actually a cut in benefits, what different it makes in the calculations of the cost of living adjustments, and why in the context of broader reforms and progressive social investments, it’s worth doing. But what we haven’t talked about in very explicit terms is what the minor reductions in COLA will end up adding up to. The scaremongerers are very interested in exploiting this. They are very interested in scaring people with numbers about how much they will lose.

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A personal tribute to Margaret Thatcher:

Well, you’re not meant to speak ill of the dead, so I’ll say nothing ……

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Charles Pierce has something to say, though:

I am going to leave the encomiums to the late Margaret Thatcher to the people who loved her best, of whom I am decidedly not one. What I remember best about her is that she pretty much invented the modern concept of the distracting Wanking Little War  ….. and that she once held this view about Nelson Mandela:

The Conservative prime minister had dismissed the ANC as “a typical terrorist organisation” and refused to back sanctions against the apartheid government, pursuing instead a policy of “constructive engagement”. South Africa was then seen as a vital ally in stemming communist expansion.

More here

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Random old pic:

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MooOOOOoooorning!