Barack Obama

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | September 8, 2009, 9:00AM

White House Aides: Obama To Be Forceful In Speech To Congress
CNN reports that White House aides say President Obama will make a strong case to Congress in his upcoming speech on health care. "He will be very forceful," said one senior Obama aide. "He will be making the case for action." Another aide said: "He will make a strong case Wednesday night on what health-care reform means to Americans."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will hold a discussion with 9th graders at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, at 10:45 a.m. ET, along with Sec. of Education Arne Duncan. He will deliver his back-to-school speech at 12 p.m. ET. At 2 p.m. ET, Obama and Vice President Biden will attend an investiture ceremony in honor of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Obama and Biden will meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 2:45 p.m. ET. Obama and Biden will meet with the Professional Golfers Association Champions of America, at 3:50 p.m. ET.

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Education

Florida GOP Chair: White House Rewrote School Speech After Conservatives Caught Them Indoctrinating Children!

Eric Kleefeld | September 7, 2009, 6:28PM

Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer appeared on CNN today, and accused the White House of changing the content of President Obama's stay-in-school speech in the wake of conservative outrage at political indoctrination -- outrage that he was instrumental in mobilizing, by the way -- and that the original would have been much more politically-oriented.

"Clearly last week there was a plan with the Department of Education," said Greer. "When you ask students to write a letter to the President on, how we can help you with your new ideas, Mr. President, that is leading the students in an effort to push the President's agenda. Now that the White House got their hand in the cookie jar caught, they changed everything, they redid the lesson plans, they released the text, and tomorrow he's gonna give a speech that every president should have an opportunity to give."

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Education

Florida GOP Chairman Approves Of Obama School Speech -- But Sticks To Earlier Attack Against Socialist Indoctrination

Eric Kleefeld | September 7, 2009, 3:52PM

Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer, who made waves last week when he sent out a press release attacking President Obama's stay-in-school message, is now expressing his approval of the pre-released text, ABC News reports. In fact, he'll even let his own kids watch it -- but he stands by his earlier criticism.

"It's a good speech," said Greer. "It encourages kids to stay in school and the importance of education and I think that's what a president should do when they're gonna talk to students across the country."

Here's what Greer first said last week:

"As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology. The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other President, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power."

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Education

In Some Places, Activists Mobilize For Obama's School Speech

Eric Kleefeld | September 7, 2009, 1:30PM

Amidst the right-wing activists mobilizing against President Obama's national back-to-school address, there's also another narrative emerging: A backlash of sorts by relatively saner people, speaking out in favor of the speech, and against local officials who have decided to not show it.

The makeup of these groups differs from place to place. In some areas it's a county Democratic organization. In others, it's headed up by churches and civil rights activists.

All in all, it's a fun additional wrinkle to a very absurd story -- and it presents another side of the narrative that definitely deserves attention. Check out some examples, after the jump.

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David Axelrod

TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | September 6, 2009, 1:09PM

Axelrod: Public Option A "Good Tool," But Shouldn't Define Whole Debate
Appearing on Meet The Press, White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod said that President Obama "believes the public option is a good tool." However, Axelrod also added, "It shouldn't define the whole health care debate, however."

Van Jones Resigns
Van Jones, President Obama's adviser on green jobs, has resigned in the wake of controversy surrounding past attacks on Republican, and his having signed a petition by 9/11 Truthers years ago. "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation letter, also adding: "I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future."

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Education

White House Releases Public Service Announcements On Education (Or Is It Socialist Indoctrination?)

Eric Kleefeld | September 3, 2009, 6:15PM

The White House has released a pair of public service announcements on the importance of education, tying into President Obama's upcoming back-to-school message next week -- the one that right-wingers are attacking as an example of socialist indoctrination.

Here's the first one, with Obama saying he wouldn't have been at his inauguration ceremony, if he hadn't been at his graduation ceremony first:

There's also another PSA featuring a bunch of popular NASCAR drivers, a sport we usually associate with the Republican-leaning parts of America. Check it out after the jump.

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Education

More And More Right-Wingers Object To Obama's Socialist Message Of Staying In School

Eric Kleefeld | September 3, 2009, 5:09PM

In the wake of objections by many on the right against President Obama's upcoming address to schoolchildren -- reminding them on the first day of school about the importance of education, and telling them to work hard -- many schools across the country are dealing with objections from parents who don't want their children exposed to such a harmful, socialist message.

"I don't recall ever having a sitting president addressing schoolchildren," said Andrew Palomo, the father of a student in suburban Chicago. "For major events, maybe, but not the first day of school. The whole thing makes me angry as an American."

It should be noted that Obama's address isn't really a new thing, though -- and furthermore, the subject matter of Obama's address is pretty tame compared to past Republican presidents. As DailyKosTV points out, George H.W. Bush gave an address on education policy -- not just education itself as a virtue -- to American classrooms in late 1991. And Media Matters notes that a lame-duck Ronald Reagan spoke via TV to schoolchildren in 1988, and promoted tax cuts during the course of the discussion.

So let's check out some other examples of outrage.

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Education

Florida GOP: We're Still Concerned About Obama's Speech

Eric Kleefeld | September 2, 2009, 10:14PM

I asked Florida state GOP press secretary Katie Gordon for comment from chairman Jim Greer about the latest developments regarding President Obama's upcoming speech to schoolchildren -- namely the decision of the Department of Education to revise a section of its materials about how children could "help the president," to remove that phrase.

Gordon e-mailed me back: "He [Greer] is still concerned about what the President will say, but the White House revisions shows that President Obama now knows that parents across this country will be watching and listening carefully to his speech to our children."

The materials now more clearly ask students "how they can achieve their short‐term and long‐term education goals," which was what the students were supposed to help Obama with before. The new version is now free of any potential political context from that section.

Education

Department of Education Edits Out "Help The President" From Classroom Materials On Upcoming Speech

Eric Kleefeld | September 2, 2009, 6:18PM

The Department of Education has now changed their supplementary materials on President Obama's upcoming address to schoolchildren on the importance of education -- eliminating a phrase that some conservatives, such as the Florida GOP, happened to have been bashing as evidence of socialist indoctrination in our schools.

In a set of bullet points listed under a heading, "Extension of the Speech," one of the points used to say: "Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals."

However, that bullet point now reads as follows: "Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short‐term and long‐term education goals. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals."

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