CBC meets with Obama to discuss summer jobs legislation

In a meeting aides described as “frank but cordial,” members of the Congressional Black Caucus told President Barack Obama on Thursday that he has to do more to help African-Americans.

Members of the caucus have complained — both publicly and privately — that they aren’t getting enough from the nation’s first black president. Thursday’s hourlong session was their chance to make that case directly with Obama, and aides said they did just that.

CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said the group discussed direct job creation and work force training as well as areas where government can help “create jobs immediately.”
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The Editor

White House Social Secretary Resigns!!!

White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, a friend of President Obama’s from Chicago, is leaving her job to return to the private sector, the White House said Friday.

Rogers’s tenure as the top party and events planner for the administration was marred by the Salahi gate-crashing incident, in which a Virginia couple managed to enter the White House grounds during Obama’s first state dinner in November.

Jacked via: the washpo

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The Editor

Politics As Usual: President Obama Visits Las Vegas. Will He Address Nevada’s Tax System?

Today, President Barack Obama will be in Las Vegas, Nevada for a private, million-dollar fundraiser supporting the Democratic National Committee at the home of Palms hotel and casino owner, George Maloof. Also with a political agenda in mind, Obama will be speaking on the Las Vegas economy at a local town hall meeting directed towards the city’s business leaders.

Obama’s arrival to Sin City comes just weeks after he made a comment showing disfavor to people who “blow a bunch of cash in Vegas”. A comment that provoked Senate Majority leader Harry Reid to tell the president “lay off”. The Obama versus Vegas debate is fueled by the city’s economic status, in which the city and state’s revenue is very dependent upon gambling money. In fact, gambling and sales tax make up to 65% of the state’s revenue at times. Additionally, Nevada is experiencing a state wide budget crisis of upwards to $881 million (yet, we have real estate projects like CityCenter costing $9 billion to build). According to a recent survey of states by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the state of Nevada faces the largest budget deficit in the United States.

More after the jump.

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Krysten Hughes

Lobbyists Kick Students in the Pockets!

WASHINGTON — Four months ago, it appeared all but certain that the White House and Democrats in Congress would succeed in overhauling the student loan business and ending government subsidies to private lenders.

President Obama called the idea a “no-brainer” last fall, predicting it would take billions of dollars from the profits of private lenders and give it directly to students, and many colleges were already moving to get loans directly from the federal government in anticipation of the next move by Congress.

But an aggressive lobbying campaign by the nation’s biggest student lenders has now put one of the White House’s signature plans in peril, with lenders using sit-downs with lawmakers, town-hall-style meetings and petition drives to plead their case and stay in business.

House and Senate aides say that the administration’s plan faces a far tougher fight than it did last fall, when the House passed its version. The fierce attacks from the lending industry, the Massachusetts election that cost the Democrats their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the fight over a health care bill have all damaged the chances for the student loan measure, said the aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Check out the rest of the article @ the Nytimes

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The Editor

Gillian Caldwell Pushes Obama on Clean Coal

Check out Gillian Caldwell from 1Sky chopping it up with Obama about clean coal. This is an awesome exchange.

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The Editor

Obama Does Play by Play at Georgetown vs Duke

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The Editor

An Ode to Chris Matthews!

Below is a clip from spoken word artist Mario Willis. It’s a freewrite inspired by Chris Matthews’ “I forgot Obama was Black” comment. Willis is a poet out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and often juxtaposes humor and sorrow in his poetry to talk about the struggles of inner city America. Check out his “challenge”, it’s pretty funny, yet extremely poignant. The rest of the freewrite is after the jump, and it is pretty damn entertaining as well.

photo by Isaiah Merriweather

** a challenge**
for the next week every time someone says something smart or important, remark that you forgot their race. Like “Wow, you did a good job today Tom, I forgot you were German”, “nice report Patty, i forgot you were Polish”, “Thanks for the help with my homework, Chananya, I forgot you were a jew”…

more of Mario’s freewrite after the jump.
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Biko Baker

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: “I Forgot He Was Black”

So the often controversial Chris Matthews has once again said something that could be interpreted as disrespectful. After last night’s State of the Union address, Matthews went into a long rant about how he forgot Obama was black. I’m not really sure what he meant by his remarks, although it’s clear that he wasn’t trying to be nasty. He prolly hasn’t met too many articulate black people before, and for the first time in his life was being forced to challenge his racialized vision of the world.

Check the video and more commentary after the jump.

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Biko Baker