When President Obama left the White House on Thursday for Andrews Air Force Base, the Marine One helicopter that lifted off from the South Lawn was piloted by the first female helicopter aircraft commander in Marine One history. Maj. Jennifer Grieves of Glendale, Ariz., flew her first Marine One mission in May 2008, and had flown Obama and then-President George W. Bush.
In honor of Grieves' last day in the rotation, the Marines assigned two other female officers -- Maj.Jennifer L. Marino, of Palisade, Colo., and Sgt. Rachael A. Sherman, of Traverse City, Mich. -- to complete the crew. And that all-female crew was another first.
Marines say Grieves is off to Command and Staff College in Quantico, Va.
When the president boarded Marine One en route to try to salvage Gov. Jon Corzine's reelection bid in New Jersey and to address the NAACP in New York, he stopped to talk to Grieves and shook her hand.
Of course Obama is accustomed to being surrounded by women. At the White House he lives with First Lady Michelle Obama; their daughters, Malia and Sasha; and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson.
Still, it was a singular moment in girl power when the chopper lifted off.
Las Vegas has made a fortune off its sly slogan, the one suggesting what happens in Vegas stays in the famously — hmmm, how to put it? — open-minded city. But getting people to Vegas hasn’t been so easy of late, what with the lousy economy.
And it didn’t help when President Obama took a shot at the desert playground, making an offhand banker-bashing remark that seemed to tie Las Vegas to corporate excess.
("You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime," Obama said in some February banker-basing in Indiana, campaigning for his economic stimulus plan amid widespread bailout fatigue. Indiana in February; now there's a resort destination.)
The governor of Nevada, Republican Jim Gibbons, and the mayor of Las Vegas, Democrat Oscar Goodman, pitched a fit.
Gibbons claimed the comment cost the city a stunning, if unverifiable, $100 million in lost business. Goodman demanded an apology.
Obama complied, sort of.
During a May visit -- with temperatures creeping into the 90s as he hit the city to raise millions for Harry Reid and visit an Air Force base -- the president allowed as how “there’s nothing like a quick trip to Vegas in the middle of the week.”
That, however, failed to mollify Goodman. Worse, word began to reach Nevada of an unofficial policy that seemed to make Vegas verboten for bureaucratic getaways.
So Nevada’s Democratic Sen. Harry Reid — the Senate Majority Leader and, thus, a crucial Obama ally — recently dashed off a note to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, complaining that the FBI, General Services Administration (Reid called it the General Services Agency) and Bureau of Indian Affairs had all apparently relocated gatherings once destined for Las Vegas.
True enough, Reid said, the city has “a well-earned reputation as a world-class dining and entertainment destination.” But there’s also plenty of reasonably priced (presumably mundane, distraction-free) convention space and an average nightly room rate of $98, “which is far lower than most ... major convention cities,” Reid said.
“It is my view that travel decisions made by federal agencies should be based upon these considerations,” the senator wrote.
This week came back the reply from Emanuel: Viva Las Vegas!
The federal government has no business forbidding government meetings and conferences from taking place in communities “known for attracting vacationers,” Emanuel wrote. “For me, the test of government travel is what will be accomplished by that travel and whether the cost to the government is reasonable as opposed to other options.”
No word on how the "what happens/stays" formulation might be affected by the federal Freedom of Information Act.
President Obama heads to New Jersey today to bolster the political chances of Gov. Jon Corzine, the Wall Street rich Democrat (and no-seat-belt-wearing car accident survivor) who is up for reelection this year.
The latest Quinnipiac University poll this week shows Republican challenger Chris Christie pulling away, with a 53% to 41% lead over Corzine -- up from a 10-point lead in last month's survey. One possible reason: Corzine recently signed a $2- billion budget that increased taxes and cut tax rebates.
Christie, mindful of Obama's popularity in the state, welcomed the president in a video ad that makes no mention of the governor.
Politicos are watching both races. As MSNBC's First Read noted this morning, if Republicans win both, it would dim Obama's luster and give the GOP an opening for a political comeback. If the Democrats win both, of course, it would increase Obama's reputation as a commander in chief with long political coattails.
And if it's a split decision? Look for both to claim moral victory.
The White House drumbeat is unrelenting: President Obama wants comprehensive healthcare reform -- with a public option -- on his desk before Congress leaves town for its summer recess Aug. 7.
"Don't bet against us. We are going to make this thing happen," Obama said this week during a Rose Garden appearance with his new surgeon general, Dr. Regina Benjamin.
Just back from a weeklong trip to Russia, Italy and Africa, the president said he did not want Congress to think he'd forgotten the issue. "I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone," Obama said. "Inaction is not an option."
Republican critics have been quick to question why the rush, especially on a bill that could end up costing taxpayers $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. And one of the doubters is Maine Republican Olympia J. Snowe, a moderate invited to the White House today in hopes Obama can sway her to support the plan.
So why is the White House rushing? In part, it's a calculus that Obama's still-high approval ratings are likely to soften as his term lengthens. So, use your political chits while you have them.
But another compelling reason is that the 2010 elections loom. Already, Blue Dog Democrats -- those moderates from Southern and rural parts of the country -- are balking at supporting a bill they say costs too much and saves too little. As Democrats in other swing districts get closer to reelection campaigns, they too could have qualms about backing a bill that will mandate that every American get health insurance and will pay for it with sizable tax increases on the wealthiest of their constituents.
Recovery.gov is the Obama administration's website for tracking government stimulus spending.
Will there soon be a tracking explanation of the $18 million that the administration has recently dedicated to redesigning and maintaining the newly-launched site for the next four and a half years?
The Maryland-based Smartronix Inc. won a bid for $9.5 million to redesign the already-functional Recovery.gov by January and up to $18 million through 2014, according to a press release from the General Services Administration.
Smartronix isn't giving interviews right now about the deal, but the company released a statement saying it will offer "24x7 operation and maintenance" in addition to the initial creation and installation of the new version.
To complement the beefy computer servers that the company will need to run the site and support millions of users, Smartronix will keep a mirror version of Recovery.gov in case things go wrong.
At first glance, the White House got ripped off. Twitter Inc., the fastest-growing social network, didn't even raise that much money in its third venture funding round last year.
Some website designers had similar first impressions when asked about the contract.
"That's insane," said Brad Crowell, a Los Angeles-based Web designer who worked on a now-defunct media-rich social network. "I would never have to work again in my life... It doesn't even take a million dollars a year to keep a site up."
Chetan Damani, director of Imano, a Web development company with 40 employees and offices in New York, London and Mumbai, initially agreed.
"That's a pretty sweet deal," Damani said on the phone from London. But putting it in perspective, Damani conceded that very few design firms can follow through on the hyper security and quick turnaround that Smartronix is promising.
"They're following some pretty strict standards," Damani said of Smartronix. "It's more than just a design."
Still, we hope there's a lengthy explanation on the new version of Recovery.gov that explains this particular drop in the budget. Or you can just link to this post. That works, too.
President Obama has not watched any of the confirmation hearingsof Judge Sonia Sotomayor, his press secretary said today.
No word on whether the president has been reading live blogs of the event.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One this afternoon. The president was en route to Mt. Clemons, Mich., to deliver a talk about community colleges.
Gibbs told reporters that Obama has not talked to Sotomayor since Sunday. When a reporter asked whether Sotomayor is “getting a fair shake from the Republicans,” Gibbs said yes.
“I think so,” he said. “I mean, look, everyone understands that this is the drill. I think that if Republicans listen to the answers that she gives and look at her 17-year record, they'll figure out that this is a nominee that has a distinguished record, lots of experience, and somebody that's going to follow the law. I think she's doing really well.”
The Judiciary Committee has wrapped up for the day. More senators will question Sotomayor on Wednesday.
He is known in some circles as the First Fan, a devotee of the Chicago Bulls, a president so passionate about sports that he went on ESPN a few months ago to announce his bracket predictions for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
But tonight, President Obama becomes the nation's baseball guy, throwing out the first pitch at the All-Star game in St. Louis, and doing a half inning of sports commentary in the Fox TV anchor booth.
Lots of people are already giving him advice.
Baseball legend Willie Mays is traveling with the president on Air Force One from Michigan (where POTUS was pitching education) to St. Louis, th esite of the ballgame. Hard to imagine they won't talk technique.
Then there's Cardinals all-star Albert Pujols, who's slated to catch the president's debut first pitch. During pregame interviews Monday, the Cardinals' first baseman offered some advice to Obama.
"Lob it up there. Don't try to be a perfect throw,'" Pujols said. "The worst thing, if you throw any first pitch, you don't want to bounce it. That's the advice that I'm going to give. Make sure that you don't bounce it."
Before leaving Washington, Obama was asked during an Oval Office meeting whether he'd been practicing. "I think it's fair to say I wanted to loosen up my arm," he said during a photo-op with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, adding that he'd been reminiscing about that Chicago White Sox game in 2005 when he threw out the first pitch.
"I just wanted to keep it high," Obama recalled. "Now, there was no clock on it, I don't know how fast it went. If it exceeded 30 miles per hour, I'd be surprised. But it did clear the plate."
Pujols won't be the only Cardinals hero on the field for Obama's debut at a major league game. The six living Cardinals Hall of Famers -- Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Red Schoendienst,Bruce Sutter and Ozzie Smith -- will also be on hand.
And Obama won't be the only president to make an appearance. All four living presidents -- George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter -- appear in a video that honors community service volunteers in a ceremony MLB is calling "All-Stars Among Us."
As for Obama, according to Major League Baseball, he'll be wearing a black glove specifically designed for him by Wilson. The glove includes "Obama #44" written in script and an American flag. After the first pitch, the glove will be authenticated by MLB and sent to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
And that broadcast booth appearance? Fox's Joe Buck says the president will make his cameo appearance in the bottom of the second inning. Buck promised no wild pitches about politics.
-- Johanna Neuman
Photo: President Obama holds up a Philadelphia Phillies jersey given to
him by Jimmy Rollins at the White House May 15, 2009, in Washington.
Obama welcomed Major League Baseball's 2008 World Champions to the
White House. Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images
The appointment will hardly still controversy over the 2010 census.
To guarantee the most accurate count of the 300 million or so Americans, federal officials promise confidentiality. But now a group of Latino clergymen is charging that widely published census data is being used to crack down on illegal immigrants. And they're calling on people in the country illegally not to answer the census.
"Law enforcement has been very effective in areas where the data of census 2000 has been used," said Rev. Miguel Rivera, head of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian
Leaders, a Washington-D.C.-based group of 20,000 churches, many of them storefronts serving undocumented workers.
Required by the U.S. Constitution, the census is used to apportion
seats in Congress. With residents leaving amid a fiscal meltdown,
California could lose a congressional seat. With new residents moving
in, Utah or North Carolina could gain. And, beyond the politics of the
thing, the census is also used to apportion more than $300 billion in
federal dollars to states and cities. So, high stakes all around.
Disappointed that President Obama has not pushed harder for immigration reform to help the estimated 12 million undocumented Latinos in the country, Rivera told NPR that he hopes a boycott will put pressure on Congress to do just that. "If they don't want [a loss of] funding for their constituents, maybe losing seats at the congressional level, then what they have to do is roll their sleeves and move forward with comprehensive immigration reform," he said.
Los Angeles activist Nativo Lopez is trying to convince the group he heads, the Mexican American Political Assn., to endorse the boycott. Latinos -- who helped elect Obama -- feel betrayed, he said, believing that despite great campaign rhetoric, the Obama White House is just continuing the Bush crackdown on illegal immigration while ignoring the impact of the recession on undocumented workers.
"There is no incentive for me to cooperate with the federal government to conduct this count unless we get relief from the federal government on the types of issues that are devastating our families socially and economically," he said.
In North Carolina, where a Latino undercount could seriously damage the state's chances of getting another congressional seat, Roy Crisanto, pastor of El Tabernaculo De La Uncion, a Pentecostal church, is telling members to join the boycott.
“The government wants to count people,” Crisanto told the Charlotte Observer, “but not give them the benefits that come with being counted.”
Other Latino groups are gearing up to fight the boycott, fearing that it could undermine the very count that helps the community with needed funds.
Arturo Vargas, head of the National Assn. of Latino Elected Officials, called the boycott "irresponsible," reminding his colleagues that an undercount would affect funding and representation for a decade.
Catholic bishops have also joined the be-counted campaign. "It is important to get the word out because some of the populations we serve tend to normally be undercounted," said San Antonio's Archbishop Jose Gomez, an official in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "The U.S. Census is a useful tool for learning about God's people, who and where they are, and many other facts that shed light on their lives, possibilities and struggles."
Census forms are to be mailed out in the spring. Between now and then, look for this debate to rev up.
-- Johanna Neuman
Photo: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson speaks to Latino voters during a rally in Denver in October. Credit: Associated Press
"She wasn't as outgoing and I just
didn't see the spark in her eyes about being the governor anymore,"
said Johnston, who lived with his then-fiance Bristol Palin and the Palin family at the time. "She became quiet, she would come home and just hang out in a
room, you could tell something was wrong."
Johnston's conclusion: "The fame got to her head."
Admittedly, the 19-year-old Johnston is hardly the kind of character
witness anyone would summon to their cause. An aspiring model who posed bare-chested with his infant son Tripp for GQ magazine, Johnston is routinely derided by Palin spokesmen for exploiting his 15 minutes of fame.
But Johnston may be on to something when he says Palin's sudden
resignation on July 3 was fueled by a desire to
cash in on her fame -- and to end the stress that her sudden catapult to national fame had created, complete with myriad ethics charges she has derided as bogus and a Legislature no longer enchanted.
ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos": Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and a round table with ABC's Donna Brazile,
Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts, George Will and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post.
Bloomberg's "Political Capital with Al Hunt": Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and
Bloomberg's Hans Nichols, Mike Tackett, Heidi Przybyla and former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber.
CBS' "Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer": Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and a round table with Kevin Merida and Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post.
CNN's "GPS with Fareed Zakaria": Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, at left.
CNN's "State of the Union with John King": Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.),
Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Rep. Patrick Murphy
(D-Penn.) and CNN's Mary Matalin.
"Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace": Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Cornyn (R-Texas)
and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and a round table with Fox News'
contributors Laura Ingraham, NPR's Mara Liasson and Juan Williams and the
Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol.
NBC's "Meet the Press with David Gregory": Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a round table with NBC's Andrea Mitchell, Democratic strategist Bob Shrum and Politico's Roger Simon.
Follow @latimestot for political news and backgrounders sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.
Our Bloggers
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the Countdown to Crawford blog here at The Times.
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