March 1st, 2011
05:45 PM ET
Eyes on education at the White House in coming weeks WASHINGTON (CNN) – While the situation in Libya and the Middle East will likely keep the White House busy for the next few weeks, the Obama administration is staying focused on domestic issues including improving education. President Obama will kick off his education initiative Friday with a trip to Florida where he will visit Miami Central Senior High School to give remarks to highlight overcoming education challenges. In a conference call with reporters, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the school was chosen because it’s a good example of how a school has taken on the challenges of reform and become a success story. FULL POST 
March 1st, 2011
03:34 PM ET
Daley, Plouffe try to shift focus back to jobsWASHINGTON (CNN)– White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley quietly expanded the Obama administration's outreach to the business community on Tuesday by appearing via videoconference at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's board meeting in Florida. Daley's remarks on President Obama's efforts to create jobs and tout his competitiveness agenda came as another top White House aide, senior adviser David Plouffe, delivered closed-door remarks in Washington to the executive council of the AFL-CIO. Plouffe told CNN that his meeting with top organized labor officials would undoubtedly include some conversation about the battle labor unions for public employees are waging against Republican Gov. Scott Walker. But Plouffe stressed that he mostly wanted to talk about "creating jobs and how we're going to win the future," the message Obama unveiled in his State of the Union Address and has been pitching in a series of events around the country. The outreach by Daley and Plouffe shows how even as instability in the Mideast continues to dominate media attention, White House aides are trying to keep the focus on jobs and the rest of Obama's domestic agenda here at home. 
March 1st, 2011
02:18 PM ET
Obama and Bush together again...no not that one! WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama will appear in Miami Friday with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to highlight education as a key element of economic growth. "The President will deliver remarks on the importance of out-educating our competition" the White House said in a statement. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will also join the president and Governor Bush at Miami Central Senior High School. The White House is touting the school as a model of how addressing education challenges can lead to progress. Central High was awarded grant funds designed to help "persistently low-achieving schools." The Florida trip is the latest stop on a cross country tour by the president to push innovation and job creation.  Gov. Rick Perry tweeted this photo yesterday when he met Bo Obama at the White House
March 1st, 2011
01:32 PM ET
Obama – Rick Perry relationship goes to the dogsIt's no secret that Texas Governor Rick Perry, the conservative head of the Republican Governors Association, is a frequent, outspoken critic of the Obama Administration. Going into yesterday's bipartisan meeting between the president and governors, Perry tweeted, "Governors will lay out medicaid fix for POTUS this AM. Help balance the budget, deliver more and better services. Flexibilty..Block grants!" After the meeting, an unimpressed Perry was quoted by the LA Times as saying he was "disappointed" with the president's health care compromise. The day was not totally disappointing for the Governor, however. Perry was downright wowed when he came across one Bo Obama at the White House. Of the encounter, Perry tweeted a photo and gushed, "A real charmer I ran into between meetings in WH. Bo, the Portuguese Water dog!!" 
March 1st, 2011
01:17 PM ET
Obama and Boehner talking to avoid government shutdownWASHINGTON (CNN) - The House of Representatives is set to vote Tuesday on a bill that would extend funding for the federal government by another two weeks - through March 18 - while cutting $4 billion from current spending levels. If approved, the measure, which also needs to be cleared by the Senate, would trim spending in earmarks and other programs agreed to by leaders of both political parties. It would prevent a government shutdown after March 4. President Barack Obama called House Speaker John Boehner Tuesday to discuss the measure, according to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. Carney indicated the administration would be willing to back a package cutting up to $8 billion from current spending levels over a period lasting up to five weeks. The cuts, he told reporters, would be credited toward further decreases in a future comprehensive spending plan covering the remainder of the fiscal year, which expires September 30. (Read more at CNN Politics)  Presidential baseball connection? George HW Bush appointed US Ambassador to the UN by President Nixon. June 12, 1970. Both Bush and his son George W. Bush would be elected to the presidency. The son was a part owner of the Texas Rangers before becoming president.
March 1st, 2011
12:00 PM ET
Did you know...? With major league baseball's opening day at the end of this month, here's a fun fact–President Richard M. Nixon was offered a position as a player's representative to the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1965. He declined, stating that he was needed in politics. Nixon served as President from 1969 to 1974. Play ball! Source: www.whitehouse.gov 
March 1st, 2011
11:29 AM ET
Gap remains between the sexes when it comes to incomeWASHINGTON (CNN)--The earnings gap between men and women has narrowed but a new White House report shows that on average, women still only make about 75% as their male counterparts. The report released Tuesday shows that women have not only caught up with men in college attendance but in fact have surpassed them; yet those gains haven't translated in the pocketbook. Statistics also show women are more likely than men to live in poverty. This is the first comprehensive look at women's status in American society in more than 50 years according to the Obama administration. Valerie Jarrett, White House counselor and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls calls the report "a guidepost to help us move forward" and also says the data will affect future policy decisions. "I think it will inform a wide variety of different policy in programs that the federal government will either initiate or continue but it will be evidence based," Jarrett said on a conference call Tuesday with reporters. "[W]e'll look at those programs and how they fit together to improve the quality of lives of women as a whole rather than looking at it in a silo," she said. FULL POST 
March 1st, 2011
07:48 AM ET
POTUS schedule March 1, 2011The president has no public events scheduled today. Jay Carney will brief at 12:30. 10:45AM THE PRESIDENT receives the Presidential Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press 11:15AM THE PRESIDENT meets with senior advisors Oval Office Closed Press 4:30PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT meet with Secretary of Defense Gates Oval Office Closed Press Briefing Schedule 12:30PM Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney |
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