http://www.barackobama.com/buffett-rule?source=20120408_ofa_EMS
The Buffett Rule would create up to $32 MILLION in tax revenue from just one millionaire. Find out exactly how that money could make a difference on issues that affect us all.
Major Republican Super PAC Prepares to Take On Obama – NYTimes.com
Mitt Romney v reality
A Passover Message from the Obama Family | The White House
More campaign news
WEST WING WEEK
West Wing Week: 4/6/2012 or “The Annual Spring Break Edition!”
This week, the President hosted a summit with North American leaders, addressed the Associated Press, signed his economic report, the STOCK Act, and the JOBS Act, and held an Easter Prayer Breakfast.
INSIDE THE CAMPAIGN
Female voters gather behind Obama
Los Angeles Times // Seema Mehta
The Republican presidential candidates’ focus on issues such as contraception, abortion and healthcare will push female voters into President Obama’s corner and provide a crucial boost in getting him reelected, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz told phone bank volunteers Monday. “I know Barack Obama will be returned to the White House … carried on the shoulders of American women because that’s how he got there in the first place, with a 13-point gender gap in 2008,” she told 92 cheering women gathered at a Pasadena seafood restaurant. “Women in this country voted for Barack Obama in 2008 because we know that as mothers, as sisters, as daughters, as wives, what’s at stake.”
Obama and Biden sharpen attacks over economy
CNN // Charles Riley
The Obama re-election campaign has recently started drawing battle lines around what is likely to be the most talked about issue until Nov. 6: the economy. The campaign has dispatched Joe Biden to talk autos in Ohio, Social Security and Medicare in Florida and manufacturing in Iowa — three touchstone issues in three swing states. President Obama himself will jump into the fray on Tuesday. Obama will pay particular attention to Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, while echoing the broad themes of economic fairness and shared responsibility he advanced during a speech in Kansas last fall and again at the State of the Union in January.
Obama Campaign Seizes on Report on Mitt Romney’s Assets
ABC // Emily Friedman
The Obama re-election campaign tonight is seizing on a report that suggests Mitt Romney is using ethics exceptions to avoid disclosing some of his financial investments. Obama’s team has gone as far as using the president’s Twitter handle to lob attacks on the GOP candidate. The account linked to the president’s name tweeted a link to the report, published by the Washington Post, that said that Romney has “taken advantage of an obscure exception in federal ethics laws to avoid disclosing the nature and extent of his holdings.”
Arizona immigration law author gives Romney a “death hug”
Univision // Jordan Fabian
As Mitt Romney begins to pivot toward a general election match up with President Obama, he’s looking to keep the focus off some of his tough statements on immigration, which have hurt his standing with Latino voters, and target the president. On Thursday, we received a reminder that may be tough to do. Former Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce (R), who authored his state’s controversial SB 1070 immigration crackdown law, gave Romney a so-called death hug this week. Felicia Sonmez of The Washington Post caught up with Pearce Tuesday, who is running again for office: In an interview Tuesday night after a tea party dinner in Gilbert, Ariz., Pearce – who, in part due to his authorship of the SB 1070 law, late last year became the first Arizona legislator to be ousted from office in a recall election – described the former Massachusetts governor’s stand on illegal immigration as the same as his own.“His immigration policy is identical to mine,” Pearce said. “Attrition by enforcement. It’s identical to mine – enforce the laws. We have good laws, just enforce them.”
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Obama Leads Romney in National Poll
Real Clear Politics // Caitlin Huey-Burns
President Obama has opened up a four-point lead over Mitt Romney, according to a new USA Today/Gallup surveyof registered voters across the country. Obama attracts 49 percent of the support to Romney’s 45 percent. Though the president’s lead comes within the poll’s margin of error, it is his widest over the former Massachusetts governor in Gallup’s tracking. Obama leads among the key constituency of independents, 48 percent to 40 percent, and pulls 13 percent of Republicans. Romney attracts 12 percent of Democrats. Notably, the president holds a nine-point advantage over Romney in 12 swing states, garnering 51 percent of the support. Obama’s lead in these critical states is bolstered by women voters, USA Today reports. Romney’s support among this group dropped 14 points since February, and Obama now leads by 18 points. The two candidates run virtually even among men.
Obama Signs Bill to Promote Start-Up Investments
New York Times // Mark Landler
WASHINGTON — President Obama, eager to promote his administration’s efforts to revive the job market on the eve of another politically significant employment report, signed a bill on Thursday that will roll back restrictions on the way start-up companies can raise money from individual investors. Mr. Obama, surrounded by a bipartisan tableau of lawmakers and entrepreneurs, said the bill known as the JOBS Act, for Jump-Start Our Business Start-Ups, was a “potential game changer” for fledgling businesses in need of financing. Among other things, it would allow them to raise small sums from investors via the Internet.
Dow Rises to Highest Level Since 2007 on Manufacturing
Bloomberg // Lu Wang and Inyoung Hwang
U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Averageto its highest level since December 2007, on stronger-than-forecast growth in manufacturing. All 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX)and Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR)added more than 1.7 percent, pacing gains among commodity shares. Financial companies rose as Bank of America Corp. (BAC)and Morgan Stanley (MS)climbed at least 0.9 percent. Avon Products Inc. (AVP)jumped 17 percent after Coty Inc. sought to acquire the door-to- door cosmetics seller. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 1,418.90 today. The index on March 30 completed its biggest first-quarter rally since 1998. The Dow gained 52.45 points, or 0.4 percent, to 13,264.49 today. About 6.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 3.6 percent below the three-month average.
March auto sales: Chrysler up 34%, GM 12% and Ford 5%
Detroit Free Press // Chrissie Thompson
Chrysler’s U.S. sales increased 34% in March, followed by a 12% gain from General Motors and a 5% lift from Ford, as overall industry sales were expected to stay near the four-year high seen in February. U.S. automakers report March sales throughout the day today. Analysts projected overall sales would finish at an annual pace of 14.5 million, according to an average compiled by Bloomberg News, compared with 15.1 million in February. Chrysler’s namesake brand led its sales performance, up 70% from March 2011, helped by a 169% gain in sales of the Chrysler 300 sedan. Jeep posted a 36% increase, and Ram pickupsales grew 23%.
Obama Calls G.O.P. Budget Plan ‘Social Darwinism’
New York Times // Mark Landler
WASHINGTON — President Obamaopened a full-frontal assault Tuesday on the budget adopted by House Republicans, condemning it as a “Trojan horse” and “thinly veiled social Darwinism” that would greatly deepen inequality in the country. Mr. Obama’s attack, in a speech during a lunch with editors and reporters from The Associated Press, was part of a broader indictment of the Republican economic blueprint for the nation. The Republican budget, and the philosophy it represents, he said in remarks prepared for delivery, is “antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who’s willing to work for it.”
Dems winning on enthusiasm
Public Policy Polling
The enthusiasm gap is back for 2012…but now it’s working to the Democrats’ advantage. PPP’s last national poll, conducted on behalf of Daily Kos and SEIU, finds that 57% of Democrats are ‘very excited’ about voting this fall compared to only 46% of Republicans. We’ve found Democrats more excited about voting than Republicans on every poll we’ve done this year, but that’s the widest gap yet. Here’s how the numbers break down:
| Date | % of Dems Very Excited | % of Republicans Very Excited | Gap |
| 3/26 | 57 | 46 | D +11 |
| 3/12 | 62 | 57 | D +5 |
| 2/27 | 60 | 52 | D +8 |
| 2/13 | 57 | 51 | D +6 |
| 1/30 | 58 | 54 | D +4 |
| 1/16 | 54 | 51 | D +3 |
Two in three US Jews want Obama reelected
The Hill // Josh Lederman
Jews in the United States remain a solid and loyal voting bloc for President Obama and Democrats, according to a national survey released Tuesday.Two out of three Jewish adults want to see Obama reelected, compared to one-third who want someone else, according to the 2012 Jewish Values Survey.The results of the survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, run counter to claims by Jewish Republican groups that Jews are abandoning Democrats over their positions on Israel, the economy and national security.
Analysis: Obama’s incumbency vs. Romney’s hurdles
Associated Press // Steve Peoples
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reality smacked Mitt Romney in the face twice in a 24-hour span.President Barack Obama used the power of the presidency to ring the general election’s opening bell, declaring this week in no uncertain terms that he and his mammoth organization are ready to take on Romney – whether the presumptive GOP nominee is ready or not. And despite what he may say, Romney is not.
With sights set on Romney, Obama says eager for campaign
Reuters // Alister Bull
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Thursday called out his likely opponent for the White House by name for the second time this week and said he “cannot wait” for the chance to pit his vision for America against the Republicans in this year’s election. In remarks that underscore the president’s shift into full general election-fighting mode, Obama acknowledged Mitt Romney was the front-runner to win the Republican nomination to face him on November 6, and said he relished the upcoming contest. “We are going to have a big and important debate in this country, and I cannot wait,” the Democrat told supporters at a fundraising event in Washington. “This is going to be a big debate and it’s going to be a fun debate. It’s always good to have the truth on your side,” he said.
Romney Goes After Obama on Fracking
National Journal // Sarah Huisenga
TUNKHANNOCK, Pa. – With the controversial drilling technology known as “fracking” prevalent in such politically key states as Ohio and Pennsylvania, Mitt Romney made clear on Thursday that he’ll use the issue to depict President Obama as prizing the environment to the detriment of the economy. During a rally at an energy company in this northeast Pennsylvania town, the likely Republican presidential nominee said the Obama administration has been overregulating in order to slow hydraulic fracturing, which is used to release oil or gas from shale formations that are otherwise too difficult to mine.
Republican Committee Makes Big Turnaround on Fund-Raising
New York Times // Nicholas Confessore
Once teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and irrelevance, the Republican National Committee has raised more than $110 million over the past 15 months and retired more than half its debt, accumulating large cash reserves that could give Mitt Romney a critical boost later this spring as he intensifies his campaign against President Obama. With the divisive and drawn-out Republican primary season moving toward a close, the committee reported more money in the bank at the start of last month than the Democratic National Committee, which raised about $137 million during the same period but also spent far more.
Romney’s Gaffes Won’t Cost Him As Many Votes As His Views
Bloomberg // Jonathan Alter
If Barack Obamaprevails this November, it will be in large part because of what has come out of Mitt Romney’s mouth in the last year. I’m not talking about gaffes, for which the presumptive Republican nominee has a Freudian propensity. It’s as if the gaffe that ended his beloved father’s 1968 presidential campaign (George Romneysaid he had been subject to “brainwashing”on a trip to South Vietnam) puts Mitt Romney into “Don’t think of an elephant” mode. He’s so conscious of not making a gaffe that his subconscious insists on one every couple of weeks. But gaffes are overrated as decisive campaign events. With the possible exception of President Gerald Fordsaying during a televised debatea month before the 1976 election that Polandwas not under Soviet domination (a howler that slowed an amazing comeback against Jimmy Carter), it’s hard to think of a misstatement that has determined the outcome.
Romney is clueless on who is ‘out of touch’
Boston Globe // Scot Lehigh
UMM, MITT, got a minute? You know how things that snag the imperfect edge of your attention sometimes make you do a double-take? As I walked through Copley Square some years back, a celebrity mag caught the corner of my eye. “Britney: ‘I’ll always love Jane Austen.’ ’’ Britney? Jane Austen? Wha. . . what? It stopped me dead in my tracks – until a closer look made sense of it all. “Britney: ‘I’ll always love Justin.’ ’’ A similar disquiet struck the other day when I glanced over at the book my wife was reading. “The Power of Lies.’’ Yikes! That’s hardly the kind of thing one wants to see his spouse engrossed in.
NEW ENGLAND EVENTS CALENDAR
Paul Simon Concert - May 17, 2012
Belmont, MA
More details forthcoming
Contact Justin Brennan at jbrennan@barackobama.com for more information.
Reunions for Obama – May 25, 2012
Reception with The Honorable Shaun Donovan
Cambridge, MA
RSVP Here: https://my.barackobama.com/May25CambridgeReception
Contact Ryan Fleury at rfleury@barackobama.com for more information.
Additional events to be announced next week!
NESC Weekly Update
April 6, 2012
Dear New England Steering Committee,
We hope everyone had a great week! Last week we held fundraisers with President Obama in Vermont and Maine with record breaking crowds in attendance. A HUGE thank you to the host committees and all those who worked so hard to make these events flawless and wildly successful.
March 30th marked the end of the first fundraising quarter in 2012. Thank you to everyone who helped us reach and surpass our goal. We still have a lot of work ahead of us and hope that you will continue to play an active fundraising role in the campaign. If you would like a personal fundraising link to send to your friends and family please let us know!
Steering Committee Meeting
The next Steering Committee Meeting is on Friday, April 13th at 8:30 a.m. at The Law Offices of Foley Hoag, 155 Seaport Blvd, Boston, MA, Room 13M. Hope to see you there!
Have a great weekend,
Kathy, Justin, Ryan and Rachel
NEWFC’s Statement on RNC Chair Reince Priebus Dismissing Uproar Over Republican Attacks on Women As Fictional As A “War on Caterpillars”
New England Women for Change released the following statement in response to RNC Chair Reince Priebus dismissing the uproar over Republican efforts to roll back women’s health care as fictional as a “war on caterpillars:”
“If women needed any more proof that the Republican Party has little regard for the issues that are important to them, RNC Chair Reince Priebus comparing Republican attacks on women’s health care to a ‘war on caterpillars’ ought to remove all doubt. When it comes to women’s issues and women’s health, Republicans are out of touch.
“The fact is, the Republican Party has been fighting tirelessly to implement policies that are antiquated on women’s health. And their leading Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, has said he wants to ‘get rid of’ Federal funding for Planned Parenthood and supports the Blunt-Rubio amendment, which would give any employer the ability to deny their employees coverage for health care services like contraception based on their own beliefs. It’s clear what’s bothering Reince Priebus, Mitt Romney and the GOP: Women are paying attention to GOP attempts to undermine women’s health care, and they don’t like it. The GOP has spun a web of Tea Party policies that appeal only to the extreme fringe of their party and now they’re caught in it. Chairman Priebus may try and borrow the Romney campaign’s Etch A Sketch to erase the past few months of GOP attacks on women, but women have a clear message for Reince Priebus, Mitt Romney and the GOP: You can try to erase it all you want but we’ll remember in November.”
Free Bumper Stickers | Elizabeth Warren for Massachusetts
Scott Brown and Mitt – BFF
Men in Black – NYTimes.com
Maureen Dowd’s must read editorial on the sorry state of our Supreme Court.
April Highlights in US Women’s History
Historic Events
April 2, 1931 – 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell, the second woman to play baseball in the all-male minor leagues, pitches an exhibition game against NY Yankees and strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The next day, the Baseball Commissioner voided her contract, claiming baseball was too strenuous for women. The ban was not overturned until 1992.
April 5, 1911 – 100,000 to 500,000 people march in New York City to attend the funeral of 7 unidentified people who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in late March.
April 7, 1805 – Sacagawea begins helping the Lewis and Clark Expedition as an interpreter.
April 7, 1987 - Opening of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, the first museum devoted to women artists.
April 9, 1939 – Marian Anderson sings an Easter Sunday concert for more than 75,000 at Lincoln Memorial.
April 13, 1933 – Ruth Bryan Owens is the first woman to represent the U.S. as a foreign minister when she is appointed as envoy to Denmark.
April 19, 1977 – 15 women in the House of Representatives form the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues.
April 22, – Earth Day -honor Rachel Carson today, a woman who changed America and greatly influenced the environmental movement.
April 26, 1777 – American Revolution heroine Sybil Ludington, 16 years old, rides 40 miles by horseback in the middle of the night to gather the American militia to fight against the British invasion.
April 28, 1993 – First “Take Our Daughters to Work” day, sponsored by the Ms. Foundation; in 2003 it became “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work” day.
April Birthdays
April 1, 1911-(1998) Augusta Braxton Baker — African- American librarian and storyteller renowned for her contributions to children’s literature by including African-American history and culture
April 3, 1898-(1997) Katherine Esau – Ukrainian refugee whose scientific discoveries are documented in the classic Plant Anatomy (1953)
April 3, 1899 (1979) Katherine Ordway – Philanthropist, Established the Goodhill Foundation (1954) granting over 64 million dollars to save natural land in Minnesota, Kansas, and South Dakota
April 4, 1928 – Maya Angelou, author, poet, civil rights activist, actress; composed and read her poem at President Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.
April 5, 1908 (1989) Bette Davis – Renowned movie star whose career spanned “Of Human Bondage”(1934) to “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane”(1962)
April 5, 1949 (1986) Judith Resnik – Second American woman in space in 1984, who perished in Challenger explosion
April 7, 1890 (1998) Marjory Douglas – Environmentalist, suffragist, women’s rights activist, championed Indian culture and the need for preserving the Everglades
April 7, 1891 (1978) Martha Eliot – Life-long child health advocate who worked for dependent and disabled children through Social Security Act (1935)
April 7, 1944 (2002) – Julia Miller Phillips, film producer; first woman to win a Best Picture Academy Award (1973, “The Sting”) as a producer; also produced “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Taxi Driver”
April 8, 1892 (1979) Mary Pickford – Most successful actress of the silent screen from 1898 to 1927; created with 5 others the United Artists production company
April 9, 1887 (1953) – Florence Price, first African American woman symphony composer
April 9, 1936 (1988) Valerie Solanas – Feminist provocateur, wrote “Scum Manifesto”(1967) translated in many languages , shot Andy Warhol in 1968
April 10, 1882 (1965) – Frances Perkins, first woman cabinet member, Secretary of Labor in 1933; key contributor to the Social Security Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act
April 10, 1903 (1987) – Clare Booth Luce, playwright, Congresswoman (R-CT), Ambassador to Italy (1953-1956)
April 10, 1926 (1995) Johnnie Tillmon – Director of the National Welfare Rights Organization from 1962 to 1972
April 10, 1930 – Delores Huerta, Chicana activist; co-founder United Farm Workers union
April 11, 1910 (1997) Annie Wauneka – Navajo leader, elected to Navajo Tribal Council in 1951, served 27 years, lead the campaign to eradicate TB on reservations, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient (1963)
April 12, 1903 (1987) Justine Polier – First woman in New York Workmen’s Compensation Division, appointed as a judge in Domestic Relations Court (1935) and served for 38 years
April 12, 1883 (1976) Imogen Cunningham – Acclaimed photographer, especially noted for portraits
April 12, 1909 (2001) – Eudora Welty, writer, won Pulitzer prize for Fiction in 1973; winner of Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Literature, and the French Legion d’Honeur
April 12, 1915 (1984) Soia Mentschikoff –Russian émigré (1917) became first woman partner in a Wall Street firm (1945). .
April 13, 1919 (c.1995) Madalyn O’Hair –Atheist who championed and won the case opposing prayer in school, which the Supreme Court found unconstitutional (1962), she along with 2 others were kidnapped and murdered
April 13, 1892 (1990) Clara M. Beyer – Worked with Frances Perkins on Social Security Act(1935) and worked to abolish child labor and for minimum and maximum hour scales
April 14, 1866 (1936) – Anne Sullivan Macy, famous teacher of Helen Keller who was blind, deaf, and mute; the two worked and traveled together throughout Macy’s lifetime.
April 15, 1896 (1980) May Edward Chinn – First African American doctor in Harlem(1936) who worked with George Papanicolaon to develop the Pap smear
April 16, 1971 (1995) Selena – Popularized the Tejano sound of Mexican music with her siblings in the 1990s, fatally shot by manager in 1995
April 17, 1913 (1997) Dorothy Fosdick – International relations official, worked to develop the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan for international relief.
April 18, 1898 (1990) Ruth Bunzel – Anthropologist who studied women’s art and respected the culture of Pueblos in 1924. She learned the Zuno language , and pottery skills, how to grind corn and make ceremonial food
April 19, 1917 (2007) Irene Kirkaldy – July, 1944, defied bus driver in Virginia who demanded she give up her seat (in the back of the bus), and was jailed. Thurgood Marshall won her case in the Supreme Court (6 to 1) received Freedom Medal from President Clinton
April 20, 1890 (1983) Carmelita Hinton – Founder of Putney School in Vermont( 1935), a co-ed boarding school. lived and worked at Hull House, had commitment to John Dewey’s education goals and to environment and internationalism and to arts and crafts
April 20, 1895 (1986) Mary Pukul – Descendant of native Hawaiian high priestesses, she researched ancient history, collected stories and oral histories, translator at the Bishop Museum
April 22, 1891 (1979) Laura Gilpin – Photographed and worked with Navajo people 35 years to complete a record of rural American, pioneered auto chromes which won acclaim for still-lives and portraits in the platinum printing process from 1911 to 1914
April 25, 1917 (1996) – Ella Fitzgerald, “First Lady of Song”, internationally renowned jazz singer, winner of 13 Grammy Awards
April 26, 1888 (1981) Anita Loos – Screenwriter, novelist, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1925)
April 26, 1907 (1991) Julia Godman Ruuttila – CIO recruiter, (1935), raised community support and welfare benefits and birth control so men could maintain solidarity. Continued to be union publicist, protested Vietnam War, retired at ago 80, plagued with asthma, ulcers, arthritis and angina, still often walked in picket lines
April 27, 1906 (1993) Alice Dunnigan – First African/American accredited to cover the US Congress in June 1947 and first journalist of color to travel with President Truman on his train trip. She had to pay for her own ticket. In 1961 Johnson appointed her to the staff of the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity
April 27, 1927 (2006) – Coretta Scott King, civil rights, human rights, and peace April 29, 1913 (1999) Margaret Owings – California artist of wild life and founder of Friends of the Sea Otters in 1968; also she helped the Environmental Defense F Fund.
April 30, 1909 (1990) Eve Arden – She acted in many theater and movie roles; most famous for teacher Connie Brooks on radio and TV from 1952 to 1956 in “Our Miss Brooks”
April 30, 1939 – Ellen Zwilich, first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music (1983)
Please feel free to use this information in any of your newsletters or forward it to colleagues or other interested parties. A year-round women’s history calendar is available on our website www.nwhp.org in the News and Events category. Also, please send corrections and additions to nwhp@nwhp.org
Honor a Special Teacher
In recognition of this year’s theme, Women’s Education - Women’s Empowerment, we are inviting you to honor a teacher who has been important in your life by making a special donation https://encryp2.net/nwhp/donate/donate.php o the NWHP. The teacher will receive a card acknowledging your gift and will be included in our 2012 Teachers Hall of Fame, which is soon to be accessed on our homepage www.nwhp. In addition to including the teachers name and contact information, please also email a one-sentence tribute about this special teacher to nwhp@nwhp.org. Click here https://encryp2.net/nwhp/donate/donate.php or click on Donation on our homepage www.nwhp.org.
National Women’s History Project
3440 Airway Dr Ste F
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
http://www.nwhp.org
(707) 636-2888
nwhp@nwhp.org
18th Annual National Issues Conference to be held in Washington, DC on April 27th and 28th at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center with Special Guest President Obama!
A newly updated agenda featuring speakers including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Cecile Richards, Nancy Keenan, Jim Messina, Jen O’Malley Dillon, and David Simas can found at this link for more information - which will be updated regularly in the coming days. If you know you are … Continue reading
