After Hiring of Axelrod, How Much Does Obama Control Message at NBC News?

Reuters

February 19, 2013
The Atlantic Wire asks:



As the Obama administration continues to draw the ire of the Washington media for limiting exposure to the White House, the most White House-friendly network up and hired yet another former White House message man, David Axelrod. And that may all be part of the plan.

In the wake of, well, a golf game with Tiger Woods, Politico's Mike Allen and Jim Vandehai launched a long, accusatory missive last night about how the Obama administration never talks to reporters the way presidents used to. The "puppet master" president and his advisers like Dan Pfeiffer, Politico and on-the-record members of the White House press corps complain, now control their messaging through controlled content and social-media delivery, such as the White House's Flickr page. The White House press pool never gets to ask the hard questions like they used to, apparently, because Obama so rarely makes himself available to reporters — not because the White House Press Corps so rarely asks hard questions.

Is the Beltway press making a mountain out of a molehill here? Mostly, yes. But there are some credible arguments to be made here. The President himself doesn't speak to the White House press corps as often as he used to — and last night's off-the-record chat on Air Force One isn't going to help that. A press conference in November was the first time he took questions from them in over eight months, and while there have been more questions since, there have also been four years' worth of planted stories and 60 Minutes softballs.

And while the news funneling out of the White House might be heavy on spin, the spin zone is increasingly populated by guys who used to work in the White House. The administration couldn't control the timing of the announcement, on the same morning that the Politico report was boiling over, that David Axelrod will join NBC and MSNBC as a "senior political analyst." Axelrod, a longtime Obama advisor and MSNBC favorite, officially left his Senior Advisor job at the White House in 2011 to work on the 2012 campaign, but he's been a vocal supporter of his old boss from the political pasture every since. He's supported the President, on television or on Twitter, on guns, on immigration reform promises, and on that whole skeet-shooting controversy that's at the center of how the Obama administration beats off-message messages with its own message. (Flickr photo + Axelrod tweet = end of controversy, goes the thinking.) Axelrod he did say that the immigration bill leak was a dumb idea — on MSNBC, no less!

Only a few weeks ago, Robert Gibbs also joined MSNBC as a contributor — he, too, is a longtime MSNBC favorite, from his days as Obama's White House Press Secretary to his own efforts as an official campaign advisor. But he's actually made fewer headlines for defending the President than Axelrod has since leaving the inner circle. Gibbs defended this weekend's immigration leak as something outside of the White House's control. Or, to put it plainly, saying it wasn't intentional. But if one were to put on a tinfoil hat for a moment, that could be chalked up to the terrible response it got from just about everyone. Gibbs did deviate from the message slightly when he said Chuck Hagel seemed "unimpressive and unprepared" during his Defense Secretary confirmation hearing, but that was pretty obvious, and in the same breath he criticized the validity of the questions Hagel was asked by Republicans. 

Look: Gibbs and Axelrod could probably use the paycheck — MSNBC has been dishing them out to left-leaning talking heads for years, and CNN made an artform out of hiring the recently "retired" White House advisor and putting him behind a podium after the first and second terms of Bill Clinton. And what's cable news these days without a talking head for our elected officials? You can't go on a Sunday talk show these days without seeing the opposite of Gibbs and Axelrod — David Plouffe, who went from the campaign to inside the White House, is still on TV pushing the administration's method all the time.

For its part, MSNBC certainly knows its audience, though they would never admit it. And the administration certainly knows its message, its people, its social media, and its fading need for a White House press corps when it has guys like Axe and Gibbs to unofficially lean the right way on a left-leaning network. It's like what former press secretary Ben LaBolt said on Twitter in response to the Politico rant — the White House is "engaging Americans directly in the conversation." Their conversation.

Chris Christie to David Letterman: I'm 'the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen'

By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

Chris Christie has been the target of many jokes courtesy of David Letterman, and Monday night he proved he's a guy who can take those jokes -- and toss them right back. The New Jersey Governor appeared on Letterman's "Late Show," brought a snack (a jelly doughnut), and declared, "I'm basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen in your life."

He told Letterman that if a joke is funny -- even if it's about himself -- that he'll laugh. But, he added only "about 40 percent" of the host's jokes (362,000 by Christie's count) have seemed funny. He brought out some notecards and read a few of the ones Letterman had lobbed at him over the years, and then the two men got to talking about Christie's weight.
The governor said both his cholesterol and blood sugar were fine ("startlingly good"), but said he thinks about going on a diet "every day." "But I just turned 50, and so the doctor ... (said) things are going to fall off of me if I don't get it together, but up to this point it's been pretty good."
The pair later talked more extensively about the long-term effects of Hurricane Sandy, and about getting funding to rebuild on the coastline. Christie earned some applause when he noted that members of both parties have stopped talking to each other, and that's part of the problem in Washington, DC right now.
In the end, the governor displayed a generous amount of grace, telling Letterman, "I watch you all the time. You're my favorite late night show."
Talk about being the bigger man.

NBC Declares War on Christians

FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 21, 2009, file photo, the NBC logo glows in neon lights among other iconic signs at its headquarters in New York. Comcast said Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, that it's buying General Electric's 49 percent stake in the NBCUniversal joint venture for $16.7 billion several years early, as the company takes advantage of low borrowing costs and what CEO Brian Roberts called a "very attractive price." (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) (A2009)

By Todd Starnes

Published February 19, 2013

| FoxNews.com

Does NBC hate Christians?

That’s what I was wondering over the weekend as I watched “Saturday Night Live” blaspheme Jesus Christ in a violent and bloody Quentin Tarantino parody – just three days after Ash Wednesday.

The fake movie trailer for “Djesus Uncrossed” featured the Savior brandishing guns and blowing away Romans in classic Tarantino-style. Blood and gore and profanity spewed across flat screens from coast to coast; at one point Jesus sliced a man’s head in half.

“Critics are calling it a less violent ‘Passion of the Christ,’” the announcer declared. “I never knew how much Jesus used the N-word.”

Offending Christians is apparently what passes for entertainment these days.

A few days before the SNL episode, NBC Sports blogger Rick Chandler wrote a scathing smear against a prominent Christian church in Dallas.



The First Baptist Church in Dallas had invited Tim Tebow to speak at an upcoming service. Chandler urged the outspoken Christian football player to reconsider.

“Tim Tebow to speak at virulently anti-gay, anti-Semitic Dallas mega-church,” read the headline on Chandler’s hit piece.

Sing Oldham, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, told me he’s not surprised by NBC’s blistering assault on American Christians.

“It’s open season on those who profess personal faith in Jesus Christ and pattern their lives by biblical morality,” he said. “Evangelical Christians are treated with contempt and targeted for ridicule.”

And at the Peacock Network, the contempt and ridicule are on steroids.

NBC removed the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during a produced video that aired during the U.S. Open.

NBC medical editor Nancy Snyderman infamously denounced the religious part of Christmas during an episode of Today.

“I don’t like the religion part,” said Snyderman. “I think religion is what mucks the whole thing up.”

The “religion” she was referring to is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

The network has also produced religion-bashing shows like “The New Normal” and “The Book of Daniel.” That particular show as so offensive it led American Family Radio Chairman Donald Wildmon to declare, “We are tired of NBC’s anti-Christian bigotry.”

I wish I could tell you that this sort of anti-Christian bigotry is an anomaly. Sadly, it is not.

We’ve seen the networks and national news publications denigrate the Christian faith with great flair -- from the “Good Christian B****es” of ABC to Newsweek’s Christmas essay about the “The Myths of Jesus.”

I find it interesting that the networks always mock and ridicule Christianity – but they give other religions a pass.

Why aren’t the writers at SNL churning out weekly skits about Islam – or the Prophet Mohammed? Where’s the mock movie trailer for “Jihad Undetonated?” Where’s the television show called “Good Muslim B****es?” Or the magazine essay about “The Myths of Mohammed?”

I suspect we all know the answer to why.

I’ve often wondered why the people at 30 Rock hold Christians in such contempt. Maybe they choose to attack Christians because we are easy targets.

Southern Baptist spokesman Oldham said it should come as no surprise that networks like NBC target Christians for ridicule.

“Jesus said, ‘the world will hate you because of my name,’” he said, referring to a passage in the New Testament.

As best as I can tell, the folks over at NBC are either ideological bullies or religious bigots.

Either one is enough for me to change the channel.

Obama blackmails taxpayers while blaming Republicans

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about education, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, at the Decatur Community Recreation Center in Decatur, Ga. The president is traveling to promote his economic and educational plan that he highlighted in his State of the Union address. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) (AP2013)

By Peter Morici

Published February 19, 2013

| FoxNews.com

President Obama is at it again. Unable to manage the government or the economy effectively, he threatens to victimize taxpayers and stick Republicans with the blame.
It appears likely sequestration will require $85 billion in cuts to defense and non-entitlement government spending.
Unwilling to acknowledge the government has a spending problem — over the last five years, outlays are up $1 trillion and three times the amount required by inflation — and that tax revenues are short because his policies have instigated the weakest recovery since the Great Depression, President Obama is threatening draconian measures if Republicans don’t agree to more taxes.

The president has announced meat inspectors will be furloughed and food shortages will result. His cabinet secretaries are threatening three-hour waits at airports to clear security, reducing embassy protection and border patrols, cutting the Persian Gulf Naval presence from two aircraft carriers to one, and the list goes on ….
Repeatedly, the president has exclaimed if congressional Republicans don’t cooperate, spending cuts now could derail the hard won recovery. It puzzles me how $85 billion in a $16 trillion economy could make such a difference, especially when tax increases of similar size, implemented on January 1 at the president’s behest, had no similar effect in his mind.
The Constitution charges the president with running the government effectively on the money Congress provides. While appropriation legislation limits the fungibility of funds, the administration has considerable discretion allocating the 10 percent cuts in non-entitlement spending.
Military bands have more personnel than the State Department’s Foreign Service has employees — I would rather jettison some tubas than Marine guards at embassies.

The Agriculture Department has one of the largest staffs of economists in the world, and the Social Security Administration employs a similar crop of dull numbers-crunchers. I fear for my brethren, but safe food is more important than yet another dull research paper.
To provide fuel and munitions to maintain the carrier presence in the Gulf, it would be better to trim ballooning military health care costs, something outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has expressed sympathy about addressing.
That would require longer-term reforms, but President Obama has refused to look at skyrocketing spending with a critical eye. He talks about balanced approaches to deficit reduction — half spending and half taxes; however, instead of matching increases in payroll and income taxes imposed January 1 with spending cuts, he pushed through more spending on unemployment insurance and other initiatives.
Now, the president is unwilling to manage effectively $85 billion in cuts across a $3.8 trillion government — remember administrative, research and public affairs outlays associated with entitlements are fair game, too. And what about the White House budget!
Instead, he would rather blackmail Americans with food shortages, long lines at airports and the like, and invoke the specter of another recession to gain political advantage over the Republicans.
Whether a second recession occurs is already baked in the cake. Obama’s high taxes, and those imposed by Democratic governors from Maryland to California, have forced consumers to trim purchases, retailers and wholesalers are reporting weaker traffic and are trimming inventories, and corporate leaders have announced plans to cut new investments and hiring, owing to weak demand and more burdensome health care costs and regulations.

When you can’t get hamburger at the supermarket and unemployment rises this spring, Obama will do what he does best, cast blame on Republicans for permitting sequestration, but it is the American people that bear the burden of presidential disregard for the responsibilities of his office and the harmful effects of his policies.
Perhaps, Obama should read less Lincoln and behave more like Truman. The man from Missouri often exclaimed “the buck stops here.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/19/obama-blackmails-tax-payers-while-blaming-republicans/print#ixzz2LNW6J6LU

2 Great Lakes hit lowest water level on record

John Flesher / AP file

In this Nov. 16, 2012 photo, a sand bar is exposed on Portage Lake in Onekama, Mich., due to low water levels. The waterway is connected by a channel to nearby Lake Michigan where water levels have reached record lows.

5

Feb

2013

8:04pm, EST

By John Flesher, The Associated Press

Two of the Great Lakes have hit their lowest water levels ever recorded, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday, capping more than a decade of below-normal rain and snowfall and higher temperatures that boost evaporation.
Measurements taken last month show Lake Huron and Lake Michigan have reached their lowest ebb since record keeping began in 1918, and the lakes could set additional records over the next few months, the corps said. The lakes were 29 inches below their long-term average and had declined 17 inches since January 2012.
The other Great Lakes — Superior, Erie and Ontario — were also well below average.
"We're in an extreme situation," said Keith Kompoltowicz, watershed hydrology chief for the corps district office in Detroit.
The low water has caused heavy economic losses by forcing cargo ships to carry lighter loads, leaving boat docks high and dry, and damaging fish-spawning areas. And vegetation has sprung up in newly exposed shoreline bottomlands, a turnoff for hotel customers who prefer sandy beaches.
The corps' report came as shippers pleaded with Congress for more money to dredge ever-shallower harbors and channels. Shippers are taxed to support a harbor maintenance fund, but only about half of the revenue is spent on dredging. The remainder is diverted to the treasury for other purposes. Legislation to change that policy is pending before Congress.
"Plunging water levels are beyond anyone's control, but the dredging crisis is man-made," said James Weakley, president of the Cleveland-based Lake Carriers' Association.
Kompoltowicz said the Army corps might reconsider a long-debated proposal to place structures in a river to reduce the flow of water away from Lakes Huron and Lake Michigan, which are connected.
Scientists say lake levels are cyclical and controlled mostly by nature. They began a steep decline in the late 1990s and have usually lagged well below their historical averages since then.
But studies have shown that Huron and Michigan fell by 10 to 16 inches because of dredging over the years to deepen the navigational channel in the St. Clair River, most recently in the 1960s. Dredging of the river, which is on the south end of Lake Huron, accelerated the flow of water southward from the two lakes toward Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean.
Groups representing shoreline property owners, primarily in Lake Huron's Georgian Bay, have demanded action to slow the Lake Huron and Michigan outflow to make up for losses that resulted from dredging, which they contend are even greater than officials have acknowledged.
Although the Army corps produced a list of water-slowing options in 1972, including miniature dams and sills that resemble speed bumps along the river bottom, nothing was done because the lakes were in a period of above-average levels that lasted nearly three decades, Kompoltowicz said.
The corps has congressional authorization to take action but would need money for an updated study as a first step, he said. The Detroit office is considering a funding request, but it would have to compete with other projects nationwide and couldn't get into the budget before 2015.
"It's no guarantee that we're going to get it, especially in this budget climate," Kompoltowicz said. "But there are serious impacts to navigation and shoreline property owners from this extreme event. It's time to revisit this."
Scientists and engineers convened by the International Joint Commission, a U.S.-Canadian agency that deals with shared waterways, issued reports in 2009 and last year that opposed trying to regulate the Great Lakes by placing structures at choke points such as the St. Clair River. The commission has conducted public hearings and will issue a statement in about a month, spokesman John Nevin said.
Roger Gauthier, a retired staff hydrologist with the Army corps, said a series of "speed bumps" could be put in the river at a reasonable cost within a few years. Without such measures, he warned, "it would take years of consistent rain" to return Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to normal.

© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

4 arrested in Egypt after shoe thrown at Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meets people as he visits the Al-Hussein mosque, named after Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein ibn Ali, in old Cairo on Feb. 5, 2013. Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

5

Feb

2013

6:04pm, EST

By Ayman Mohyeldin, Correspondent, NBC News

CAIRO -- Egypt's security arrested four men who were protesting outside a Cairo mosque, where the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was praying.
The men, including a Syrian, belong to the ultra-conservative Sunni Salafist movement.
One man threw a shoe at Ahmadinejad, a Shiite, who was never in any danger.
The Al-Hussein Mosque is revered by Shiite Muslims, who are widely disliked by conservative Sunni Muslims, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi was previously a member of the Brotherhood.
Many Sunni Muslim groups have denounced the Iranian president’s visit to Cairo and have called on Egypt’s government to prevent Ahmadinejad from visiting any religious sites that are significant to Shiite Muslims.
Ahmadinejad met with Sunni Islam's most senior scholar at Al Azhar shortly before he went to pray at the Al-Hussein Mosque.

Malala: ‘Today you can see that I’m alive’

Evan Puschak

7:34 PM on 02/05/2013

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Today you can see that I’m alive,” said 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai on Monday in her first speaking interview since being shot by the Pakistani Taliban last October. Despite the terror of her attack, Malala remains obstinate in her fight to promote education for girls around the world.

“I can speak. I can see you. I can see everyone,” said Malala. “And I’m getting better day by day.”

In a five-hour, two-part operation, doctors at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham attached a titanium plate to the left side of Malala’s skull, and implanted a cochlear device in her left ear to restore her hearing. Both operations were successful and she won’t need any further surgery, according to her surgeon, Dr. Anwen White.

After the shooting, Malala’s brain swelled on her left side where the bullet pierced her skull–fortunately missing her brain–and doctors had to remove part of her cranium to avoid brain damage. As the swelling went down, the removed skull-piece was retrofitted with a titanium plate and reattached.

The custom-made titanium plate which doctors will use to repair a hole in the Malala’s skull. (AFP Photo / University Hospitals Birmingham)

“God has given me this new life,” Malala said. “And I want to serve, I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child to be educated. For that reason, we have organized the Malala Fund.”

The Malala Fund was established by Vital Voices, a non-governmental organization which advances women’s leadership through mentoring and outreach. Malala and her father Ziauddin are board members of the fund and will play a large part in deciding where and to which projects the money will go.

CEO of Vital Voices Alyse Nelson has said she wanted to “incubate” an organization that Malala could one day run. “She changes the way the world sees girls,” Nelson said last December. “And not as a victim: as an activist, as a visionary.”

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan have issued a warning that if Malala survives, they will target her again for being a “secular-minded lady.” Malala’s first words show that, despite threats, she’s not going to back down from the fight to educate girls the world over.

Dr. White hopes that Malala will be discharged from the hospital and allowed to go home “fairly soon.”

1

Feb

2013

8:16pm, EST

Malala, teen champion of girls' rights, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

By Kari Huus, Staff writer, NBC News

NHS via EPA


Malala Yousufzai of Pakistan leaving Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Britain, on Jan. 4 after she was discharged. She will have to undergo specialist cranial surgery at a later date.

Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani girl who rose to international fame after the Taliban nearly killed her for her efforts to promote girls’ education, has been formally nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

Her name was put forward by three members of the Norwegian parliament from the ruling Labor Party on their website Friday, which was the deadline for nominations.

Malala’s name was put forward because of "her courageous commitment to the right of girls to education. A commitment that seemed so threatening to the extremists that they chose to try and kill her," said parliamentarian Freddy de Ruiter on the Labor party web site.




De Ruiter made the nomination with fellow members of parliament Gorm Kjernli and Magne Rommetveit.

Malala was attacked in October with two other girls while traveling home from school in Pakistan’s Swat valley. The gunman boarded the van and asked for her by name before firing three shots at her — singling her out for writing a blog that criticized the Taliban for barring girls for getting an education.

A week later, Malala was flown to a hospital in the UK for treatment. She is now facing a final major surgery to place a titanium plate over the hole left in her skull. While in the hospital she has received thousands of messages from well-wishers around the world, and continued to speak out on behalf of her cause, becoming a global icon.
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The Norwegian MPs said they believed that Malala was "a worthy winner for many reasons. She has become an important symbol in the fight against destructive forces that want to prevent democracy, equality and human rights."

She was also reportedly nominated by members of parliament in France, Spain and Canada. NBC News has not confirmed that information.

To be sure, it is very early in the Nobel process, which culminates with a winner in October.

The Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation, which has been awarding Nobel awards for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace since 1901, said 231 names were submitted for the Peace Prize last year, including 41 organizations.

Nominations can be made only by a select group of people worldwide, including national lawmakers, university presidents and previous Nobel winners.

Malala Yousafzai, 15, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for refusing to bow to pressure by extremists who don't want girls in Pakistan to receive an education. The winner will be announced in October. NBC's Lester Holt has more.

The foundation does not disclose the names of nominees until 50 years later. However, those who name the candidates sometimes disclose them, as in Malala’s case.

Among other reported nominees for the 2013 prize are Belarusian human rights activist Ales Belyatski, who is in jail, and Russian Lyudmila Alexeyeva.

The list of prior Nobel Peace Prize recipients is populated with presidents and large organizations — including UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, and the European Union in 2012 — and storied individuals, such as the Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela.

If Malala were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, she would be the youngest by far and one of just 15 female recipients.

The average age of the 100 individuals is 62, according to the Nobel foundation. The youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate so far is Yemeni journalist Tawakkol Karman, who was 32 when he was awarded the honor in 2011.

Harlem Shake (Jeff Gordon Edition)

The Harlem Shake with Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports

Harlem Shake (Jeff Gordon Edition) from Jeff Gordon     

Florida voting woes

The Miami Herald Editorial
Posted on Mon, Feb. 18, 2013

 

Desiline Victor wanted desperately to vote in November’s presidential election. She showed up at her North Miami precinct on the first day of early voting and inched along in a six-hour line. Three hours later, a poll worker wisely suggested that the 102-year-old “granny” should go home and return later. She did and finally voted to the applause of those in line.

On Tuesday, Ms. Victor sat with quiet dignity in the First Lady’s box at the State of the Union as President Barack Obama recognized her. It was one of the few moments during Mr. Obama’s speech when members of the often deeply divided chambers of state stood in unity.

It was a proud moment, but it should not have been.

Ms. Victor should not have had to stand in a hours-long line to vote in the richest democracy on earth the way citizens in the former Soviet Union used to stand in line for bread. And it’s even more dumbfounding when the wait could have been avoided if Republicans in the Florida Legislature had not collapsed the number of days for early voting. Then, amid pleas from elections supervisors, civic groups and voters, Gov. Rick Scott refused to extend early voting hours.

More than anything, those actions secured Florida’s position as the nation’s election laughing stock — again. No wonder many asked why Floridians were allowed to vote at all.

Now everyone’s scrambling. Among the positive steps that could make the next election operate as it should, Miami-Dade commissioners recently decided to advocate for a 14-day early voting period, including the Sunday before Election Day, which the Republican-led Legislature had eliminated. The decision is a reversal for commissioners, who had voted in December to recommend adding only the Sunday before Election Day to early voting. A nod to freshman Commissioner Jean Monestime, who back in September was calling for the state to restore early voting to 14 days.

Good, if belated, news also came from Secretary of State Ken Detzner, who recently told a House committee that Gov. Scott now favors a 14-day early voting period as well as more sites to be opened up for early voting, including courthouses and civic centers.

In Washington, Democratic Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida and California’s Barbara Boxer have co-sponsored the LINE Act to help ensure that no American voter has to wait longer than an hour to cast a ballot. The senators should also consider a good proposal from the Brennan Center for Justice. It calls for modernizing voter registration, providing more early voting opportunities, and setting minimum national standards for polling place access.

In his address on Tuesday, President Obama announced the appointment of a bipartisan commission to make recommendations on how to “improve the voting experience in America.” The president’s rare display of pique over the past four years came during his victory address on Election Night when he ad-libbed, “We have to fix that,” referring to the long lines.

It’s often said in Washington that politicians create a commission if they want an issue to go away. Americans, such as Ms. Victor, would be sorely disappointed if that were the case here.

This country is often seen as an example to the world of how a democracy should function. The Legislature and Congress must move swiftly to ensure voting is accessible and convenient to all voters in Florida and throughout the nation. That’s not a luxury — it’s a fundamental right.

 

102-Year-Old Voter Returning Home to Miami after State of the Union

Well-wishers still have one more showing of appreciation planned: A welcome-home party with balloons, flowers and signs for Desiline Victor

By Juan Ortega

|  Wednesday, Feb 13, 2013  |  Updated 2:18 PM EST

Courtesy of Elbert Garcia, a spokesman of Florida New Majority

Determined 102-year-old voter Desiline Victor, of Miami, was invited to attend Tuesday's State of the Union address.

Photos and Videos

A South Florida centenarian experienced a whirlwind adventure in Washington, D.C., joining first lady Michelle Obama for Tuesday's State of the Union and receiving applause from lawmakers during President Barack Obama’s address.

Although Desiline Victor’s Washington trip was winding down Wednesday, well-wishers still have one more showing of appreciation planned: A welcome-home party with balloons, flowers and signs for her at Miami International Airport, where Victor's flight was expected to arrive in the afternoon.

“To be able to see her acknowledged, it makes you feel really good that she is appreciated,” said Elbert Garcia, a spokesman of Florida New Majority, one of the organizations that helped bring attention to Victor’s story.

Tuesday, Victor, 102, of Miami, was seated in the House visitors’ gallery as Obama cited her as an example of early voting obstacles in the presidential election. Victor was so determined to exercise her right to vote last fall that she made two trips and waited several hours to vote for Obama.

Full Transcript: Obama's State of the Union Address

“We should follow the example of a North Miami woman named Desiline Victor,” Obama said. “When she arrived at her polling place, she was told the wait to vote might be six hours. And as time ticked by, her concern was not with her tired body or aching feet, but whether folks like her would get to have their say.”

Obama continued: “Hour after hour, a throng of people stayed in line in support of her. Because Desiline is 102 years old. And they erupted in cheers when she finally put on a sticker that read ‘I Voted.’”

Gun Violence Victims' Families, Survivors Head to State of the Union

During Obama’s address Tuesday, several people stood and applauded Victor.

Victor, a farmworker from Haiti, was born in 1910 and arrived in the United States in 1989. She was naturalized in 2005 and first voted in the 2008 presidential election.

Obama Delivers Vision for the Middle Class

If actually proposed, the President's bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come.  

— U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on the details regarding President Obama's leaked immigration plan. 

Sunday, Feb 17, 2013 at 10:23 AM

Report of immigration draft plan brings White House statement

Republican Senator Marco Rubio and others in the GOP criticizing the president for crafting immigration plan with no bipartisan input, NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

By Kristen Welker and Gil Aegerter, NBC News

The White House is not directly commenting on a newspaper report that the administration is considering a path for illegal immigrants to become legal permanent U.S. residents within eight years.

USA Today said it obtained a draft of a White House immigration plan that contained the proposal.

The White House wouldn’t comment Saturday night directly on the USA Today report but released this statement:

“The President has made clear the principles upon which he believes any commonsense immigration reform effort should be based. We continue to work in support of a bipartisan effort, and while the President has made clear he will move forward if Congress fails to act, progress continues to be made and the administration has not prepared a final bill to submit.”

Since his re-election – which got a boost from Hispanic voters -- President Barack Obama has renewed his push for an overhaul of the nation’s immigration policy, including the topic in his inaugural address and State of the Union speech and making a trip to Nevada last month to highlight the issue.

And there’s been some progress in the Senate: A bipartisan group of senators announced in late January that they had agreed on goals for a major rewrite of immigration laws. Those include creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are here already and creating a system to ensure that employers don’t hire illegal immigrants.

But reaction to the USA Today report by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., points to the difficulty in passing any package. Rubio issued a statement Saturday saying that if the president's eventual proposal follows the draft described by USA Today, it "would be dead on arrival in Congress."

NBC News' Ali Weinberg contributed to this report.

Hidden cameras reveal Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers crossing the U.S. border and traveling miles north into the country, NBC's Mark Potter reports. 

White House immigration plan offers path to residency

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY3:46p.m. EST February 17, 2013

The legislation is being developed as members in both chambers of Congress are drafting their own immigration bills.

(Photo: Alan Diaz, AP)

Story Highlights

• An administration official said the plan is being distributed to agencies
• Proposal calls for more security funding and status checks
• Illegal immigrants would apply for "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" visa

WASHINGTON — A draft of a White House immigration proposal obtained by USA TODAY would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years.

The plan also would provide for more security funding and require business owners to check the immigration status of new hires within four years. In addition, the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants could apply for a newly created "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" visa, under the draft bill being written by the White House.

If approved, they could then apply for the same provisional legal status for their spouse or children living outside the country, according to the draft.

The bill is being developed as members in both chambers of Congress are drafting their own immigration bills. In the House, a bipartisan group of representatives has been negotiating an immigration proposal for years and are writing their own bill. Last month, four Republican senators joined with four Democratic senators to announce their agreement on the general outlines of an immigration plan.

One of those senators, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Obama's bill repeats the failures of past legislation and would be "dead on arrival" in Congress.

"It fails to follow through on previously broken promises to secure our borders, (and) creates a special pathway that puts those who broke our immigration laws at an advantage over those who chose to do things the right way and come here legally," Rubio said. "It would actually make our immigration problems worse."

The draft was obtained from an Obama administration official who said it was being distributed to various agencies. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the proposal publicly.

The bill mirrors many provisions of the bipartisan 2007 bill that was spearheaded by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and ultimately failed.

In his first term, Obama often deferred to Congress on drafting and advancing major legislation, including the Affordable Care Act. He has openly supported the efforts in Congress to take the lead on immigration legislation, and just this week met with Democratic senators to discuss their proposals.

But two weeks ago in Las Vegas, while outlining his immigration plans, Obama made clear that he would not wait too long for Congress to get moving.

"If Congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away," he said.

White House spokesman Clark Stevens said Saturday that the administration continues to support the bipartisan efforts ongoing in 

Congress.

With Ellis Island in the background, a group of immigrant rights advocates gathered on Wednesday in Liberty State Park in Jersey City.(Photo: Mel Evans, AP)

"The president has made clear the principles upon which he believes any common-sense immigration reform effort should be based," Stevens said. "We continue to work in support of a bipartisan effort, and while the president has made clear he will move forward if Congress fails to act, progress continues to be made and the administration has not prepared a final bill to submit."

According to the White House draft, people would need to pass a criminal background check, submit biometric information and pay fees to qualify for the new visa. If approved, they would be allowed to legally reside in the U.S. for four years, work and leave the country for short periods of time. After the four years, they could then reapply for an extension.

Illegal immigrants would be disqualified from the program if they were convicted of a crime that led to a prison term of at least one year, three or more different crimes that resulted in a total of 90 days in jail, or if they committed any offense abroad that "if committed in the United States would render the alien inadmissible or removable from the United States."

People currently in federal custody or facing deportation proceedings also could be allowed to apply for the Lawful Prospective Immigrant visa. Application forms and instructions would be provided in "the most common languages spoken by persons in the United States," but the application and all supporting evidence submitted to the federal government would have to be in English.

They would also be given a new identification card to show as proof of their legal status in the country.

The immigrants could then apply for legal permanent residence, commonly known as a green card, within eight years if they learn English and "the history and government of the United States" and pay back taxes. That would then clear the path for them to apply for U.S. citizenship.

To combat fraud, the draft proposes a new Social Security card be developed that is "fraud-resistant, tamper-resistant and wear-resistant." The Social Security Administration would be required to issue the new cards within two years.

A major requirement for many Republicans is enhanced border security. The bill calls for an unspecified increase in the Border Patrol, allows the Department of Homeland Security to expand technological improvements along the border and adds 140 new immigration judges to process the heavy flow of people who violate immigration laws.

It also orders U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to study whether a land-border crossing fee should be implemented to help offset border security costs. The draft also proposes raising many inspection fees that border-crossers already pay.

The draft bill proposes a new plan to allow Homeland Security to "accept donations" from citizens, businesses and local and state governments to improve ports of entry and security features along the border. And it would require CBP to begin collecting statistics on deaths along the border and report them quarterly.

The draft also expands the E-Verify program that checks the immigration status of people seeking new jobs. Businesses with more than 1,000 employees must begin using the system within two years, businesses with more than 250 employees within three years and all businesses within four years.

Homeland Security, working with the U.S. departments of Labor and Agriculture, the attorney general and other agencies, would engage in a $40 million-a-year program to educate business owners and workers about the program.

Homeland Security also would be required to submit a report within 18 months showing how the worker verification system is working, and specifically explain how it is affecting the nation's agriculture industry, which relies heavily on illegal immigrant workers.

The draft obtained by USA TODAY does not include sections that would alter the nation's legal immigration system to adjust the future flow of legal immigrants, which is expected to be a critical component of any immigration overhaul.

 

Danica Patrick teaches Jeff Gordon's daughter lesson

Game On!

Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

 1:39p.m. EST February 18, 2013

(Photo: Jerry Markland, Getty Images)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- On a bright, sunny afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, fans and NASCAR dignitaries alike hung around to soak up a bit of history Sunday.

Danica Patrick added to a growing list of history making moments by becoming the first woman to win the Daytona 500 pole.

But before she did any interviews or posed for pictures with her team, Jeff Gordon approached with his family to ask for a quick favor.

DANICA: She makes Daytona 500 history

Would Patrick mind taking a photo with the Gordons?

Patrick happily obliged, posing in between Gordon, wife Ingrid Vandebosch, their 5-year-old daughter Ella and 2-year-old son Leo.

Gordon then asked for one more shot: A photo with just Patrick and Ella together. Patrick nodded her head and smiled.

Like she does with so many young girls who look to her as a role model, Patrick knelt down and introduced herself to Ella, then put an arm around her and posed for the picture.

ivandebosch Ingrid Vandebosch 19h

Ella was so exited to have her picture taken with @DanicaPatrick pic.twitter.com/M3HlN3wP

 Ella, her dad said, hadn't even realized girls could grow up to be race car drivers until Patrick came along. When a driver becomes the first female in NASCAR history to win a Cup Series pole position – and at the Daytona 500, no less – even daughters of four-time NASCAR champions are impressed.

When Patrick won the pole – edging Gordon for the top spot – Ella requested a meet-and-greet like she'd done with Kasey Kahne (because he's cute), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (because he's popular) and Jimmie Johnson (because he's a five-time champ).

"I'm flattered to take pictures with kids," Patrick said later. "… Especially Jeff Gordon's daughter, it's even more so an honor."

Tiger Woods joins vacationing Obama for golf round at Florida club

By Associated Press, Published: February 17 | Updated: Monday, February 18, 3:50 AM

PALM CITY, Fla. — President Barack Obama teed it up with Tiger Woods on Sunday.

The White House confirmed that the President and the world’s most famous golfer played a round at a secluded, exclusive yacht and golf club on Florida’s Treasure Coast.

Once the sport’s dominant player before his career was sidetracked by scandal, Woods joined Obama at the Floridian, where Obama is spending the long Presidents Day weekend. The two had met before, but Sunday was the first time they played together.

The White House, which has promised to be the most open and transparent in history, has prohibited any media coverage of Obama’s golf outing.

The foursome also included Jim Crane, a Houston businessman who owns the Floridian and baseball’s Houston Astros, and outgoing U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Crane and Kirk also were part of Obama’s foursome on Saturday, the White House said.

Obama, an avid golfer, also received some instruction Saturday and played a few holes with Butch Harmon, Woods’ former swing coach.


Initial word that the First Duffer would play a round with the world’s No. 2 player didn’t come from the White House, but instead came from veteran golf journalist Tim Rosaforte, who announced it on Twitter. Rosaforte’s late-morning tweet said: “The president is arriving at the Floridian range. Awaiting is Tiger Woods and club owner Jim Crane. Historic day in golf. Their first round.”

White House confirmation of Woods’ participation came about two hours later, following multiple appeals from traveling White House reporters.

Golf Digest reported on its website that Obama spent eight hours Saturday with Harmon, playing 27 holes and hitting balls in Harmon’s studio, and then managed to coordinate Sunday’s round with Woods. The report said the original plan called for Obama and Woods, a Florida resident, to play at Woods’ home club — The Medalist Golf Club, a half-hour away in Hobe Sound. But they eventually opted for the Floridian.

Woods departed Sunday after the first 18 holes, with Obama staying on to play another nine, the report said.

“Just to see the interaction between the two on the range was pretty neat,” Harmon told Golf Digest. “The President said to Tiger: ‘The last tournament you played was fun to watch. It’s good to see you play well again.’ You could tell he meant it. It just wasn’t a throw it out compliment.”

It seems Obama and Woods — the first black men at the top of their respective fields — have spent the past few years inching toward Sunday’s meeting on the fairway.

They met in January 2009, during Obama’s inauguration in Washington. Four months later, in April, Woods visited the White House and Obama received him in the Oval Office.

Woods’ personal life imploded later in 2009 after revelations that he had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs, leading to divorce. He followed with a public apology and announced he was taking an indefinite break from golf. Shortly after Woods announced he was coming out of seclusion, Obama said in an interview with Fox News Channel that Woods will still be a “terrific” golfer despite his personal issues.

After returning to the sport, Woods went two years without winning, but his game is back on track and he currently is ranked No. 2 in the world. Woods won the last tournament he played, three weeks ago in San Diego.

The White House made clear from the start of Obama’s trip that there would be no coverage of him because he would be on vacation with no plans to leave the club, which remained open to members and their guests.

It arranged for the pool of reporters who traveled with Obama to bunk at a Holiday Inn about a 20-minute drive away in Port St. Lucie. Whenever the reporters were brought to the Floridian on the off chance that Obama might leave the property, they were taken no further than a maintenance shed beyond the club gates but on the edge of the grounds.

The presence at the Floridian of a professional journalist who tweeted about Obama’s game as he was playing, while White House reporters essentially were locked out, brought a sharp response from Ed Henry, the Fox News Channel correspondent who also is president of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

“A broad cross section of our members from print, radio, online and TV have today expressed extreme frustration to me about having absolutely no access to the president of the United States this entire weekend,” Henry said in a statement. “There is a very simple but important principle we will continue to fight for today and in the days ahead: transparency.”

In response, Earnest, the White House spokesman said: “The press access granted by the White House today is entirely consistent with the press access offered for previous presidential golf outings. It’s also consistent with the press access promised to the White House Press Corps prior to arrival in Florida on Friday evening.”

Previous administrations have allowed brief news media coverage at either the beginning or the end of presidential golf games. Obama’s policy generally is no coverage at all, but exceptions were made for separate outings he had in 2011 with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and former President Bill Clinton.

Golf Channel said Rosaforte is a member of the Floridian who sent his tweets from the clubhouse. Rosaforte did not have access to the course or to Obama, the network said.

Obama is in Florida while his wife and daughters are on an annual ski vacation out West. He was due to arrive back in Washington on Monday night.

___

AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed to this report.