The Vice President and the House Majority Leader have a "close relationship," according to the White House... A photo of Vice President Joe Biden and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) having a candle-lit dinner with their wives, Dr. Jill Biden and Mrs. Diana Cantor, at the Naval Observatory on Wednesday night was tweeted on the @VP account on Thursday night. The bipartisan dinner was deemed a "personal" and "social" event by the White House. Despite being a sharp critic of the Obama Administration's policies, Cantor has a "close" personal relationship with Biden, according to the White House.
"Diana and I are looking forward to sitting down with @VP and Jill Biden for dinner tonight." Cantor tweeted on Wednesday evening, on his @EricCantoraccount.
Biden and Cantor "developed a close relationship during their prolonged negotiations earlier this year" over the debt ceiling, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday, adding that the dinner was "something that the two gentlemen had wanted to do for some time, and they finally got it on the schedule."
The Vice President likes the idea of re-enacting the "collegial" cross-aisle socializing that went on during his 36 years in the Senate, Carney explained.
The Thursday night tweet from @VP: "PHOTO: VP and Dr. B at dinner last night with @GOPLeader Cantor and Diana Cantor at the U.S. Naval Observatory http://pic.twitter.com/L"
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) tonight tweeted about his 7:00 PM dinner at the home of Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, which the White House characterized as a "social" call. It's a bit of nostalgia for the golden days of bipartisanship on the part of the Vice President, according toPress Secretary Jay Carney. Biden and Cantor have a "close relationship" following months of debt ceiling negotiations, and Biden likes the idea of re-enacting the "collegial" cross-aisle socializing that went on during his 36 years in the Senate, Carney said. Apparently Rep. Cantor feels the same.
The President will celebrate the end of DADT with 3,000 guests; will he talk marching shoes?... UPDATE:The post about the President's address is here President Obama will speak to more than 3,000 guests in Washington, DC, on Saturday evening at the sold-out annual dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT rights organization. The President's appearance continues his tour of wooing crucial and potentially disgruntled constituencies: Last Saturday, Mr. Obama spoke at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix Awards Dinner, an equally large event. The President was stern with his audience: He told the the CBC to "stop complaining" and "get to work" on his agenda, suggesting they swap their "bedroom slippers" for "marching shoes." (Above: The President also keynoted the HRC gala in 2009)
Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Thursday that he has no idea if the President will give his HRC audience similar advice about either work or clothing...but the end of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy will get some Presidential attention.
"I haven't seen a draft of the remarks yet, so I don't want to anticipate what he might say," Carney said. "I certainly think that the successful repeal and elimination of DADT is a topic worth discussing. It's a major accomplishment and a much-needed one. But beyond that, I don't know what he will say at this point."
DADT officially ended on Sept. 20, after the Administration worked aggressively to repeal it. But other LGBT rights issues that were Campaign promises remain up in the air. Will the President make news by discussing his"evolving position" on gay marriage?
"We are honored to share this night with President Obama who has a tremendous record of accomplishment for LGBT people," said outgoing HRC president Joe Solmonese. "On the heels of the end to 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,' we look forward to celebrating our victories and redoubling our efforts for the fights that remain ahead."
The HRC Dinner is at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Lady Gaga was the featured performer when President Obama addressed the HRC in 2009. Last weekend, she showed up at one of the President's fundraising dinners in Silicon Valley as a paying guest.
The President has no public events scheduled, and will have his weekly tête-à-tête with Biden. A quiet day? Not so much, thanks to Jimmy Hoffa, Jr... President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's weekly private luncheon today in the Oval Office Private Dining Room is one of the few events that's actually noted on the President's daily schedule, two days out from his Thursday jobs address to a Joint Session of Congress. Lunch will be at 12:30 PM. (Above: The President and Biden in the Oval Office, heading for the Private Dining Room)
The President and Vice President will both receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office, at 9:45 AM. At 10:15 AM, the President will meet with Senior Advisors, also in the Oval Office. Though his schedule is ostensibly low-key, the President is once again surrounded by controversy, thanks to remarks made by Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., on Monday. Hoffa was the President's warm-up act for his Labor Day address to a crowd of 13,000 in Detroit. The Teamsters president called members of the Tea Party "son-of-a-bitches," and essentially declared war on the GOP. The comments are causing an outcry in the media, with the story currently sitting above the banner on Drudge Report, where it's been since yesterday afternoon.
It's turned into "a big $&%!!# deal," as Biden himself might say. So far, the White House has declined comment. Press Secretary Jay Carney may or may not address the issue during his daily briefing, currently scheduled for 1:30 PM. Carney will certainly be asked about Hoffa's comments by the press corps. UPDATE, 9:55 AM: Carney's briefing has been changed to 3:00 PM, the White House announced.
Biden's day, for the record, begins at 9:15 AM, when he will swear in David Petraeus as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, in a brief ceremony at the White House.
*Photo by Pete Souza/White House, taken on May 16th, 2011
On the maiden voyage of the $1.1 million motor coach, the President is "enjoying this trip tremendously"...
President Obama is having a very inspiring time aboard his jet-black, $1.1 million armored, hi-tech behemoth of a tour bus, he said during his closing remarks at the Rural Economic Forum in Peosta, Iowa. The photo, above, is the only one to be released of the interior of the bus, which is making its maiden voyage with the President's three-day rural tour. In the photo, the President is doing what he said is one of the things that gives him great joy: Waving to decent, hard-working citizens as he drives through America's heartland. It gives him hope for America's future, the President said.
"As I was driving down those little towns in my big bus--we slowed down, and I’m standing in the front and I’m waving," President Obama said, to laughter. "I’m seeing little kids with American flags, and grandparents in their lawn chairs, and folks outside a machine shop, and passing churches and cemeteries and corner stores and farms -- I’m reminded about why I wanted to get into public service in the first place."
Mr. Obama and his 25-vehicle motorcade have now traveled hundreds of miles through Minnesota and Iowa; the photo at top was taken in Decorah, Iowa. Tuesday's mileage log alone hit 216 miles, according to the Secret Service. (Above: Part of the motorcade rolling through the heartland)
"Sometimes there are days in Washington that will drive you crazy," the President said, but the bus helps him stay on mission.
"Getting out of Washington and meeting all of you...that just makes me that much more determined to serve you as best I can as President of the United States," the President told thrilled Iowans.
The "bus" (which is like calling the Hope diamond a "trinket") was purchased by the Secret Service for its "protective fleet" in April, and is equipped with two seating areas that have plush seats in different configurations, flat screen TVs, phones, and computers. It has a kitchenette, but unlike Air Force One, apparently no on-board chef: The President has stopped the bus for pie and ice cream and popcorn. Part of the fun of a Presidential bus is getting off, of course. (Above: The bus apparently has stain-proof cushions...)
Part of the fun of a Presidential bus for the GOP has been coming up with names for its mission, such as "the magical misery tour" and "the debt end tour." Your tax dollars are at work, critics will have you know, paying for everything having to do with that bus, which uses a huge amount of gas.
Is the President goofing around with the fancy PA system?What's he doing during all that driving time?
Press Secretary Jay Carney fielded questions about the bus on Tuesday, quizzed about how the President is liking it, and how the cutting-edge tech is working
Mr. Obama is "enjoying this trip tremendously," Carney said.
Carney declined to comment specifically on the high-tech appointments of the bus, but said that its communication capabilities are "comparable" to the President's other secure vehicles.
"He’s got full communications capabilities," Carney said. "I mean, obviously when he is in the presidential limo and on Air Force One -- I mean, that’s an essential element of presidential travel."
Asked what the President is doing during "incredible amounts of downtime" as the motorcade wends its way along one-lane rural roads, Carney said that the President is working.
"He has the need to and the capability to stay in contact with senior advisors who are not traveling with him and others, obviously, in the administration," Carney said. "And so he’s doing that, getting updates, and staying in touch with folks."
No movies watching apparently, though filmmaking mogul Harvey Weinstein last week promised to send the President screeners of unreleased flicks. Asked if reports that the bus contains a PA system capable of blasting the socks off an excited crowd are true--and if the President will be testing this--Carney said he wasn't sure about the PA system. But he was certain of one thing.
"He hasn’t, when I’ve been on the bus, used the PA system," Carney said.
The bus is a money saver...
The Secret Service purchased and retrofitted the President's bus and a twin version for whomever is the 2012 GOP presidential candidate to avoid the expense of leasing and then having to take out secure components, and Carney explained this.
"For a number of decades now, Presidents, Vice Presidents, presidential candidates have traveled by bus," Carney said. "It’s very useful and cost-effective, because in the past they’ve [Secret Service] had to lease buses at great expense, retrofit them -- or outfit them to have all this security that’s necessary and then reverse that process at great expense, so that this, in this view -- and, again, I’m just citing them and their view, was a cost-effective approach."
The President's bus and motorcade in all its glory, in an ABC video:
An "unannounced stop" at DeWitt Dairy Treats, for soft serve cones with senior aides...
Fresh from his Rural Economic Forum in Peosta,Iowa, President Obama on Tuesday afternoon made an "unannounced stop" in Dewitt, jumping off his big black tour bus for soft-serve ice cream at Dewitt Dairy Treats. He was joined by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Senior Advisor Nancy Ann DeParle, and Press Secretary Jay Carney. (Above: Greeting future voters)
The President chatted up a few folks who were gathered next to the ice cream shop, then walked up to the glass window and ordered ice cream for his staff. He offered treats to the press pool, all of whom, as usual, declined. DeParle had vanilla, while Carney had strawberry, the flavor of the day.
In total, the President ordered two chocolates, one vanilla, and one strawberry, all cones, and then he was indecisive about what he would have for himself -- but only for a moment.
"What other flavors do you have?" President Obama asked the ice cream maven at the window.
Mulling it over, he said, "I'll have a vanilla."
Signs on the window read "All orders are individually prepared" and "Thank you for not smoking." (Above, from l: Carney, Vilsack and DeParle)
The President greeted the crowd outside the ice cream shop while holding his ice cream cone in his left hand - which, despite being out in the hot sun, did not appear to be melting.
"I got to make sure I have a little," he said before having a bite of ice cream as he worked the
Earlier, the President visited a local high school, surprising a girls' volleyball team as they practiced in the gym. Monday's Presidential treat du jour was five kinds of Minnesota pie. (Above: The President gets back on the bus, surrounded by his security detail)
Info: Dewitt Dairy Treats is at401 11th Street, De Witt, IA 52742. Phone: (563) 659-5521.
Dr. Jill Biden is leading Presidential delegation to Africa, joined by Sen. Bill Frist & Rajiv Shah... President Obama on Monday designated $105 million for urgent humanitarian relief efforts for the Horn of Africa region, including $10 million in funds from his Emergency Relief and Migration Assistance Fund.
"Amid the worst drought in East Africa in 60 years, the United Nations has declared that famine now affects five regions in Somalia and predicts that famine could soon expand throughout southern Somalia," Press Secretary Jay Carney said when announcing the President's aid package. Dr. Jill Biden is currently in Kenya, leading the Presidential delegation to the region. On Monday, she visited the Dagahaley Refugee Complex for Somalian famine victims in Dabaab, Kenya, accompanied by former Senator Bill Frist and USAID Director Rajiv Shah. (At top: Biden and Frist at the camp)
"Thousands of Somalis are fleeing the famine and seeking refuge in Kenya and Ethiopia, which are also affected by the drought. According to the United Nations, more than 12.4 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance," Carney said.
In 2011, the U.S. has provided approximately $565 million in humanitarian assistance, according to Carney.
"U.S. assistance will continue funding the urgently needed food, health, shelter, water and sanitation assistance to those who desperately need help," Carney said.
Dr. Biden is also traveling with Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz and Special Assistant to the President Gayle Smith. On Monday she met with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and also visited the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute in Nairobi, to discuss the US Feed the Future initiative.
The Vice President and the House Majority Leader have a "close relationship," according to the White House...
